Best Steakhouses in Provo & Orem, Utah Valley (2026)

Food & Drink August 13, 2026 13 min read ✓ Updated August 13, 2026

Abigail Giordano Senior Writer, Provo.com

Utah Valley does not have one steakhouse scene. It has five, they overlap barely at all, and choosing between them by rating alone produces a bad evening about half the time.

A Brazilian churrascaria and a small Argentinian dining room both serve grilled beef and are otherwise nothing alike — different pacing, different pricing model, different noise level, different reason to go. A teppanyaki table is a show. A national chain is a known quantity on a Tuesday. The classic Western chophouse is its own thing entirely.

So this guide is organized by format first, because that is the decision you are actually making.

Format one: the classic Western chophouse

Ruby River Steakhouse at 1454 South University Avenue in Provo is the long-standing valley answer here, and it has the review volume to prove it — approaching three thousand ratings, holding around 4.1.

The room does the classic Western lodge treatment: warm lighting, wood, the sort of setting that reads as an occasion without demanding a jacket. Reviewers consistently single out the garlic peppered ribeye, the filet, the peppered bacon sirloin and the baked potato and rolls, and just as consistently mention portion size. It handles banquets and catering, which tells you something about the scale of the operation.

Hours run 11:00am to 9:00pm Monday through Thursday, to 9:30pm Friday and Saturday, and — unusually for this category in Utah Valley — it opens on Sunday, 1:00pm to 7:00pm. That Sunday window makes it one of the few real steak options on the valley's quietest restaurant day.

Phone is 801-371-0648.

Format two: Brazilian churrascaria

Two rooms, both fixed-price, both all-you-can-eat, both closed Sunday.

Tucanos Brazilian Grill, 545 East University Parkway in Orem, is the larger of the two and one of the highest-volume restaurants in the whole valley — over six thousand ratings at around 4.5. Open 11:00am to 10:00pm most of the week, to 11:00pm Friday and Saturday, closed Sunday.

Rodizio Grill Brazilian Steakhouse, 4801 North University Avenue in Provo, sits up at the Riverwoods end with mountain views and a room that handles events well — rehearsal dinners come up repeatedly in reviews, along with accommodation of vegan and gluten-sensitive guests. Around 4.5 across nearly three thousand ratings. Hours are tighter early in the week, 5:00pm to 8:00pm Monday through Thursday, opening at 11:30am Friday and Saturday to 9:00pm, closed Sunday.

The format rewards a specific strategy. You pay one price and meats keep arriving on skewers until you signal otherwise. The salad and hot bar is genuinely good and is also, economically speaking, a trap — the restaurant is entirely happy for you to fill up before the picanha arrives. Go hungry, pace it, and treat the sides as punctuation.

It is also the best group solution in the valley. A fixed price per head removes the bill-splitting negotiation, and both rooms are built to absorb a table of twelve without visible strain.

Format three: Argentinian

This is where the valley's most interesting steak cooking currently sits.

La Vaca SteakHouse, 1145 North 500 West in Provo, holds a 4.9 across more than four hundred ratings — an unusually high figure for any restaurant, let alone a steakhouse. Owner Julio Gonzalez is a visible presence in the room, which comes up in review after review. The signature is the entraña, the skirt steak, and it is the thing to order on a first visit. Reviewers also single out the empanada trio, the calamari, the mussels and clams, and the desserts.

Hours are dinner-only: 4:30pm to 9:00pm Monday through Thursday, to 9:30pm Friday and Saturday, and 4:00pm to 8:00pm Sunday — one of the few upscale steak options open at all on Sunday.

Asado Argentinian Grill and Cafe, 360 South State Street Suite 153 in Orem, is the larger, more casual Argentinian option — around 4.4 across nearly three thousand ratings, with the barbecue combos designed to feed several people and chimichurri that gets specifically praised. Open 11:00am to 9:00pm most days, to 10:00pm Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6:00pm Sunday. Parking is the recurring complaint; the food is not.

The distinction from the Brazilian rooms matters: these are a la carte restaurants where you order a plate. The meal is quieter, shorter and generally cheaper unless you are a genuinely large eater.

Format four: teppanyaki

Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse, 777 East University Parkway in Orem, is a 4.7 across more than seventeen hundred ratings, which is remarkable for a format that trades partly on spectacle.

The chef cooks at your table with the full repertoire of tricks, and the reason to go is the shared experience. Reviewers describe it as the birthday and anniversary venue, note the generous portions of steak, chicken and shrimp, and mention the filet mignon specifically. It is more expensive than a chain and reviewers generally judge it worth the difference.

Hours: 4:30pm to 9:30pm Monday through Thursday, 4:00pm to 10:00pm Friday, 3:30pm to 10:00pm Saturday, closed Sunday.

The practical note is that the format works better with a group. A teppanyaki table seats several parties together, so a couple will likely share the grill with strangers — fine for some, not for others. A table of six or eight books the whole grill and gets the experience it is designed around.

Format five: the chains, and the budget end

Texas Roadhouse, 1265 South State Street in Orem, is the mid-market default at 4.3 across more than five thousand ratings. Open 3:00pm to 10:00pm Monday through Thursday, 11:00am to 11:00pm Friday and Saturday, and 11:00am to 10:00pm Sunday. The mid-afternoon weekday opening catches people out.

Outback Steakhouse, 372 East University Parkway in Orem, is the other national option, around 4.1 across roughly twenty-five hundred ratings, open seven days.

Sizzler, 1385 South University Avenue in Provo, is the budget answer and the one that surprises out-of-towners who thought the brand had disappeared. It pairs a steak with a salad bar that reviewers still rate, sits around 4.0 across more than two thousand ratings, and is open every day — 11:00am to 9:00pm, to 10:00pm Friday and Saturday.

La Jolla Groves at 4801 North University Avenue in Provo occupies a different bracket again — a fine-dining room that serves steak among other things, at the valley's higher price point, with a long track record as an anniversary destination. Around 4.1 across roughly fifteen hundred ratings, and reviews are more mixed than the others here: the service and setting draw consistent praise, individual dishes less consistently. Closed Sunday.

The Sunday problem, stated plainly

Utah Valley closes on Sunday to a degree that genuinely disorients visitors, and the steak category is one of the worst affected.

Closed Sunday: Tucanos, Rodizio Grill, Tepanyaki, La Jolla Groves.

Open Sunday: Ruby River (1:00pm to 7:00pm), La Vaca (4:00pm to 8:00pm), Asado (noon to 6:00pm), Texas Roadhouse, Outback, Sizzler.

If you are visiting for a weekend and Sunday dinner is the celebration meal, that list is the whole decision. Our guide to restaurants open on Sunday in Provo covers the pattern across every category, because it is not confined to steak.

What to order, by room

A short version for people who want to be told:

Ruby River — garlic peppered ribeye, and take the baked potato.
La Vaca — entraña. If you are sharing, add the empanada trio first.
Tucanos — go hungry, ignore the hot bar until you have eaten meat.
Rodizio Grill — same discipline, and book if your party is large.
Asado — a barbecue combo for the table, extra chimichurri.
Tepanyaki — filet mignon, and bring people.
Sizzler — steak and the salad bar, which is the entire point.

Prices, and the honest bracket

Most of the valley's steak options sit in the moderate bracket rather than the expensive one. Ruby River, La Vaca, Tucanos, Rodizio, Asado, Tepanyaki, Texas Roadhouse and Sizzler all read as mid-range by price indicator; La Jolla Groves sits a tier above.

This is worth saying because the assumption that a steakhouse is automatically the most expensive meal in town does not hold here. A churrascaria at a fixed price for a large appetite is frequently better value per calorie than a mid-range Italian dinner, and Sizzler is cheaper than most casual sit-down restaurants in Provo.

Where cost climbs fast is the independent upscale room on a Friday with appetizers and dessert, which is a different evening being priced differently.

How this fits the rest of the valley's food

Steak is one slice of a food scene that has changed sharply over the last decade — a shift traced in our history of Provo's food scene. The pattern visible in this category is the same one visible elsewhere: national chains cluster on University Parkway and State Street in Orem, while the distinctive independent cooking has concentrated in Provo, frequently in small rooms run by people who are physically present.

