Ribeye is the traditional name in United States. Outside that tradition, butchers carry comparable beef cuts under different names — sometimes the same anatomical piece, sometimes a close cousin. The alternatives below are grouped by country so you can match what your local butcher actually carries.
The same muscle — the prime rib is the bone-in roast while the ribeye is the boneless steak cut from the same section; roasting on the bone imparts additional flavour.
The tomahawk is a ribeye with the full rib bone left intact; the meat is identical
Both are premium loin-adjacent steakhouse cuts suited to high-heat cooking, but ribeye has significantly more intramuscular fat and a richer flavour while strip is firmer and beefier.
Anatomically attached — the rib cap is the spinalis dorsi muscle that sits on top of the longissimus dorsi (the main ribeye muscle). On a bone-in roast or whole ribeye it's part of the same cut; sold separately, it's the prized outer crescent removed from the eye.
A regional cut, the dish that defines it, and a side-by-side comparison — straight to your inbox.
Free. Roughly monthly. No tracking pixels.