The Dynamo Room is a relatively new steakhouse located in the Penn District, right next to Madison Square Garden and in the heart of the area. The whole area feels like Times Square, considering how there are a lot of police presence with a lot of crowds. The restaurant seats 200 people, and I was easily able to make a reservation at 5:30 PM for 4 people without any issues. What initially attracted me to this restaurant was the summer restaurant week menu. For $45, it seemed like a good deal, especially given that the items seem to represent their normal menu.

Restaurant Week is notorious for it’s multi-course offerings that feature items that aren’t on their respective restaurant’s menus. Here’s a fun tip. Steak places are typically a really good bang for the buck as they typically offer you things on their menu. As a way to chill out and celebrate solo, I went to Benjamin Prime. I walked in on a Friday around 4:30 PM without any issues alone. They asked if I wanted a table for 1 or sit at a bar, and I asked for a table which they accommodated. This location is a very close walking distance from Bryant Park.

Crane Club is located across the street from Chelsea Market. It’s being led by executive chef Melissa Rodriguez, who formerly oversaw Al Coro, which earned 2 Michelin stars at one point. This restaurant is under the Tao Hospitality Group, which oversees some upscale trendy hot spots like Hakkasan, Lava, and TAO Asian Bistro. We were able to make a reservation for the dining room very easily for 5:30 PM on a Friday night. This restaurant’s food was meant to be unapologetically fancy.

Gui caught my attention because it offered a baked Alaska and prime rib. What I did not realize was that this restaurant had some folks with a track record of good Korean foods. Chef Sung Chul Shim comes from Kochi and Mari. Pastry chef, Sarah Smith, comes from many fine kitchens including Le Bernardin and Le Rock. The reservation was very easy to reserve for a 5:15 PM dinner on a Friday night. The restaurant is located on the second floor, but you check in on the first floor.

La Tête d’Or by Daniel is a tribute to timeless flavors and traditions with infusion of French flavors. What attracted me with this restaurant was that chef Daniel Boulud has a pretty decent track record of delivering good refined flavors. We went to Le Gratin previously, and we were very impressed by the taste of everything. As usual because he also holds some type of celebrity status, this restaurant is located in a posh area very close to Eleven Madison. I was able to book a reservation about a week out for 5:30 PM on a Friday night.

Hawksmoor is a London restaurant that has a few other locations in the U.S. This is the first New York City location. In the UK, Hawksmoor is known for its food integrity, drinks, and visually appealing dining areas. They claim they have found the perfect way to cook steaks. One of the biggest appeals for me was they have a “Sunday Roast”, which is supposed to be a heavy Sunday meal. I had to make a reservation for this restaurant a few weeks in advance since the Sunday roast was only served on Sundays in the early-mid afternoons.

Michael Mina is an award winning chef and restaurateur that currently runs and operates over 40 restaurants worldwide. He opened this restaurant in the JW Marriott Essex House, right across from Central Park south and near Columbus Circle. This is his love letter to the classic American steakhouse. Bourbon Steak has multiple locations in the United States, so it’s not an entirely new restaurant. I picked this restaurant particularly because of their prix fixe menu that seems to give a pretty good spread of what this restaurant has to offer.

Monkey Bar is a restaurant from the same people that are behind Au Cheval and 4 Charles in NYC. The Monkey Bar has a rich history dating back to the 1930s, where it formerly served New York City’s upper social class. In 2022, it reopened under the ownership of the 4 Charles team, and they created a menu that was very similar to the aforementioned restaurants. I was craving for prime rib, so I wanted to give this a try since I am reluctant to snipe 4 Charles reservations.

This restaurant is a fairly close walk east of Rockafeller Center. I stumbled onto this restaurant as I was looking for something new and solo-friendly for a Saturday. It turns out that this restaurant has a Friday/Saturday prime rib prix-fixe menu, which has my attention. For $65 per person, you get 3 courses: a caesar salad, prime rib with french fries, and a choice of dessert. That doesn’t seem like a bad deal to me. We were able to make a reservation for 5 PM on a Friday night with no hassle.

Vinyl Steakhouse has been a steak place that I’ve been wanting to go for quite some time. The Flatiron area has been experiencing many new restaurant openings post pandemic, and this was one of them that was appealing. Similar to Turntable Chicken Jazz, this restaurant has a load of vinyls on display, and it plays music as requested. We were able to walk in on a Friday around 6:30 PM without reservations for 2. They seated us at the front of the restaurant.