Can the Texas Government Change the Name of the New York Strip Steak?

Forget about egg shortages and the soon-to-be-exorbitant cost of coffee. Apparently, a much more serious issue is facing our food industry today: whether or not we should rename the New York strip steak.

Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick ruffled feathers — or err, riled up the herd — when he announced on Friday, February 28, that he plans to rename the popular cut of beef, usually called a New York strip, as a Texas strip. “Just because a New York restaurant named Texas beef a New York Strip in the 19th century doesn’t mean we need to keep doing that,” the Republican official said in a post to social media platform X. “The Texas Senate will file a concurrent resolution to officially change the name of the New York Strip to the ‘Texas Strip’ in the Lone Star State.” 

If it’s not immediately apparent, focusing on changing the name of a steak is a trivial obsession — one that might seem even more absurd if there weren’t so many other urgent issues to tackle. However, this is a deliberate distraction — one that’s conveniently timed: Patrick’s crusade to rebrand the strip steak comes at a time when the Texas government is confronting a severe measles outbreak that has now reached at least 159 cases, resulting in the first measles-related death in the United States in a decade. 

Amid his lengthy tweet, the Baltimore-born Lieutenant Governor claims that “Liberal New York shouldn’t get the credit for our hard-working ranchers,” referring to Texas’ status as the state with the most cattle production in the country.

As a liberal Texan and New Yorker who lived in the Lone Star State for the first 18 years of my life, I consider myself uniquely qualified to respond to this assertion: Dan Patrick, there is no confusion here about what a New York strip steak is. I have yet to meet someone who assumes this title means that it’s from a cow raised in New York. 

I respect and love Texas beef, and I appreciate the logic of sticking to the universally recognized name given to this cut of meat. For anyone concerned about the potential for confusion when looking at steakhouse menus down south, I’m pleased to inform you that this social media post is unlikely to have any sort of significant impact.

What is a New York strip steak?

This premium cut of meat comes from the short loin of a cow, a muscle located near the animal’s spine and in the middle of its back. Because this muscle isn’t used much, the steak is known for its tenderness. If you’ve ever had a T-bone steak, it actually includes a New York strip — on one side of the T-shaped bone that gives this cut its name is the New York strip, and on the other, smaller side is a portion of the tenderloin.

“New York strip” is the most common name for this cut of meat, but it’s not the only one out there. It’s sometimes called the ambassador steak, Kansas City strip, or a club steak when it still has a bone attached.

As The New York Times notes, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly who named the New York strip. Many online stories attribute the steak’s popularization to the New York City steakhouse, Delmonico’s, which claims it offered the steak on its menu in the late 19th century. Whether or not Delmonico’s was the first to serve a cut called the “New York strip,” the steak became beloved in its city during this time, leading to the name that many of us now recognize.

Can the Lieutenant Governor actually make people call this a Texas strip steak?

I have excellent news: No, he cannot.

Even if Dan Patrick’s proposed resolution is passed, it will not be an enforceable law. In his tweet, the Lieutenant Governor notes that “The Texas Senate will file a concurrent resolution to officially change the name of the New York Strip to the ‘Texas Strip’ in the Lone Star State.” 

Concurrent resolutions are a type of bicameral legislation, meaning they are passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. According to the U.S. Senate website, “concurrent resolutions are generally used to make or amend rules that apply to both houses. They are also used to express the sentiments of both houses.” Most importantly, a concurrent resolution does not carry the force of law behind it. It simply serves to express the views or feelings of both houses. Even if this resolution is passed, Texas restaurants cannot be coerced to change the name of this steak on their menus.

Is this something Texans actually care about?

Patrick ostensibly proposed this resolution in an attempt to promote the cattle industry in Texas. The state is the largest producer of beef in the country, with a staggering 4.3 million cows as of 2025. It’s unclear why the Lieutenant Governor believes that giving the steak a new title would encourage people to purchase more Texas beef than they currently do, considering that its New York name refers to where the cut was popularized, rather than where the beef was from. “New York strip” has stuck with the steak for over a century not because people are passionate about New York beef, but instead simply because they need a generally recognized name to identify a familiar cut.

Despite being born and raised in Texas, where I resided for 18 years and visited multiple times annually, and in light of having nearly my entire family residing there, I have, inexplicably, never encountered anyone expressing a desire for the New York strip steak to be referred to as a Texas strip.

If you’re a Texan who has always been pining for a steak named after the Lone Star State, please let me know — and you can still call this cut of meat whatever you like in your own home or restaurant. But be warned, I have a feeling that if you put “Texas strip steak” on your menu, you’ll end up with a lot of people asking what that is. And the easiest answer is to say that it’s a New York strip.