Question of the Day - 30 August 2024

We receive this question fairly regularly. We answered it around a year ago. So we recounted to see if anything has changed. 

And it did. 

Arizona Charlie's steak-and-eggs breakfast special was first listed in the July 1995 Top Ten. Today, it's pretty much the same meal -- two eggs, a small charbroiled steak or a big ham steak, hash browns, and toast available 24/7 (at the Decatur location). Back then, it cost $2.49. But in November 2021, the price started going up from the $5.99 it'd been for many years. It's now $10.99 with a players card, $11.99 without, and hasn't been in the Top Ten since then. So that makes 26 years and four months total as a Top Tenner. The last time we answered this question, AZ Chaz' breakfast special took the prize for the most longevity.

But since then, the Ellis Island complete steak dinner has squeaked into the lead.

It showed up in December 1997 and the 10-ounce filet-cut cooked-to-order top sirloin, salad, potato, garlic bread, and dinner rolls cost a ridiculous $2.95. Something of a steak-dinner competition was going on at the time, but even then, the quality, quantity, and price of this meal deal were unmatched. Also, it was served 24 hours a day. Even the mighty Binion's Horseshoe, with its own $3 steak dinner (which had been raised from $2), didn't dare make it available all day (that one was strictly a graveyard special). The price has gone up from time to time, so it sat out for the required month or two, but barring those anomalies, the Ellis Island steak dinner has been in the Top Ten all this time: 26 years and eight months, counting the September Top Ten. 

So Ellis Island now has four months more on the Top Ten than Arizona Charlie's. It's unlikely another Top Ten will ever take EI's place for longevity.