Can You Go To A Steakhouse And Order A Completely Raw Steak?

Believe it or not, there are some people out there who don't prefer their steak medium rare, or even rare... they prefer it raw. As in, cold, uncooked, completely raw. We're not passing judgment, and thankfully we live in a time when a high-quality piece of beef won't make you sick if you eat it raw (just think about carpaccio and tartare). But if you wanted to order a completely raw steak at your favorite steakhouse, would the kitchen allow it?

We reached out to chef John Tesar, who runs Dallas' Knife, one of Texas' most popular steakhouses, and he told us via email that he'd have no problem with serving a customer a raw steak if requested. "I'd give it to them," he told us. "Our meat is of the quality that you could eat it raw — I'm not saying that's the best way to eat it — but you could. Honestly, when you're in the restaurant industry you come across everything, so nothing really surprises me after all these years. That being said, we'd all watch them eat it, that's for sure."

For the most part, High-end restaurants and upscale steakhouses tend to want to go above and beyond the call of duty for their patrons, and they're proud enough of their steaks to serve them raw. At a diner, for example, the kitchen may not be comfortable serving a raw steak because they can't guarantee it won't make you sick, but we wouldn't recommend ordering a raw steak at a diner to begin with.

So if you want to eat a raw steak, go ahead and order one. You might get a couple strange looks from the server; heck, the chef himself might even come out to double check what you're asking for. But just make sure you do it at a very high-end restaurant.