Every Steak Ranked by Price Per Ounce
Menus print prices and weights but never the division of one by the other, which is the only figure that tells you which steak is actually good value.
Here is that division for all sixteen steak sizes on the board, ranked cheapest to most expensive per ounce.
The ranking
Cheapest per ounce first: 16oz Sirloin at $1.44, Porterhouse T-Bone at $1.48, 20oz Bone-In Ribeye at $1.50, 11oz Sirloin at $1.73, 16oz Ribeye at $1.75, 16oz Prime Rib at $1.81, 12oz NY Strip at $1.83, 14oz Ribeye at $1.82, 14oz Prime Rib at $1.89, 12oz Ribeye at $1.92.
Then: 8oz Sirloin at $2.00, 12oz Prime Rib at $2.00, 8oz NY Strip at $2.19, 6oz Sirloin at $2.25, 8oz Dallas Filet at $3.12, and 6oz Dallas Filet at $3.67.
The spread runs from $1.44 to $3.67 — a factor of 2.5 between the best and worst value cuts on the same page of the same menu.
The pattern that holds everywhere
Within any given cut, bigger is always cheaper per ounce. There is not a single exception across sirloin, ribeye, strip, prime rib or filet.
This is not a promotion or a bulk discount; it is arithmetic. The two included sides, the plate, the labour and the table are a fixed cost inside the price. Adding ounces adds only the cost of beef, so the fixed portion is spread thinner.
The practical read: if you are choosing a size, the small one is never the better deal. It is the smaller portion, which may well be what you want — but it is not value.
Two figures that need an asterisk
The Porterhouse at $1.48 and the Bone-In Ribeye at $1.50 both look like excellent value, and both include bone in their stated weight. You pay for that weight and you do not eat it. Adjusting roughly for bone moves both closer to the middle of the table.
That does not make either a bad order. It means the raw per-ounce figure flatters them relative to boneless cuts, and a comparison that ignores this is not being straight with you.
- Best value overall — 16oz Sirloin, $1.44/oz
- Worst value overall — 6oz Dallas Filet, $3.67/oz
- Bone-in figures flatter — Porterhouse and Bone-In Ribeye
- Biggest within-cut gap — Sirloin, $1.44 to $2.25 across four sizes
- Rule with no exceptions — larger is always cheaper per ounce
Frequently asked
Does price per ounce include the sides?
The price does — every steak comes with two sides. That is precisely why the small cuts look bad on this measure: the sides are a fixed cost spread over fewer ounces.
So should I always order the biggest steak?
Only if you will eat it or share it. An unfinished 16oz steak is worse value than a finished 8oz one.
Why is the filet so expensive per ounce?
Tenderloin is a small muscle — there is very little of it per animal — and it is the most tender cut. Scarcity and texture, not size.
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