Claim Jumper, where the beef is this week

Thus, the best quality cuts of beef from the hindquarters of animals priced at more than $15 and the ambience of steakhouses, sports bars, Western-theme places and family restaurants at which they are cooked and served in the Valley will be featured here every week.

"Steik" is an Old Norse word derived from a culture of tall, hairy, scarred men who demanded meat resemble their greatest battles: huge and full of juice.

The 24 oz. porterhouse steak at Claim Jumper, served with a giant onion ring, along with choice of potato, mixed vegetables and bread, is the Valhalla of meatiness and well worth the $30 price tag.

Imagine ordering this thick, medium well T-bone delight that dominates a plate and spews savoriness with every bite, as it is doused in its own juices and with a scoop of garlic butter, almost too savory.

Being served a $30 cut of short loin to devour in front of envious and disgusted bystanders is,  for lack of a more suitable word, "mantastic."   

The steak was aged 28 days, so at least take enough time to savor the flavor of the beef at its prime before scarfing it down, as tempting as it is to walk away from the feast with agony from battle.

Show some meat savviness. Eat light if the porterhouse steak is on the docket for the evening. Expect to wait 20 to 25 minutes for the steak to be prepared, so either order early at about 7 p.m. or expect to stay behind sometime before closing at 10 p.m. until every morsel is gone.

Claim Jumper, with its homey, classy, almost Western ambience, the lodge cabin-esque quality and dim lighting of which create an overwhelming sense of comfort, is the ideal restaurant at which to eat an entire 24 oz. porterhouse steak and a pint of New Castle at the bar after a long work week.