La Vaca at 4.9 is the clearest example of that. It is not the biggest room, the cheapest option or the best known outside the valley, and it is currently the highest-rated steak in it.

Game days change everything

Two of the busiest rooms in this guide sit within a short drive of LaVell Edwards Stadium, and a home football Saturday reshapes the whole University Avenue and University Parkway corridor.

The practical effects are consistent: waits stretch, parking near University Parkway becomes competitive, and the group-friendly rooms fill with parties of ten. If your steak dinner happens to fall on a home game, either book well ahead or eat considerably earlier or later than the crowd. Our game-day dining guide covers the pattern across the valley and the timing that works.

The same logic applies to graduation weekends and to the stretch around Education Week, when the valley's restaurant capacity is tested by visitor numbers it does not otherwise carry.

Reservations, waits and the size of these rooms

The independent rooms are small. That is the thing to internalize.

La Vaca is a compact dining room, and its rating reflects a level of attention that does not scale to walk-in volume on a Friday. Tepanyaki seats parties around shared grills, so table availability moves in blocks rather than by cover. The chains and the churrascarias absorb walk-ins far better, which is part of what you are buying.

If a specific evening matters — an anniversary, a birthday, out-of-town parents — call ahead. If you are deciding at 6:30pm on a Tuesday, the chains and Sizzler will seat you and the independents may not.

Early-week hours are the other trap. Rodizio does not open until 5:00pm Monday through Thursday and closes at 8:00pm. Texas Roadhouse does not open until 3:00pm on those days. Tepanyaki and La Vaca are dinner-only throughout. A steak lunch on a Tuesday is a much shorter list than a steak dinner.

Dietary needs, which this category handles better than expected

Steakhouses sound like the least accommodating restaurants in a valley with a lot of dietary requirements, and in practice several here are well set up.

Rodizio Grill draws specific praise for accommodating vegan and gluten-sensitive guests at events, which is a meaningful thing for a churrascaria to manage. The salad and hot bar format at both Brazilian rooms gives a non-meat-eater a genuinely full meal rather than a side plate, which is more than most conventional restaurants offer. La Jolla Groves is noted by reviewers for knowledgeable gluten-free handling.

If someone in your party has a restriction, the fixed-price bars are usually the safer group choice, because the person who is not eating steak still eats well rather than paying full price for vegetables.

Alcohol, and why the answer varies

Utah's alcohol rules distinguish between a restaurant license and a bar license, and the practical consequence for diners is that at a restaurant, a drink accompanies a food order rather than standing alone.

Beyond the licensing tiers, a substantial number of Utah Valley restaurants simply choose not to serve alcohol at all, which is a business decision rather than a legal one and is common enough here to be the default assumption. Outback lists a bar; several of the independents do not serve.

Because individual licenses change and the category is inconsistent, the reliable move is to check with the specific restaurant rather than to infer from the type of food. Our drinks guide for Provo explains how the tiers work and where the exceptions sit.

What is missing from the valley

Worth naming, because people arrive looking for it: Utah Valley does not have a dense high-end steak district of the kind Salt Lake City supports. The upper bracket here is thin — a handful of rooms rather than a scene — and the depth is instead at the middle, where the Brazilian and Argentinian formats give the valley more variety per capita than most places its size.

That is a fair trade rather than a deficiency. The valley's strongest steak experiences are format experiences: a churrascaria with eight friends, a teppanyaki table for a birthday, a skirt steak in a small room where the owner brings it out himself. None of those is trying to be a Manhattan chophouse, and the ones that chase that comparison are not the ones with the highest ratings.

A note on reading ratings here

Rating counts in this category vary by two orders of magnitude, and comparing a 4.9 to a 4.5 without looking at the denominator produces bad decisions.

Tucanos carries over six thousand ratings. La Vaca carries a few hundred. Both numbers are real, and they mean different things: a very high average across a small base tells you that the people who go love it, while a strong average across a very large base tells you the room performs consistently under volume. For a once-a-year anniversary, the first is the better signal. For a Tuesday with visiting relatives and no appetite for risk, the second is.

