Peter Luger

[Becket]

I love a good steak, specifically a porterhouse or T-bone. Peter Luger has been on my bucket list for ages, but I am a rare visitor to NYC. You might have read that a NYTimes restaurant critic tore them a new one in a recent review. For those who have eaten there, any merit at all to the review, or just another snarky piece trying to sell newspapers? It's not a cheap place to eat but I don't mind splurging for a memorable meal from time to time. Inclined to go eat there anyway if I ever get the chance. Thoughts?

[+ nycman]

It’s about time someone said it.

 

The emperor has no clothes.

 

The service is rude, the ”atmosphere” is boring, the food is mediocre, and the prices are ridiculous.

 

Undoubtably, people will continue to flock there and continue to be disappointed.

 

Have fun!

[edjames]

AND...they don't take credit cards!

Alas, the Times review shocked many but many native NYer's knew it all too well.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

PL used to be great... A long, long time ago.

 

Too many great steakhouses in Manhattan to even consider Luger.

[+ g56whiz]

PL used to be great... A long, long time ago.

 

Too many great steakhouses in Manhattan to even consider Luger.

Names! We want names @Benjamin_Nicholas!!

[+ g56whiz]

A long, long time ago, I was invited to join some Asian friends for dinner at Peter Luger. They were coming from their business; I was coming from home. They miscounted and arrived before me with exactly the number of diners they had reserved for. I was confronted at the door and made to wait outside on the front portico while the matter was addressed. I shared that portico with two young, large, cigar smoking goombahs from New Jersey in the carting business. I got tired and left before these two would be Tony Sopranos argument over who hauled the most yardage turned violent. Actually I prefer the Greatneck Peter Luger out on Long Island. No evident goombahs.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Names! We want names @Benjamin_Nicholas!!

 

I gotcha covered...

 

Gallagher's on 52nd. Classic, delicious.

 

I love Frankie & Johnnie's because it's got good memories for me and is easy to do pre or post-show.

 

Palm Too on 2nd. Less crowded than theatreland and all the charm of the now-closed original across the street.

 

Delmonicos on Beaver

 

Some of my favorite places I've had steak aren't really steakhouses. La Boite en Bois serves a mean steak au poivre and Raos in Harlem does an italian-style steak at least once a week on special.

[+ g56whiz]

I gotcha covered...

 

Gallagher's on 52nd. Classic, delicious.

 

I love Frankie & Johnnie's because it's got good memories for me and is easy to do pre or post-show.

 

Palm Too on 2nd. Less crowded than theatreland and all the charm of the now-closed original across the street.

 

Delmonico

Some of my favorite places I've had steak aren't really steakhouses. La Boite en Bois serves a mean steak au poivre and Raos in Harlem does an italian-style steak at least once a week on special.

You do indeed!

 

I started working in NYC in Hanover Sq. Delmonico's was around the corner but I was on a McDonald's budget paying off college debt. I knew I was working too hard when I realized late on Sunday night that I had eaten three meals that day at the Killarney Rose Bar and Grill across the street from my office. I also worked for a time across the street from Smith & Wollensky on Third Avenue. I thought it was good but not good enough for the prices they charged. Courtesy of some generous clients, I did get to enjoy the original Palm Too on Second Avenue. I was working late in my office on Park Avenue half a block away from Sparks's Steak House the night in 1985 that John Gotti had Paul Castellano offed. But in that neighborhood, my friends and I preferred Ben & Jack's on E 44th. We went often enough to be treated as family.

 

In my time in NYC, Raos was a money laundering vehicle for the mob. There were/are only 10 tables and they were booked for decades in advance yet the weekly turnover per table was astronomical. The IRS finally took "corrective action" in the 90's in believe. I smirk each time a pass a display of their "gravy" on the shelves of my local HEB. I'm told its actually good bust so so good as my own I'm sure.

 

La Boite en Bois IS wonderful especially before a Lincoln Certre event. But for theater district dining I prefer Tout Va Bien on W51st Street off of 8th Avenue. It reminds me of the one start (or less) places I used to frequent whilst stationed in France before DeGaulle kicked us out in 1967. I had my first bouillabaise at . It's unpretentious and friendly especially after the theater when actors and crews filter in and one of the old owner/waitresses starts in on the Edith Piaf repertoire sounding exactly like the diva did.

 

Well @Benjamin_Nicholas thanks for bringing back great memories of the days before I fled to Laredo.

[+ purplekow]

A long, long time ago, I was invited to join some Asian friends for dinner at Peter Luger. They were coming from their business; I was coming from home. They miscounted and arrived before me with exactly the number of diners they had reserved for. I was confronted at the door and made to wait outside on the front portico while the matter was addressed. I shared that portico with two young, large, cigar smoking goombahs from New Jersey in the carting business. I got tired and left before these two would be Tony Sopranos argument over who hauled the most yardage turned violent. Actually I prefer the Greatneck Peter Luger out on Long Island. No evident goombahs.

I have had a great steak there in the past with a now retired Parker Williams. That one time aside, the half dozen times I have been there since have been fair and then more recently not at all good. I agree, Delmonico's is good and I was a fan of Spark's Steakhouse. Of course G56 probably would not like it there as he apparently has difficulty dealing with we of Italian extraction.

[MidwestCoastal]

If you want the Peter Luger from its heyday, I highly recommend Wolfgang's Steakhouse (and no, its not Wolfgang Puck).

 

Wolfgang Zwiener was head waiter at Peter Luger's for over a decade back in the day.

 

Greats steaks, great sides, great drinks. Several locations in NYC (and elsewhere). Even though it is now a global 'chain', it doesn't feel like it!

 

http://wolfgangssteakhouse.net/

 

I went to Peter Luger's like seven years ago... Worse expensive steak dinner I have ever had.... Rude waiters, cash only, rust stained drop down ceiling.... Gross.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

La Boite en Bois IS wonderful especially before a Lincoln Certre event. But for theater district dining I prefer Tout Va Bien on W51st Street off of 8th Avenue. It reminds me of the one start (or less) places I used to frequent whilst stationed in France before DeGaulle kicked us out in 1967. I had my first bouillabaise at . It's unpretentious and friendly especially after the theater when actors and crews filter in and one of the old owner/waitresses starts in on the Edith Piaf repertoire sounding exactly like the diva did.

 

I think we should have an entire food discussion dedicated to simple, solid French eateries in NYC

 

When you mentioned Tout, a fantastic place and great selection, it reminded me also of La Veau D'or, a place I loved eating at as a kid and continued to love when I visited the city as an adult. Glad to see they kept it open with a change in the guard.

[+ g56whiz]

Of course G56 probably would not like it there as he apparently has difficulty dealing with we of Italian extraction.

Hopefully not PK. But I DO make judgements as observed in the following conversation I overheard decades ago in the locker room of the old Chelsea Gym at 18th and 8th. Two guys, evidently partners, were discussing their differing ethnicities. The tall handsome and muscular one says “We Italians gave the world Dante, DaVinci, Michelangelo and” at which point and without missing a beat his Nordic partner interrupted with “And the carting industry!”

 

I’ve enjoyed the warmth of many Italian weddings and Christenings courtesy of my buddy Vinnie and his extended family. I’ve spent too many nights at the Met Opera to not love Verdi, Rossini, Bellini, Leoncavallo, Mascagni or Donizetti (but not so much Puccini). I love Tuscany and the Savoy. I entertain dinner guests with a wicked Putanesca or Fra Diavolo sauce (pun intended) or Ed Giobbi’s exquisite Lasagna.

 

What I don’t like are those who debase themselves and their heritage my mimicking the worse traits of their culture. To me they are goombahs and I’ll forego my PC credentials to say so.

Edited November 4, 2019 by g56whiz

[samhexum]

I love a good steak, specifically a porterhouse or T-bone. Peter Luger has been on my bucket list for ages, but I am a rare visitor to NYC. You might have read that a NYTimes restaurant critic tore them a new one in a recent review. For those who have eaten there, any merit at all to the review, or just another snarky piece trying to sell newspapers? It's not a cheap place to eat but I don't mind splurging for a memorable meal from time to time. Inclined to go eat there anyway if I ever get the chance. Thoughts?

The service is rude, the ”atmosphere” is boring, the food is mediocre, and the prices are ridiculous.

PL used to be great... A long, long time ago.

Actually I prefer the Greatneck Peter Luger out on Long Island.

I have had a great steak there in the past with a now retired Parker Williams. That one time aside, the half dozen times I have been there since have been fair and then more recently not at all good.

 

Peter Luger Fills Its Empty Seats With Celebrity Mannequins From Madame Tussauds

Wax figures of Audrey Hepburn, Jon Hamm, Jimmy Fallon, and Al Roker will be stationed at the restaurant through March 1

 

AND...they don't take credit cards!

The wax figures are the latest in Peter Luger’s fight to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, an ongoing effort that’s moved the restaurant to offer delivery and accept credit cards for the first time in 133 years, among other changes. The restaurant is currently open for takeout, delivery, outdoor dining, and reduced capacity indoor dining.

 

 

 

 

[samhexum]

On 11/1/2019 at 3:28 AM, Becket said:

Peter Luger has been on my bucket list for ages, but I am a rare visitor to NYC. You might have read that a NYTimes restaurant critic tore them a new one in a recent review. For those who have eaten there, any merit at all to the review, or just another snarky piece trying to sell newspapers?

 

On 11/1/2019 at 9:35 AM, nycman said:

It’s about time someone said it.  The emperor has no clothes. The service is rude, the ”atmosphere” is boring, the food is mediocre, and the prices are ridiculous.

 

On 11/1/2019 at 3:36 PM, g56whiz said:

I prefer the Greatneck Peter Luger out on Long Island.

 

Approximately three years after receiving a scathing zero-star review from The New York Times, Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn has been stripped of its Michelin star.

While the news about Peter Luger, which was one of three NYC institutions to lose a Micheline star as Carbone and Marea also lost theirs, was somewhat surprising, it really shouldn’t be a massive shock as the writing has kind of been on the wall about the stodgy steakhouse for awhile now. There is still clearly a time and place for a cash-only joint with overpriced plates and rude waiters, but there’s also no need to pretend those are requirements of a fine-dining establishment in 2022.