Gallagher's Steakhouse
Gallaghers is a steakhouse located in the Midtown area near the Theater District. Similar to other Midtown steak places, this has been around for a while, and it has a very old school feel. I had been here many years ago, but I never took pictures nor tried it with my partner. We were able to walk in for 2 at around 9:30 PM on a Thursday night, and we sat at the bar. Even though the bar area can get crowded, these classic steakhouses an accommodate small parties without much issue if there’s room.
Ambiance & Service
The interior has that classic steakhouse feel, similar to Keens or Old Homestead. The bar tenders have probably been there for years, and it has this Prohibition-era vibe to it.
Sitting at the bar, the bartenders are always very attentive and quick at taking your order. The service once ordered was very quick, even when busy.
Food
September 16, 2018 - First Visit
The cream of spinach tastes like Lawry’s. The horseradish cream was good. The prime rib not as good as Keen’s.
April 2, 2026 - Second Visit
The Borgo Scopeto “Borgonero” ($20) came from Tuscany, Italy, 2022. This red wine was medium body with some luscious black cherry, vanilla, and leather notes to it. It was a great complement for this price point with steak.
The Jumbo Lump Crab Cake ($27) came with cucumber salad and remoulade. All the ingredients in this are very familiar, so the big question was how was the crab cake. The crab cake tasted OK. There was a lot of crab meat in it, but it tasted as if it was frozen, so it just didn’t taste super fresh. To this day, my favorite crab cake still is at The Grill.
The 14 oz Filet Mignon ($72) was ordered medium rare. The steak was cooked perfectly, adn it was tender with good flavors from the hickory grill. There was an interesting char on the outside, where I thought the glaze was kind of waxed on. The flavor of the filet mignon was decent, though I tend to prefer the NY strip for flavor.
The Hash Browns ($14) came on this hot plate. It was pretty crispy, though some edges of it were burnt. The hash browns were also heavily soaked in butter and aggressively salted. If you were drunk, this probably would taste pretty good. For the opposite, I felt pretty thirsty after eating this, even though I enjoyed some of the burnt edges. To this day, our favorite hash browns for reference is at Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami.
Overall Impression
Gallaghers has been an overall decent steak place. It’s definitely not my favorite old-school steakhouse, but it’s right next to the theaters and has decent cuts of steak.
Yelp & Google Jabs
I’m not sure I get their tomato and onion salad. The two slices of white onion were a half-inch thick - just entirely too much raw onion to the amount of tomato. Even for this girl. Is it meant to be a salad? They bring it with dressing!
This Elitist hasn’t eaten at many steakhouses. It is meant to be a salad or steakhouse side dish, paired with something meaty like the thick-cut bacon slices. Many of the steakhouses, especially in Manhattan, serve this, so it’s not just a Gallaghers-only thing.
I’ve walked by this place for decades, and always said to myself “one day…I’ll go”. Well that day came. A casual lunch with co-workers, during restaurant week, seemed like the perfect time to go.
This Elitist went on to complain about some of the food that they received. The fact of the matter is that the food during restaurant week is likely to be different than their normal menu. The best way to try any restaurant week’s food is to ensure the menu items are from their normal menu. When they make things that are off menu, they’re just looking to get foot traffic into the restaurant.
Revisions
- Apr 2, 2026 - Second visit.
- Sep 16, 2018 - Initial revision.