F’s Steak House was a longtime restaurant located at 125 S.E. Fourth Street in Downtown Evansville, Indiana. For more than four decades, F’s was one of the city’s best-known dining establishments before closing in 1993.

Despite its name, F’s became notable for much more than steaks. The restaurant holds an unusual place in Evansville culinary history as the first known restaurant in the city where diners could order Chinese food, reportedly offering Chinese cuisine roughly two decades before Evansville’s first dedicated Chinese restaurant opened.

F’s recruited Chinese cooks, including John Koon Hep Chong, who worked at the restaurant for 16 years before his family opened the House of Chong in 1977. Other Chinese chefs were brought to F’s from places including Indianapolis and Hong Kong, helping establish a culinary lineage that later spread to other Chinese restaurants around Evansville.

F’s was remembered as an upscale dining destination, with white tablecloths, dark wood-paneled dining rooms and formal service. Chinese appetizer platters, egg rolls and shrimp dishes became part of the restaurant’s reputation alongside its traditional steakhouse fare.

By 1990, F’s was still prominent enough to be listed among Evansville’s notable restaurants alongside Haub’s House and Darryl’s in a national radio-market guide.

F’s Steak House closed in 1993, ending a run of more than 40 years. The historic building survived and was later occupied by Jaya’s Authentic Foods, which preserved portions of the former F’s dining space.

Today, F’s Steak House is remembered as one of Evansville’s classic lost restaurants and, perhaps unexpectedly, as an important part of the early history of Chinese cuisine in the city.

Quick Facts

Name: F’s Steak House
Location: 125 S.E. Fourth Street, Evansville, Indiana
Type: Steakhouse / Chinese-American dining
Years in operation: More than 40 years
Closed: 1993
Known for: Steaks, formal dining and introducing Chinese food to Evansville
Category: Lost Evansville