RFK Cuisine · Steakhouse · New York
Best Steakhouses in New York City 2026
Steakhouse · New York City · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
There is one order at Peter Luger, and the waiter places it for you: a single dry-aged porterhouse, carved tableside, by the number of people at the table. That refusal to complicate things is the spine of the New York steakhouse, a format this city has been arguing over and perfecting since the 1880s. The argument is livelier than ever in 2026 — a Williamsburg legend from 1887 holds the throne, a Michelin-starred Korean room in the Flatiron is the most exciting steak meal in town, an 1885 chop house still hangs its ceiling with clay pipes, and a no-sign West Village room serves the prime rib everyone whispers about. Across boroughs and centuries, these are the seven New York steakhouses worth booking now, ranked on the cooking, the room and what the bill buys, with what to order at each.
1.Peter Luger
The city's defining steakhouse since 1887; cross the bridge to Peter Luger for the dry-aged porterhouse and a slab of thick-cut bacon.
Peter Luger, at 178 Broadway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has been the standard against which every New York steakhouse is measured since 1887 — a worn, German beer-hall room where the menu is almost beside the point. You order the porterhouse by the number at the table, it arrives sizzling and carved, and the kitchen sources and dry-ages USDA Prime to a standard the imitators rarely match. Start with the legendary thick-cut bacon, take the creamed spinach and German fried potatoes, and finish with the schlag. After decades of cash-or-house-account only, Luger now takes credit cards and reservations. For the definitive New York steak, this is the pilgrimage. Book a week ahead for a weekend table and come hungry.
Reserve direct; the porterhouse for two, the bacon to start, creamed spinach and German potatoes.
2.Cote
The world's first Michelin-starred Korean barbecue; book Cote in the Flatiron for the Butcher's Feast and the city's most exciting steak meal.
Cote, at 16 West 22nd Street in the Flatiron, is Simon Kim's marriage of the American steakhouse and the Korean barbecue table — the first Korean barbecue room in the world to win a Michelin star, and a fixture near the top of the World's Best Steak Restaurants list. The kitchen dry-ages USDA Prime and wagyu in-house, then grills it at smokeless tables built into the dark, glamorous room. The Butcher's Feast — four cuts, an egg soufflé, stews and a spread of banchan — is the order for first-timers and the best-value way in. For the most dynamic steak dinner in New York, and a date that will not stop talking about it, this is the booking. Reserve on Resy two to three weeks ahead.
Reserve on Resy; the Butcher's Feast, an extra cut of dry-aged ribeye, and the soju service.
3.Keens Steakhouse
New York's oldest steak room and home of the mutton chop; book Keens for old-Manhattan atmosphere and the city's most singular cut.
Keens, at 72 West 36th Street in the Garment District, is the oldest steakhouse in New York, open since 1885, with a ceiling hung by tens of thousands of churchwarden clay pipes that regulars once stored on the premises. The signature is not a steak at all but the mutton chop — a huge, gamey saddle of lamb that no other room in the city does this well — though the porterhouse and prime rib are first-rate too. The warren of dark, memorabilia-lined rooms feels like dining inside the city's history, and the single-malt list is one of the deepest in town. For old New York with your beef, book it. Reserve on OpenTable a week ahead and ask for the Lincoln Room.
Reserve on OpenTable; the legendary mutton chop, creamed spinach, and a single malt to close.
4.4 Charles Prime Rib
The unmarked West Village prime-rib cult; chase a 4 Charles booking for the city's most coveted slow-roasted rib and a clubby, low-lit room.
4 Charles Prime Rib, at 4 Charles Street in the West Village, has no sign on the door and one of the hardest tables in the city — a tiny, dim, brass-and-leather room that turned the prime rib into a fixation. The slow-roasted rib is the order, served with a popover and a horseradish cream that regulars plan their month around, backed by a properly old-school martini and a tight, confident menu. From the team behind Au Cheval, it runs the Chicago-honed discipline of doing a few things flawlessly. For an intimate, special-occasion steak dinner downtown, nothing beats it — if you can get in. Set a reminder for the Resy window and pounce.
Reserve on Resy the second the window opens; the prime rib, the popover, and a dirty martini.
5.Gallaghers Steakhouse
The 1927 Theater District original with a dry-aging window on the street; book Gallaghers for a pre-show steak in checkered-tablecloth Broadway style.
Gallaghers, at 228 West 52nd Street in the Theater District, has grilled steaks over hickory coals since 1927, and its glass-fronted dry-aging room — visible from the sidewalk, stacked with red beef — is one of the great pieces of New York restaurant theater. Inside, the red-checkered tablecloths, the celebrity photos and the career waiters set a tone that hasn't chased a single trend. The dry-aged sirloin and the porterhouse are the orders, the hash browns mandatory. It is the quintessential Broadway pre-show steakhouse, equally good after the curtain. For a classic Midtown steak night before a show, book it. Reserve on OpenTable, earlier for a curtain time.
Reserve on OpenTable; the dry-aged sirloin, the hash browns, and the cheesecake.
6.Minetta Tavern
Keith McNally's Village classic and home of the Black Label Burger; book Minetta Tavern for a French-bistro take on the steakhouse with real glamour.
