Should You Avoid Ordering Steaks With Sauce From Restaurants?

Some steak snobs might give you the eye for ordering a steak dish that comes with sauce, but Jonathan Bautista, the executive chef at Ember & Rye in Carlsbad, California, says that the lines are a little looser than that. He does, however, have some reservations about doing so at a proper steakhouse. "If I'm at a traditional steakhouse, I enjoy my sauces on the side so I can choose my own adventure," he told Chowhound in an exclusive conversation. These establishments pride themselves on the quality of their beef and its cook, so you'd risk masking that excellence by ordering something with too many competing flavors.

If you're at a restaurant that's not a formal steakhouse, though, you can be more flexible. "A composed steak dish with a little sauce on it can be excellent[,] as well[,] depending on the restaurant and its cooking style," says Bautista. A beef and broccoli stir-fry at a Chinese restaurant, for instance, will inevitably have some sauce on it, and plenty of Italian steak dishes come loaded with sauce, such as steak pizzaiola. Steak Diane or steak au poivre are other classic, viable options that you might see on restaurant menus, and they have subtler sauces that still allow the steak to shine.

If you do want a proper steak with a little side sauce and feel unsure about what to order, chef Jonathan Bautista has some tips. To him, it depends on your tastes. If you prefer a lean steak, reach for a filet mignon or New York strip. He says, "Personally, I like a little fat and more marbling on my steak[,] so I tend to gravitate toward any ribeye." He especially enjoys dry-aged steaks. A common steakhouse upgrade for standard beef, dry-aging is a highly controlled process that elevates the flavor and tenderizes the meat.

When pairing these solo steaks with a sauce, follow the rule of "opposites attract." If you go for one of the leaner steaks, you might want a creamy Diane or béarnaise sauce. Rich, fatty ribeyes and similar cuts can sometimes only require a light chimichurri, salsa, or wine sauce. 

In a more elevated steakhouse environment, it can sometimes be considered bad etiquette and a disrespect to the chefs to use a lot of sauce, and you should ask for any house offerings over a bottled sauce. It's considered even more of a faux pas to bring your own sauce to one of these establishments. Whatever sauce you choose to pair with your steak, keep the establishment etiquette expectations in mind before you decide to go off-menu and ask for sauce.