Last week, my brother and I had a discussion on who has the best steakhouse in the Dallas area. He insists it’s Three Forks restaurant, another colleague of mine claims the title belongs to Mignon in Plano, and personally I’m undecided.

So, this week I’m on a quest to find the Best Steakhouse in the Dallas area. The prize? Absolutely nothing, except maybe some dignity and a little publicity on our primo blog.

The criteria? I’ll rate everything from the atmosphere, to the service, and obviously the food. But mostly the food. There’s no scoring system or any of that nonsense. I’ll just pick a winner at the end, whenever that may be.

Today I visited Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse, across the street from RD2. Their exterior signage is ostentatious and can be seen from space, and we walk by it nearly every day when we’re heading down to restaurant central. I decided they’d be the first restaurant in my test of trials.

I was seated promptly (I told the server I was on “a quest” and she seemed okay with me being insane), the restaurant was clean and only moderately noisy — mostly full of business men and women. We’re off to a good start. Speed of service is critical.

The first thing I ordered was a chips and salsa appetizer. Why? Because a restaurant’s food quality can easily be measured by judging how they prepare simple dishes like chips, bread, soups, and so on. If they can’t bake bread properly, then how in the world are they going to prepare a steak? You get the point.

The appetizer was great. The chips weren’t heavy or greasy, and the salsa had a sweet, tangy flavor and was only mildly spicy. Overall, I think this steakhouse serves up a better combo of chips and dip than most Mexican restaurants I’ve been to.

The next item up was a simple salad with the house dressing. The salad itself was obviously pre-made. Nothing special — just some spinach and greens surrounded by sliced tomatoes. Despite that, the dressing was perfect. It was a cilantro vinaigrette that tasted like no other dressing I’ve had before. It was also tangy, and slightly spicy.

My main course was an 8oz. top sirloin steak. I chose the top sirloin because it’s my favorite cut of steak and it’s what I commonly order at a steakhouse, so it’s easy for me to compare.

The steak was cooked just I had requested — medium rare, and cooked evenly on all sides. It was super-juicy, easy to cut, smelled great, and tasted even better than it looked. The steak was presented next to a side of mashed potatoes that had a hint of barbecue flavor (not my thing), and a bed of vegetables that included zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers. With the exception of the mash, everything was seasoned perfectly. I prefer less gravy with my food, so that’s the only change I would’ve made to the dish.

Lastly, I had some banana pudding, compliments of the house. This was an unexpected surprise, and although I’m not a fan of pudding, the banana dessert tasted pretty good. It was warm and a little wafer adorned the top (I love wafers). I had only a few bites but only because I was so full from the steak.

Overall, it was a good experience. The total tab was about $20 (the steak was $15). If you’re ever downtown, stop by Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse.