Here Are The Best Steakhouses In Virginia, DC: Daily Meal

ARLINGTON, VA — For meat-lovers it's hard to beat a juicy, flavor-packed, grilled-just-right steak for dinner. If you are yearning for a great cut of beef, the food website The Daily Meal has just released its picks of the Best Steakhouse in Every State.

The best place for a steak in Virginia is Ray’s The Steaks, 2300 Wilson Boulevard, in Arlington, says the website. Meaty offerings on the menu include several butcher cuts, hanger steaks with various sauces or atop sirloin grilled with a spicy diablo sauce, topped with garlic and red onion; multiple takes on the New York strip served with brandy mushroom cream, an aged roquefort - port wine sauce or with roasted bone marrow, sauce "maria schneider," and roasted garlic; then there are ribeyes, filet mignons, and the show-stopping dry-aged cuts that age in-house for 45 days, are butchered and hand-trimmed.

And the best steakhouse in Washington, D.C., is Charlie Palmer Steak at 101 Constitution Ave NW, in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters building.

Here's how The Daily Meal folks describe the range of fantastic steakhouses nationwide: "There are the cavernous, inexpensive Wild West establishments where everyone seems to be wearing a Stetson and a pair of cowboy boots; the power-broker-with-an-expense-account clubhouses; the joints that serve steak at the bar but don’t quite fall into the bar-and-grill category; and the modernist steakhouses that turn all these conventions upside down. ... When it comes down to it, it’s all about the steak. And from ripping-hot broilers to mesquite grills, these restaurants do it right."

Ray's The Steaks says on its website that it's not fancy, but it offers quality steaks.

"We are in no way anything like a Ruth's Chris or a Morton's. In fact, we do everything possible to be the opposite of a fancy DC fine-dining restaurant. We do strive each and every day to serve the best, house-aged, house-butchered, hand-trimmed we can, in the most honest, timely and affordable way we know how. As a result, our style of service is informal and at times quite busy--and not to everyone's liking," the restaurant website says. "If luxury accommodations and exquisite service are important to your dining needs, we strongly recommend another one of the region's many, many finer steakhouses and superior restaurants. If you do decide to try us out, we promise to work our hardest to reward your decision with great steaks and seafood at fair and honest prices."

Of Ray's The Steaks The Daily Meal editors said:

"Restaurateur Michael Landrum is, as far we most people are concerned, the king of the Arlington culinary scene. He serves the state’s best burgers at Ray’s Hell Burger and Virginia’s best steaks at Ray’s The Steaks, and that’s not even exaggerating. Steaks here are dry-aged for 45 days before being hand-trimmed, seasoned with their signature rub and grilled over an open flame. A variety of cuts and styles are available, but you can’t go wrong with the New York strip, available in either the “classic” or “steakhouse” cut. The prices are also insanely reasonable."

Click here to see the entire Best Steakhouse in Every State list.

Charlie Palmer Steak says it is dedicated to bold American food. "The menu not only stars the best American artisan beef cuts like an aged Angus Rib-eye "Cowboy" Steak but updated locally sourced seafood dishes, like Chesapeake Bay Oysters and Soft Shell Crab Fritto Misto," says the restaurant's website. "Much more than a steakhouse, the timelessly stylish restaurant moves the political power meetings out of the back room and into private dining spaces, sleek enclaves of dark wood. Located off the wide, open expanse of the National Mall, Charlie Palmer’s Steak’s rooftop terrace can accommodate 400 guests, offering the city’s most impressive view of the Capitol."

Here's what the folks at The Daily Meal say of Charlie Palmer Steak:

"... There’s no other steakhouse in America quite like the Washington, D.C., location. Dishes including locally sourced blue crab cocktail, Chesapeake Bay crab cakes, and local heirloom tomatoes with watermelon and local feta demonstrate a commitment to using local and seasonal ingredients; and offerings like house-made charcuterie, pan-roasted Louisiana prawns with aged cheddar grits, and sheep’s milk ricotta agnolotti with fennel, navel orange, marcona almond and aged balsamic prove that just as much attention is paid to the rest of the menu as the steaks. And as for those steaks, they include cowboy-cut bone-in rib-eye, Snake River Farms wagyu strip steak, 21-day dry-aged bone-in New York strip, and porterhouse for two with bacon lardons and pearl onions. Want seared foie gras or stuffed poached blue crab on that? Go for it. The sides are amazing too."