Steakhouses: Best restaurants for Valentine's Day in Stuart, Vero Beach and Fort Pierce
Looking for a romantic restaurant for Valentine's Day dinner? Perhaps a fine dining establishment whose chef features high-quality steaks on the menu?
Whether your favorite cut of beef is ribeye, sirloin, porterhouse, filet mignon or New York strip, these 10 Treasure Coast restaurants are known for their steaks.
Most steakhouses have a specific menu dedicated to a variety of steaks, and some even have "steakhouse" in their name. Of course, there are national chains such as Outback Steakhouse, LongHorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse and Buffalo Chophouse, plus dinner and a show at Asian hibachi restaurants such as Takara Japanese Steak House, Fujiyama and Benihana.
But here are 10 of the best local steakhouses in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties:
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Peter’s Steakhouse
Peter Buchner opened the restaurant in 1999 in downtown Jensen Beach. One menu specialty is the 1?-inch thick cuts of “Peter’s Prime Beef,” dry-aged for tenderness and flavor. Choose from New York strip, porterhouse and T-bones.
Address: 3200 N.E. Maple Ave., Jensen Beach
Phone: 772-225-2516
Online: Website
The Gafford
The restaurant, which opened in 2012 in downtown Stuart, is owned and operated by the Wilson family: Rick and Elizabeth and their son, Taylor, the executive chef who runs the open kitchen. It’s named after Rick Wilson’s grandparents. He recalled visiting them on their farm and his grandfather teaching him how to grill. Their favorite dish to cook together was a giant ribeye steak. The restaurant’s signature menu item, “The Gafford,” is a 20-ounce bone-in ribeye.
Oak & Ember Steakhouse
Kyle Greene opened the first location of Oak & Ember Steakhouse in Port St. Lucie in November 2020 and the second location in Stuart in February this year. Both steakhouses follow the traditions of the finest establishments in Chicago or New York with aged cuts. Executive Chef Shane Johnson and his team source beef from some of the nation's top cattle producers. He plans extensive dry-age programs, specialty cuts and prime beef selections on a weekly basis, allowing different steak selections. All bone-in items receive a brief smoke treatment to enhance the natural robustness and richness of the steaks. Then, they are cooked over an oak-fired grill inspired by the Argentinian parrilla, an open-fire wood grill that allows the steaks to be seasoned with smoke, similar to salt, to add another layer of depth and complexity.
Port St. Lucie: 848 S.E. Becker Road, 772-224-2553, Facebook, Instagram
Stuart: 301 S. Colorado Blvd., 772-444-6299, Facebook, Instagram
Online: Website
Kyle G’s Prime Seafood & Steaks
Treasure Coast native Kyle Greene opened Kyle G’s Prime Seafood & Steaks in 2017 in the former Pietro’s on the Ocean in Jensen Beach, where he had been executive chef. Its prime menu features a 48-ounce Tomahawk ribeye steak and 8 ounces of Australian Wagyu beef tenderloin rated MS7 by Australian Marbling Score.
Meating Street Steak & Seafood
Italian-American brothers Pat and Carmine Lamarra opened the butcher shop, steakhouse and seafood market in 2020 at the former location of HopCat in Tradition.
Address: 10553 S.W. Meeting St., Port St. Lucie
Phone: 772-348-3805
The Fort Steakhouse
The Fort Steakhouse, the first modern steakhouse in downtown Fort Pierce, opened in 2018 in the Galleria of Pierce Harbor as The Braford. It started with locally sourced Braford beef but since has expanded to include other independently owned ranches.
Cooper's Chop House & Seafood
Cooper's, a chophouse and seafood restaurant, opened in December 2023 in Royal Palm Pointe in Vero Beach at the former location of Mr. Manatee's Casual Grille. All of the meats are cut from USDA Prime beef and then wet- or dry-aged with its house seasoning blend.
Vero Prime
Restaurateur Roger Lenzi moved his Vero Prime restaurant to 14th Avenue in 2019 at the former location of 14th Avenue Steakhouse. It previously was the popular Italian eatery Avanzare and Jake’s Tex-Mex, both owned by Lenzi. The steaks are wood grilled, and the menu features a steak of the day.
Polo Steak & Sea
Polo Steak & Sea, previously known as Polo Grill, originally opened in 2007 in Vero Beach, located in the Portales de Vero. Head chef Steve Brust, who grew up in the restaurant industry, previously worked at country clubs, helped open restaurants and spent two years as one of Wolfgang Puck's sous chefs. Its menu features a variety of chef's cuts.
Address: 2855 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach
Phone: 772-231-4090
Online: Website
Ocean Grill
Ocean Grill is an iconic Vero Beach steak and seafood restaurant that opened on New Year's Eve in 1941. The eccentric Waldo Sexton built it with mahogany, pecky cypress, wrought iron and Spanish antiques. Three generations of the Replogle family have been running the restaurant since 1965. Its menu has several steak options, including filet mignon, a dry-aged New York strip, prime rib, a Cajun ribeye and "Jake's steak."
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter and columnist dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Follow her on Twitter @TCPalmLaurie and Facebook @TCPalmLaurie. Email her at [email protected]. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Steakhouses for Valentine's Day in Stuart, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce
