Here's Exactly How Travis Kelce Orders His Steak

Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes' much-anticipated Kansas City steakhouse started making headlines ahead of its September 17, 2025, opening. Reservations went fast for the launch of 1587 Prime, a mashup of their jersey numbers, and it was fully booked a month out. However, if you ever happen to snag a table, and Kelce and Mahomes are there with the Kansas City Chiefs celebrating a victory, make no mis-steak, Kelce's steak preference is a love story that not every dad, Chad, and Brad steak purist is going to appreciate. The footballer revealed to People, "I'm a medium guy. I like a medium. Hot pink center all the way through." 

For some chefs, this level of doneness causes distress. If they aren't the ones eating it, you may wonder why they care so much. Well, a chef is like an artist. The steak is the canvas, and they want to show off their technique for cooking a perfect medium-rare steak. If a grill master were to prepare a steak medium or well-done, they may find themselves questioning their own skills. As a steak cooks, it loses moisture; its texture changes; and so does the flavor. The longer it cooks, the less juicy and succulent it becomes, and no chef wants to be accused of feeding someone a dry steak. 

But before Travis Kelce gets a bad reputation amongst foodies for the way he likes his steak prepared, consider this: The USDA says for safety and quality, steaks should be cooked until they have an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. A rare steak doesn't even get close to that temperature. It generally reaches somewhere between 125 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit. While its texture may be considered buttery and tender, it also looks bloody and raw.

In contrast, a steak cooked medium may be teetering up against the line of well-done, but it doesn't cross it. In fact, a medium steak is cooked to the safe internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. This ensures yucky bacteria die, but you still get a tasty flavor and texture without lots of the red juices, which can be a turnoff. Many people of note prefer a steak that is cooked beyond rare, so be strong like Kelce and don't give in to culinary peer pressure. You like what you like. Even the steak orders of former presidents run the gamut from rare to well-done. While president Ulysses S. Grant liked to order his steak well done, Barack Obama likes his medium-well, and Jimmy Carter liked his rare. To each his or her own.