Peter Luger’s steak house has been around for a very long time. At one point, it even had a Michelin Star. Many tourists always recommend eating here and rave about it. The locals though on the other hand are rather indifferent. People have told me that their steaks suck and that their best dishes are their appetizers. Others have told me it’s the best steak they ever had. Does it really live up to the hype? Time to find out.
Ambiance
This is more often a tourist trap than a local place since it’s difficult to get to if you don’t live or commute near the JMZ train. The interior hasn’t changed much since the times I’ve gone. It feels very old school pretentious. Many people here still exude that Sopranos vibe. If you want to try this restaurant with a group, definitely make a reservation, or you may be waiting long unless you prefer late nights. The restaurant will not seat your party unless they are all present.
The restaurant did lose its Michelin Star which wasn’t surprising. The food was ok, but the service can’t really be spoken positively about. The waiters bustle and hustle throughout the restaurant, and you don’t really get exceptional service. It’s just like a regular diner type experience, where they take your order and they give you your food. The waters were not filled up quickly, and the interaction between servers was inconsistent.
Lastly, this place still only accepts Peter Luger credit/gift cards or debit cards. This is perhaps the more annoying part about this restaurant in that they continue to stick to their older ways of doing things when society has advanced forward.
Food
They gave us lots of bread and butter. If you came here to eat steak, be careful about eating too much bread.
Because we ordered sliced tomato and onions, they gave us Luger’s own sauce (top right). More on that later.
The Large Sizzling, Extra Thick Bacon ($8.95 per slice) came hot and extra thick. The bacon compared to the last few times I’ve been here has been pretty consistent. I do not think it’s a “must get”, but it’s decent and not too fatty. The char is nice, but it’s not anything special compared to other steak house bacons.
The Sliced Onion & Tomato with Luger’s Own sauce (for 1, $10.95; for 2, $17.95). I believe this order was for 2. The price is rather steep for simply onions and beef tomatoes, but the sauce (see picture here) was really good. It reminds me of a very wet, liquid version of a cocktail sauce for shrimp. The difference is you can basically put it on everything, including bread and steak. The sauce has some horseradish flavors in it, but they were not strong at all.
The Porterhouse for 3 ($212.85) came medium rare. The steak was already cut up and served on a hot plate. The oil and butter with the jus added flavors. The steak was already seasoned, so you for some it can taste pretty good already. The Luger sauce though really gave it extra umami flavors. You can taste the aging of the steak, and it was charred very nicely. It’s definitely a good steak. For 4 people, we ended up bringing the 2 bones and 2 pieces of meat back since it was a decent amount of food, and we wanted room for dessert.
The side of French Fries (for 1, $8.95; for 2, $17.95) was fried to a crisp and seasoned well.
The Apple Strudel ($14.95) came lukewarm with a side of sweet cream. The cream was not excessively sweet, but tasted great with the strudel. It also was a great substitute for sugar for coffee. The strudel itself was one of the better ones I’ve had, albeit, there wasn’t anything particularly amazing about it. It did remind me a bit of apple pie, but I wish it was slightly warmer than what they served it at.
Final Verdict
Peter Luger’s steak house is a pretty good steak house for what it is. The food here is fairly consistent, but I feel the price is starting to hike up a bit. Because this is a hard place to get to via metro, do not feel like missing out if you decide on a different steak restaurant in the city. There are other restaurants that have better steak. If you haven’t been here and you’re in the area, by all means check it out.
Revisions
- Apr 11, 2024 - Updated pictures and context with another visit.
- Sep 16, 2018 - Added an additional comment about how mediocre this restaurant is.
- Dec 16, 2012 - Initial revision.