Minetta Tavern, at 113 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village, is Keith McNally's revival of a 1937 tavern, run as a glamorous French-leaning bistro that happens to serve one of the city's best pieces of beef. The famous Black Label Burger — a dry-aged blend that helped start the luxury-burger era — shares the menu with a serious côte de boeuf for two and a roster of bistro classics, all delivered in a dark, photo-lined room thick with downtown energy. It is the pick when you want a steakhouse-grade meal inside a livelier, more stylish room than the genre usually offers. For a buzzy Village dinner, book it. Reserve on Resy ahead, more for a weekend.
Reserve on Resy; the Black Label Burger or the côte de boeuf for two, and the pommes purée.
7.Hawksmoor
London's best steakhouse, transplanted; book Hawksmoor near Gramercy for dry-aged grass-fed beef and the city's best steakhouse cocktail program.
Hawksmoor, at 109 East 22nd Street near Gramercy, brought Britain's most respected steakhouse group to New York, and the transplant landed cleanly: a grand, high-ceilinged former bank hall serving dry-aged, grass-fed beef cooked over charcoal in the British style. The bone-in prime rib and the porterhouse are the orders, but Hawksmoor's edge is its bar — a cocktail program that is genuinely the best of any steakhouse in the city, plus an excellent Sunday roast that no American room attempts. For a steak dinner that takes its drinks as seriously as its beef, this is the booking. Reserve on Resy a few days ahead and start with a Shaky Pete's Ginger Brew.
Reserve on Resy; the bone-in prime rib, the beef-dripping fries, and a cocktail from the long list.
How New York eats steak
The New York steakhouse splits along an old fault line. The classics — Peter Luger, Keens, Gallaghers — trade on a century of practice, dry-aging their own prime beef and serving it with the city's signature sides and zero apology for the format. The modern wave — Cote, Hawksmoor, Minetta Tavern — bends the genre toward Korean barbecue, British charcoal and French bistro, and these are the rooms drawing the city's most competitive reservations. 4 Charles sits in its own lane, a downtown cult built on a single perfect prime rib. What unites them is in-house dry-aging and a refusal to overcomplicate: the best steak in New York is still a great cut, cooked hard, served with bacon and spinach.
Geography spreads them across the map. Williamsburg holds Peter Luger across the East River; the Flatiron and Gramercy have Cote and Hawksmoor; Midtown keeps Keens and Gallaghers near the theaters and the Garment District; and Greenwich Village has Minetta Tavern and 4 Charles. Book the modern stars and 4 Charles as far ahead as their windows allow, and treat the bars at Keens and Hawksmoor as real fallbacks. Order one steak fewer than you think — portions here are built to share. For everything beyond steak, the New York dining guide maps the city by neighborhood and occasion.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for a serious New York steak
The Times Square tourist chains. The big-name steakhouse chains clustered around Times Square and the theaters cook competently and charge like the originals without earning it. For the same money, any room on this list ages better beef and serves it with more conviction. Walk a few blocks to Keens or Gallaghers instead.
The hotel-lobby steak, for the experience. Plenty of Midtown hotels run a fine, forgettable in-house steakhouse for the expense-account crowd. They are reliable but characterless. If the steak is the point of the night rather than the convenience, cross town — or the river — for one of the rooms above, where the room is part of the meal.
Frequently asked
What is the best steakhouse in New York City?
Peter Luger in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is the city's defining steakhouse — open since 1887, famous for a single dry-aged USDA Prime porterhouse for two carved tableside in a German beer-hall room. For the modern best, the Michelin-starred Cote in the Flatiron reinvents the format as Korean barbecue and ranks among the world's best steak restaurants. Choose Luger for the legend, Cote for the most exciting steak meal in town.
Does Peter Luger take reservations and credit cards?
Yes to both now. Peter Luger takes reservations and, after decades of cash or its house account only, began accepting credit cards in 2022. The single order to make is the porterhouse for two, three or four, ordered by the number at the table, with the bacon to start, creamed spinach and German fried potatoes alongside. Book a week or more ahead for a weekend table in Williamsburg, and bring an appetite — portions are enormous.
Which New York steakhouse has a Michelin star?
Cote, Simon Kim's Korean steakhouse in the Flatiron, is the dedicated steakhouse carrying a Michelin star in the current New York guide — the first Michelin-starred Korean barbecue restaurant in the world. The other rooms on this list earn their place on history, dry-aging and consistency rather than stars. Star counts change year to year, so confirm Cote's status on the Michelin Guide before treating it as guaranteed.
What is the most historic steakhouse in New York?
Keens Steakhouse in the Garment District, open since 1885, is the city's most historic — home to the legendary mutton chop and a ceiling hung with tens of thousands of churchwarden clay pipes once stored for regulars. Peter Luger, from 1887, is nearly as old, and Gallaghers from 1927 still ages its beef behind a glass window on West 52nd Street. For a sense of old New York with your steak, book Keens and order the mutton chop.
What should I order at a New York steakhouse?
At the classics, order the dry-aged porterhouse or rib steak, the thick-cut bacon, creamed spinach and hash browns, and a martini. At Peter Luger, the porterhouse for two; at Keens, the mutton chop; at Cote, the Butcher's Feast; at 4 Charles, the prime rib; at Minetta Tavern, the Black Label Burger or the côte de boeuf. Steaks here are sized to share, so order one fewer than you think and add sides.
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