Memphis Steakhouses: Where to Get a Great Steak

Memphis is a pork town that quietly takes its beef seriously — there's been a white-tablecloth prime steakhouse here since 1977, a Cordova room that ages and cuts its own beef over open flame, and a Poplar Avenue corridor where the national names cluster within a mile of each other. What there hasn't been is a current, honest map of it. (One reason to want one: Buckley's, a Memphis steak fixture for roughly three decades, has closed — and older lists still send people there.)

So here it is: thirteen steak rooms verified open at their own sites in August 2026, split the way it actually shakes out — the local steakhouses, the chains done right, and the fine-dining rooms where a prime cut shares the menu with a cheese cart. Special occasion covered either way. (For the broader white-tablecloth tier, see fine dining in Memphis.) — Josh

The local steakhouses

Memphis-grown rooms where steak is the whole point — every one re-verified open, August 2026.

• Folk's FollyEast Memphis

  The original — Memphis's own prime steakhouse since 1977. White tablecloths, the Cellar Lounge piano bar, and the room generations of Memphians book for the anniversary. Dinner only, Mon–Sat from 5:30, Sun from 5; OpenTable. (It's my date-night pick on the best restaurants list for a reason.)

• Porch & ParlorOverton Square, Midtown

  The Southern steakhouse in the middle of everything. Prime steaks and chops on Madison in Overton Square, with complimentary valet on Trimble Place and dinner nightly (from 4:45 weeknights, 4 Fri–Sat, 3 Sundays). Book ahead on show nights — the Square fills fast.

• The Butcher Shop SteakhouseCordova

  The one that butchers its own beef. Steaks aged and hand-cut in house, grilled over hickory and Tennessee charcoal on an open flame you can watch from the dining room — a Germantown Parkway fixture for decades. Dinner nightly, plus Friday and Sunday lunch. Resy.

• Capriccio GrillThe Peabody, Downtown

  The hotel steakhouse — 'no ordinary steakhouse,' by their own billing. Steaks flash-seared to seal in the juices, alongside pastas and wood-fired pizzas, in the Peabody's corner room at Union and Second. Dinner daily 4–10 (plus breakfast, lunch, and Sunday brunch); OpenTable.

The chains, done right

The national names cluster on Poplar in East Memphis — here's what each does best.

• Ruth's Chris Steak House6120 Poplar Ave, East Memphis

  The 500-degree sizzling plate is the brand's whole thesis, and it holds up — steaks arrive audibly. In the Regalia center on Poplar; dinner nightly, from mid-afternoon on weekends.

• Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar6245 Poplar Ave, East Memphis

  Prime steaks plus the deepest by-the-glass wine program of the chain tier — and a nightly Social Hour, 4–6:30 in the bar with $9 cocktails, the corridor's best steakhouse deal. Mon–Sat 4–10, Sun 4–9. (Their marked menu also earns a spot in our gluten-free guide.)

• The Capital Grille6065 Poplar Ave, East Memphis

  Dry-aged 18–24 days in house and hand-cut by an on-premise butcher — the bone-in ribeye and dry-aged porterhouse are the signatures. Note the published dress notice (business casual; sleeves required, no athletic shorts) and the valet. Dinner nightly.

• Texas de BrazilPeabody Place, Downtown

  Not a steakhouse so much as a steak event: gaucho carvers circling with skewers, all-you-can-eat churrasco at $59.99 (the salad-area-only route is $33.99). Downtown at 150 Peabody Pl; dinner nightly plus Friday and Sunday lunch. OpenTable. (Two blocks from everything on the downtown restaurants list.)

• Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill7515 Poplar Ave, Germantown

  The suburb option — and one of the few steak rooms here open for lunch, daily from 11am. Out east past the Germantown line, near everything in our Germantown guide.

Fine dining where the steak stars

Not steakhouses by name — but these rooms cook some of the best beef in the city.

• Amelia Gene'sOne Beale, Downtown

  The downtown fine-dining ticket runs a serious steak program: a 10 oz prime filet with bordelaise, a 24 oz prime bone-in ribeye with beef-fat popovers and sauce au poivre, and a prime steak tartare — plus the cheese cart people plan evenings around. Tue–Sat from 4:30; complimentary valet; OpenTable.

• Flight Restaurant & Wine Bar39 S Main St, Downtown

  Can't pick a cut? Don't. The Steak Flight ($39) runs three preparations — Boursin-stuffed filet to elk tenderloin — with wine flights printed alongside. Daily 4:30–9; OpenTable.

• Char RestaurantHighland Row, East Memphis

  Steaks with a Southern accent near the U of M — and rare flexibility: open for lunch Mon–Sat and Sunday brunch, with live piano nightly 5:30–8:30. Part of the employee-owned 4Top Hospitality group.

• Erling Jensen The RestaurantEast Memphis

  The chef's French-grounded room since the '90s — the famous plate is the rack of lamb, but the beef never plays second fiddle by much. Nightly 5–10; book through Tock.

What changed — and one for the calendar

The dated facts worth knowing: Buckley's has closed permanently after roughly three decades on Poplar, 117 Prime wound down in spring 2024, and Interim is gone. Mesquite Chop House now operates only in Southaven, across the state line. Every room above was verified open at its own site in August 2026 — when one changes, this page changes with it.

And an honorable mention worth knowing about: Rosie's Tavern, the 25-seat room upstairs at Josephine Estelle in Germantown, does steaks with flavored butters from the Ticer-Hudman team — a tavern with great steak rather than a steakhouse, and one of the harder small-room bookings in the metro (Resy).

The honest answers