Steak Sizes and Prices — Every Cut, Compared by the Ounce

Prices below are for the steak with its two included sides. Price per ounce is computed from the listed weight, so it is arithmetic rather than opinion.

Bigger is always cheaper per ounce. Every single cut follows it without exception, and the gap is not marginal — a 6oz sirloin costs 56% more per ounce than a 16oz sirloin of the identical steak.

The reason is that a fixed portion of the price is not beef. It is the two sides, the plate, the labour, the table and the service, and none of that scales with the weight of the steak. Add 10oz of meat and you pay for 10oz of meat; everything else was already in the price.

The practical consequence is that two people splitting a 16oz sirloin and ordering an extra side get more beef for less money than two people ordering 8oz sirloins. That works out at roughly $23 against $32, for two more ounces of steak between them.

The Dallas Filet is the clearest exception, and it is deliberate rather than accidental. At $3.67 per ounce for the 6oz it is the most expensive beef on the board — more per ounce than the 23oz Porterhouse, which is the most expensive single item.

You are paying for tenderness. Filet comes from the least-worked muscle on the animal, which is why it is soft and also why it carries almost no marbling and comparatively little flavour. Whether that trade is worth $8.50 more than a 6oz sirloin is a matter of preference, not arithmetic. What is worth saying is that ordering a filet well done removes most of what you paid for.

The Porterhouse works the other way. At $1.48 per ounce it looks like one of the better-value cuts, and on paper it is — but part of that 23oz is bone, which you are paying for and not eating. The same caveat applies to the 20oz Bone-In Ribeye at $1.50. Both are still reasonable value; they are just not quite as good as the raw per-ounce figure suggests.

Steaks are not the only sized items. Grilled Pork Chops come single at $13.49 or double at $16.49 — the double adds 290 calories for $3, one of the better upgrade ratios on the board. Grilled Salmon is 5oz at $15.99 or 8oz at $19.99. Fried Catfish is three pieces at $14.99 or four at $16.99, where the extra piece costs $2 and 180 calories.

Ribs come as a half slab at $17.99 or a full at $22.99. The full is better value per rib, at roughly double the meat for 28% more money — but at 1,450 calories before sides, it is only better value if you finish it.

Texas Red Chili is a cup at $3.99 or a bowl at $4.99, which doubles both the portion and the calories.

If you are choosing on calories rather than cost, the ranking inverts. Sirloin is roughly 42 calories per ounce. Ribeye is roughly 80. That is nearly double, and it is entirely the marbling — the intramuscular fat that gives ribeye its flavour is also what gives it its calorie count.

Filet is the leanest at around 45 calories per ounce, which is the one respect in which it earns its price. The Porterhouse at roughly 45 per ounce does well on this measure too, because the filet side pulls the average down.

Put together: if you want the most beef for the least money, order a large sirloin. If you want the most beef for the fewest calories, also order a sirloin. It is unusual for those two answers to agree, and on this menu they do.