Monumental steaks and roasts are nothing new — indeed, many restaurants across America offer titanic slabs of meat as a playful challenge, like the 72-ounce Texas steak once immortalized on the TV show “Man V. Food.” But dedicated, yet discerning, carnivores know all too well when ordering such a meal that quantity may outweigh quality, thus rendering your feast more of a chore than an indulgence. Fortunately, patrons agree this is not the case at New England Steak and Seafood Restaurant in Massachusetts, which offers a 50-ounce “Flintstone cut” of slow-roasted prime rib au jus, prepared the same way for over 60 years.
Located in Mendon, New England Steak and Seafood focuses on traditional regional cuisine. The cozy, ambience-heavy eatery’s most tempting menu item is so named for the unwieldy mountain of meat so weighty, it memorably overturned Fred Flintstone’s car in the credits of the eponymous animated sitcom. While not quite matching the cartoonish dimensions, the Flintstone cut is nevertheless an intimidating endeavor, which can be served either house-style or blackened with secret “steak magic”.
Appearing on the TV show, “The Phantom Gourmet,” John Quirk Jr. — who co-owns the restaurant with his brother James after inheriting it from their father — boasted its enviable reputation for top-quality prime rib sets the restaurant apart from others and it’s made the old-fashioned way every night. Quirk added that what truly makes the difference is the dark, luxuriant, pan-prepared jus made daily, which accompanies the meat. This market-price offering can be further augmented with caramelized onions, scampi compound butter, or mushroom or béarnaise sauce.
A place for presidential-quality prime rib
Despite decades of success, New England Steak and Seafood Restaurant had a difficult genesis. When attempting to fund its opening, John Quirk Sr. was denied and told it would never work in Mendon, per an interview with Milford Daily News. Nevertheless, the restaurant opened its doors in 1956. Seventy years of ensuing success have demonstrated how erroneous those financial institutions were in their skepticism…