Fodor's Expert Review Cattleman's Steakhouse

For more than a century, this restaurant has thrived on its reputation for serving food as consistently reliable as its reputation for a colorful history. What started in 1910 as a café to serve hungry cowboys, ranch hands, and cattle haulers became a pumphouse for "liquid delights" during Prohibition Days. By the 1940s, Cattlemen's emerged as a gathering place for gamblers and their cohorts. As the building size grew, however, so did the restaurant's popularity among the general public and numerous celebrities. What hasn't changed is the steaks: Midwest-raised, corn-fed, U.S.D.A. Prime- and Choice-grade beef distinctively good enough to be featured in magazines and on TV. The menu is, of course, a vegetarian's nightmare.