Dan Patrick, Stop Trying to Make the ‘Texas Strip’ Happen

Dan Patrick, Stop Trying to Make the ‘Texas Strip’ Happen

The Lieutenant Governor of Texas is trying to wield his power to rename the New York strip. But for many restaurants and steakhouses in the Lone Star State, it’s just not a priority.

The elected official got way ahead of himself this month when he proclaimed that a Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Austin had “made Texas and world history” by embracing and renaming its New York strip. Despite Patrick’s claims, a representative for the Dallas-founded steakhouse tells Eater that its recent rebranding of the steak as the Texas strip was a one-time deal for a private event (was it for you, Dan Patrick?). The representative declined to give more details, noting that it doesn’t “disclose details regarding private guest events and bookings,” but added that changing the name is not something owners have evaluated.

“Bob’s Steak & Chop House has no plans to change the name of its New York Strip steak brand-wide on its core menu. Individual franchisees have discretion over certain operational decisions, but there are no immediate plans for a menu change,” the restaurant representative wrote in an email.

Elsewhere, restaurateurs are balking at the idea. A New York steakhouse owner has threatened to sue Texas for $1 million, and Dennis Turcinovic, owner of New York steakhouse Delmonico, a restaurant that claims to have originated the strip back in the 19th century, has stated bluntly that Patrick is ridiculous. (“Good luck with that,” he told NBC New York.)

If restaurants want to claim a unique cut for Texas, it should be something that stands out and isn’t already prevalent nationwide.

Ben Berg, the restaurateur behind some of Houston’s most popular steakhouses, including Prime 131, Turner’s Cut, and B&B Butchers, says the attempt to change the name of the New York strip to “Texas” strip is “silly” and potentially confusing to diners. “If restaurants want to claim a unique cut for Texas, it should be something that stands out and isn’t already prevalent nationwide,” Berg says. “For example, a 40-ounce Long Bone makes more sense as ‘Everything is Bigger in Texas,’ and that’s a truly large cut.”

Berg says he’s not going to make the name change at any of his restaurants, citing that it would be a costly expense for his restaurants to change the name on their menus, and it likely wouldn’t bring in more profit. Diners are also used to that particular cut being called a New York Strip (the steak, originally called a Kansas City strip, was reportedly renamed in the 1800s).

“The policies in Texas are already embarrassing enough. This is the last thing we needed,” says Tony Street, the owner of Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse in Dallas. He calls Patrick’s proposal a “colossal waste of time” that would require the reframing and reprinting of menus — “all for ego.” Street, who serves mainly Kansas City steak at his establishment, adds that Texas butcheries don’t always have high-quality beef as in other states and countries, particularly because of the weather in the Lone Star State. “It’s hard to get consistently good quality beef from Texas,” he says.

For some restaurants, like Taste of Texas — a Texas-themed restaurant and steakhouse located in Houston’s Energy Corridor, such a rebranding could actually work. Nina Hendee, who co-owns Taste of Texas with her husband Edd Hendee, says they love the idea. “When that news broke last week, we just laughed. That’s perfect for us. We’re Texas-themed, with a Texas history museum,” she says. “It’s kind of what we do.” (It’s also worth noting that Reddit users have identified the Hendees as staunch Republicans.) Still, Hendee says such a name change could be a particular asset to the top-selling steakhouse when welcoming its large international dining community — travelers who come in for the Texas experience.

“We take a photo of the guests with a Stetson [cowboy hat] and a bandana, and they just love all things Texas,” Hendee says. “People are coming for the Texas experience. I think it would draw attention to it in a positive way for our international visitors.”

Hendee says she recognizes that making such an immediate change could be costly, requiring restaurants to reprint their menus (Taste of Texas’s menu, in particular, is translated into 17 different languages). If implemented, Hendee says they would add the change during their menu reprint, which happens once a year, and would likely identify the true cut of the steak (New York strip) in the body of text underneath its new name — in case diners get confused.

It’s important to note that Patrick’s legislation would be optional for privately owned businesses, meaning the law doesn’t apply to grocery stores and restaurants. (A representative for the Texas-based supermarket giant H-E-B did not immediately respond to Eater’s request for comment.) The question, then, becomes who would be beholden to the name “Texas strip,” and is Patrick’s rallying cry to rename a cut of meat even important during a time when the state and country are meddling with more pertinent issues like tariffs, immigration crackdowns, and an infringement on women’s reproductive rights?

Street says there are far more important issues that are going to affect the restaurant industry, particularly considering the many swift changes happening under the Trump Administration. We don’t need to create more. And so, in true Mean Girls spirit: Dan Patrick, stop trying to make the Texas strip happen. It’s not going to happen.

Texas editor Courtney E. Smith contributed to this report.