What you need to know:

How to Choose Steak Knives for Your Restaurant

Buying steak knives for your home kitchen is one thing. Then there is buying them by the box for a restaurant, making sure you have enough knives that perform well and can stand up to going through the dishwasher multiple times each service.

When you’re choosing commercial steak knives, paying attention to the edge type, tip and handle will all impact their upkeep, use and how they fit into your service setup. This guide will help you know what you’re looking at.

How to Choose Steak Knives for Your Restaurant

Serrated or Plain Edge

Serrated versus plain-edge restaurant steak knives: which is better? A serrated edge has a saw-like, toothed edge, while plain or straight-edged blades have a smooth continuous surface.

	Serrated edge	Plain edge
Cutting style	Uses a sawing motion to cut through seared meat and crust.	Slices through meat with a clean slice.
Ongoing care	Needs little regular maintenance.	Benefits from regular honing to keep sharp.
Sharpening	Slow and difficult process across a large set.	Easier to hone and regrind.
Useful life	Often replaced once performance drops.	Can last for years with regular maintenance
Best suited to	Venues prioritising convenience.	Venues prepared to maintain their knives.

Restaurants tend to lean towards plain-edge knives as they give a clean cut through meat and can be sharpened on a steel or stone, while serrated knives are usable for longer, but typically need to be replaced once blunt.

Why Are Steak Knives Serrated?

The serration on steak knives is designed to easily break through the browned outside of a steak without needing to be frequently honed. As the teeth can easily puncture the outside of the meat, guests don’t need to press down as hard, which helps keep the soft interior from being crushed.

Should Steak Knives Be Serrated?

It really depends on the preference and maintenance expectations. While they do cut through meat easily without having to press down and have less contact with plates to reduce dulling, the teeth can shred meat fibres, which can squeeze out the beautiful meat juices.

Point Tip or Round Tip

Both point tip and round tip restaurant steak knives cut meat effectively. Which you choose may come down to the presentation, safety and how your guests and staff will handle them during the service.

Pointed-tip knives have a more traditional steakhouse look, so they often suit venues wanting to achieve a more premium table setting. They also make it easier for guests to cut closely around fat and bone.
Round-tip knives are more practical for busy pubs, clubs and function spaces. They’re typically gentler on plates, safer for staff clearing crowded tables and are less likely to be used for opening packaging.

You can compare both styles in AGC’s Cavalier range or browse our complete range of commercial steak knives.

Handle Materials and How They Hold Up

Knife handles need to both be comfortable to use and be able to cope with how your kitchen washes its cutlery. Different finishes and materials can have very different feels and performance, such as:

Pakkawood, which has the look and feel of timber, but with improved durability, but may need to be hand washed.
Riveted timber suits rustic and premium table settings, although repeated heat and moisture are not ideal on the timber and joins.
Bakelite is durable, lightweight and suited for busier venues.
Moulded synthetic materials are easy to clean and available in a wide range of colours and finishes.
One-piece stainless steel has no handle joins, helping avoid food or moisture collection and can handle regular washing.

Compare Tablekraft’s pakkawood, black-handled and stainless steel options, or Arcos steak knives for timber and moulded handles

Why Steak Knives Rust in a Commercial Dishwasher

Rust spots can happen if knives are left dirty or damp for too long, are exposed to excessive detergent or chloride, or are washed beside carbon-steel utensils that have already started to rust. More acidic or salty foods can also damage the protective surface on stainless steel knives.

To help reduce rust spotting on steak knives:

Rinse off salty or acidic food residue before it dries
Keep stainless steel knives away from rusting carbon-steel utensils
Check each cutlery basket is clean and free of exposed metal
Use the correct detergent as per the care details
Avoid packing knives too tightly when washing
Remove and dry knives promptly after each wash

Having the right commercial warewashing equipment can also make sure you're putting your knives through the right conditions.

Are steak knives dishwasher safe?
It ultimately comes down to the specific model and how you take care of them. A full-stainless, bakelite and suitable moulded-handle knife tends to stand up much better to the high heat and detergents used in a dishwasher.

Can You Sharpen a Steak Knife?

Yes, plain-edge steak knives can be honed with a steel and resharpened on a stone. It’s one of the reasons they’re so popular with restaurants. Sharpening serrated knives is harder, requiring each individual groove to be sharpened with a tapered rod. It’s common for restaurants to maintain plain-edge knives and replace any blunt serrated knives.

How Many Steak Knives Should You Buy?

When you’re ordering restaurant steak knives, avoid making the mistake of ordering one knife per seat. A practical starting point is covering peak steak orders per sitting, plus knives needed while a batch is being washed, with a 10% to 20% buffer for loss and breakage.

An 100-seat restaurant that only serves 35 steaks per sitting will need a completely different quantity to another venue with the same capacity serving double the amount of steak dishes. AGC’s range includes boxes of 6 and 12, so you can order to match your needs with a good number of backups.

How to Choose Steak Knives for Your Restaurant