The other thing volume hides is variance. Large rooms produce more bad nights in absolute terms simply because they serve more people, which is why a 4.3 chain and a 4.5 churrascaria can feel similar in practice.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best steakhouse in Provo?

It depends entirely on which format you want, which is the real answer rather than a dodge. For a classic Western chophouse with a full dining room, Ruby River on South University Avenue is the long-standing Provo answer. For a small, chef-driven Argentinian room where the skirt steak is the signature, La Vaca on North 500 West holds one of the highest ratings of any restaurant in the valley. For all-you-can-eat skewers brought to the table, Rodizio Grill sits at the north end of University Avenue. Those three are genuinely different evenings at genuinely different prices.

Which steakhouses are open on Sunday?

Fewer than you would expect, and this catches out visitors constantly. Both Brazilian churrascarias close for Sunday service or restrict it — Tucanos in Orem is closed Sundays outright, and Rodizio Grill in Provo is also closed Sunday. Tepanyaki in Orem is closed Sunday. La Jolla Groves is closed Sunday. What stays open is the chain and classic end: Ruby River runs a shorter Sunday afternoon and early evening service, Texas Roadhouse and Outback both open Sunday, and La Vaca opens Sunday afternoon into the early evening. Always check before driving.

Is Brazilian churrascaria worth it?

If you are hungry and unhurried, yes, and if you are neither, no. The format is a fixed price for continuous table service of skewered meats, so the value equation depends entirely on appetite and pace. Tucanos in Orem and Rodizio Grill in Provo both run it. The mistake first-timers make is loading up at the salad and hot bar before the meat arrives, which is exactly what the economics of the format anticipate. It also makes a strong group and celebration venue, which is why both places handle large parties well.

Where should I go for an anniversary or a genuinely special occasion?

La Vaca is the current enthusiast answer in Provo — small, owner-present, and rated exceptionally highly for a room that size. La Jolla Groves at the Riverwoods sits in the fine-dining bracket at a higher price point with a long history as an anniversary destination. Tepanyaki in Orem is the choice when the point is a shared experience rather than the steak itself, because a teppanyaki table is a performance. All three take celebration seriously, and all three are closed Sunday.

Is there a good steakhouse for a large group?

The Brazilian rooms are built for it. Rodizio Grill handles rehearsal dinners and large events and has the space and the mountain views to match; Tucanos in Orem is one of the highest-volume restaurants in the valley and absorbs big tables comfortably. The fixed-price format also solves the group-bill problem, since everyone pays roughly the same regardless of what they ate. For smaller upscale groups, book ahead — the good independent rooms in Provo are not large.

Can you get a steak dinner in Utah Valley without spending a lot?

Yes, at the two ends. Sizzler on South University Avenue in Provo remains the budget answer and pairs a steak with its salad bar; it is also one of the few in this category open seven days. Texas Roadhouse in Orem is the mid-market chain default with early-week hours starting mid-afternoon. Both are considerably cheaper than the independent rooms, and neither is trying to be anything other than what it is.

What is the difference between Argentinian and Brazilian steak here?

Service model as much as cooking. The Brazilian churrascaria is all-you-can-eat, with meats carved from skewers at your table at a fixed price. The Argentinian rooms — La Vaca in Provo, Asado in Orem — are conventional a la carte restaurants centered on grilled cuts and chimichurri, with entraña, or skirt steak, as the signature order at La Vaca. You order a plate rather than being served continuously, and the meal is quieter and usually shorter.

Do Utah Valley steakhouses serve alcohol?

Some do, under Utah's licensing rules, and several do not. Utah's system distinguishes restaurant licenses from bar licenses, and a restaurant license requires food to be ordered with a drink. Because the rules and individual licenses change, and because the valley has a high concentration of restaurants that choose not to serve at all, this is worth confirming with the specific location rather than assuming from the category. Our drinks guide covers how the licensing tiers work in practice.

Abigail Giordano

Senior Writer

Abigail Giordano is a senior writer at Provo.com covering student life, family resources, and community events across Utah Valley. Her writing focuses on making Provo more accessible and navigable for newcomers, students, and families — the practical guides that help people feel at home faster.

The Best Steakhouses in Utah Valley: Every Format, and Which One You Actually Want