Steak Corral Restaurants — Restaurant in Santa Fe Springs

Steak Corral, Whittier: A Kings Ransom of Cheese Toast and the Ghosts of the American West

There are places we go for transcendence. For the sublime bite that lingers in the soul, reshaping our understanding of what it means to be alive, if only for a moment. Steak Corral is not one of those places. And yet… it is. In its own unapologetic, kitsch-laden, Wild West kind of way.

You don’t walk into Steak Corral. You arrive. Like a dusty gunslinger stepping off a tired horse in a forgotten frontier town where the whiskey is cheap and life even cheaper. Firearms hang from the walls—not the slick, soulless polymer frames of today, but cold steel relics that recall a bygone age when men settled disputes with lead, not litigation. This isn’t Texas, mind you. It’s Whittier. But for a moment, you could be fooled.

The ordering process is as much theater as it is transaction. You make your choices—steak, sides, drink—at the door, as if bartering at some open-air market on the edge of the known world. Then you pick your table. But you don’t sit at a table. You claim territory. And you are given a name, a role to play. We were Wyatt Earp. A lawman of dubious morality in a lawless world. My daughter—3 years old and wide-eyed—thought it was amazing. She slipped into the fantasy easily, as kids do. We lose that, don’t we? Somewhere between taxes and deadlines.

They bring you cheese toast. Not a slice, not even a basket—no, they bring you a kings ransom. A wealth of buttery, golden slabs that could topple empires if weaponized correctly. If you aren’t careful, you’ll look up from your plate to find an entire loaf has materialized, unbidden. There’s something about this place that makes you abandon caution. You surrender to the absurdity. You eat the toast.

The food comes quick. Suspiciously quick. In another life, I might have asked questions. Here, I don’t. The steaks? They’re just OK. But "just OK" is sometimes all you need when you’re wrapped in a cocoon of nostalgia, chewing on some half-baked myth of the American frontier. It’s filling. It’s inexpensive. And for a moment, it’s fun.

Steak Corral isn’t pretending to be something it’s not. There are no dry-aged ribeyes kissed by a Japanese binchotan flame. There’s no sommelier waxing poetic about the terroir of some obscure Burgundian vineyard. But there is joy. There is whimsy. And there is, if you squint hard enough through the haze of melted cheese and childlike wonder, something bordering on the profound.

We came in as tourists of a time that never really existed. We left as Wyatt Earp and kin, bellies full, laughing at nothing in particular.

And isn’t that...

I have gone to this restaurant often in the past. Cumulatively, I give them 4 stars. It is a moderately priced, old fashioned type of steak restaurant. Their menu is not extensive but they do have some alternate choices. They have steak, hamburger, chicken, chicken sandwich, and fish (the day I visited they were advertising salmon as the manager's special). The main entrees come with 2 sides. There is a nice variety of those from which to choose. I usually get the 5 ounce sirloin cooked medium. Along with that I get the salad bar and a baked potato. The salad bar is self serve and is a favorite of mine. It is not incredibly extensive but it has many items I enjoy. They have great ranch dressing. The salad alone is enough to fill me up. The baked potato comes "naked". The restaurant has a condiment bar that has mushrooms, green peppers, onions, gravy, barbecue sauce, cheese, sour cream, green onions, etc. and you dress your food yourself. The meal also comes with a slice of "Texas toast". I like this restaurant. I will continue to go there. However, on this visit I splurged for the more expensive and larger rib eye. I was a bit disappointed. I ordered it medium but I think it was medium rare. Not only that but it was charred on the outside. I like some char but it was a little too much for my taste. I do not like to waste food so I did not complain thinking they would take it away and make a new one, throwing the old one away. That was a decision that I made. Others may have decided to do differently. I will continue to go to Steak Corral. That was one unfortunate incident in a long line of satisfied visits. It was not a total loss. I brought my leftovers home and made a delicious soup out of them. If you are looking for moderately priced, old fashioned type of steak restaurant, I would suggest...

Where to start... No welcome from the very young, rude, bad attitude "server" or "Hostess"... waited 10 min before she Came over to take our order as I had to ask a customer waiting in line for the restroom if we start serving ourselves at the salad bar because no one came to help us even though she looked over 3 times and saw my roommate and I standing there looking at the menu. She comes over does not welcome us says nothing and just looks at us and says "you ready?"... we order, she says nothing and hands the table order and receipt... We continue through the salad bar and then we take our seats as there were no directions to place our order or pay. we sat there for another 40 minutes she continued to try to clean up the disgustingly dirty poorly display of buffet of sauces. I then said "excuse me" -(it took 3 times, she was ignoring us) and asked her over, she rolled her eyes and gave attitude, I asked about our food, she says We were supposed to take our order to the cook to pay and place and I told her but you did not tell us. Says nothing. it was the worst experience as we continue to get up and have salad and drinks to hold over... cook came running out to try to make anything better But never offered to come over and apologize as he wanted to clean the kitchen and go home. She never apologized... horrible environment... trash everywhere, "servers" were absolutely awful and should not be in customer service or food quality. Will never come back.... worst customer service ever by the young ladies... do better.. it's your job or find another job....