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The best and most expensive steaks come from the short-loin group, which appears around the lower waist of the steer, an area that gets little exercise. See the best steak cuts to buy »
This flavorful cut comes from the rib section (rib removed) between the short loin and the chuck. (If the rib is left in it’s a bone-in rib steak.) A cowboy rib-eye is a bone-in rib steak with a long extended bone.
This cut comes from the tender short loin and is equivalent to a porterhouse minus the tenderloin or bone. It’s also marketed as shell steak, strip steak, Delmonico steak, and Kansas City steak.
These steaks are more economical than the short-loin or rib steaks and come from below the steer’s waist, around the top of the hip.
The porterhouse is the king cut and includes a T-shaped bone with a full-size filet mignon on one side and full-size New York strip steak on the other. A porterhouse must be at least one-and-a-quarter inches thick.
A boneless cut that comes from the small end of the tenderloin. It is quite tender but lacks the flavor of beef with a bone attached.
Similar to the porterhouse (though a bit smaller, at least a half-inch up to just below one-and-a-quarter), it’s two steaks in one with a filet mignon on one side and a bone-in New York strip on the other.