Where Does Peter Luger Rank Among the Best Steakhouses?
PART 1: PETER LUGER (SHORT REVIEW)
Easily, an all-time Top-10 classic steakhouse experience tonight at Peter Luger’s at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. I dined at the PL Brooklyn-Williamsburg location many years ago and this dinner tonight does that flagship restaurant honors.
With Scott Wilson and Warren Dombowsky, both in town visiting from Vancouver (pictured above).
Steak for three, a giant porterhouse we couldn’t finish, German style potatoes, garlic broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, and salad appetizer, blueberry margaritas and a bottle of fabulous Italian Barolo. Then, the apple strudel with mountains of fresh whipped cream on top followed by a roll down the wheelchair ramp out the door.
Did I say top 10? ….. (edit) hmm, this might have been top five-all-time in steak—that’s how great this Peter Luger’s experience was and it will be hard to top this for an A-list meal on the Las Vegas Strip. It’s rare for such a classic name in dining to match all the hype, but Peter Luger’s delivers, and then some.
Grade: A
PS-I forgot to mention we were singing The Police’s “Everything Little Thing She Does is Magic” as we rolled out the door.
PART 2: MY TOP-5 STEAKHOUSE EXPERIENCES
In the previous post, I wrote glowingly of Peter Luger at Caesar’s Palace, the fourth to open in the franchise. One comment by Linda Keenan (from New Orleans) asked about my best steak experiences. As promised to her, here’s my list. Naturally, this will reflect only the places I’ve lived and visited and isn’t meant to imply these are the best-five steakhouses:
(1) N9NE at the Palms (Las Vegas)
Yeah, this is a ridiculous #1 choice, so allow me to explain. When someone asks me, what’s the best steak I’ve ever tasted, it was at the N9NE. About 20 years ago, I was dragged kicking and screaming to a pre-BARGE poker dinner at N9NE. At the time, this was known as “Britney Spears’ favorite restaurant.” Local gossip columns covered her every move and the pop princess was seen dining in there regularly–and we all know what a reliable food critic Britney Spears is–right? It was trendy. It was loud. The tables were pushed way too close together. Plastic chairs. Indifferent attitude from staff. I hated everything about this restaurant. Fuck this place, but I had to suppress my displeasure and go because the group made a reservation.
Seated and grumpy, I ordered a standard ribeye steak and wasn’t prepared for the delight on the culinary horizon. It was a truly stunning sensory experience. I mean, I just sat there. Unable to speak. If I was Jesus, I’d have wept. Holy steak! I don’t know what it was exactly about the meat, maybe the cut, the exquisite preparation–but it smashed my anti-bias and won me over. Britney was right!
Soon thereafter, oops–I did it again. I just had to see if that supreme cut at the N9NE steakhouse was a lucky one-time deal, and that meant me making a return visit.
About two weeks later, I took Marieta to N9NE. I didn’t say much about it, as I didn’t want to influence her opinion. Marieta may not look the part of a carnivore, but she’s a steak hound. She loves a great steak. We ordered and when she lifted that first bite to her moist lips and began to chew, I could see ecstasy on her face. This was the Penthouse Letters of meat.
N9NE closed down in 2017. I visited a few more times, and always enjoyed a perfect steak there. Hated everything else about the place, but they sure did carve and serve a great steak!
(2) KEENS (New York)
This NYC icon has been open since Grover Cleveland was President, and I think he might have been our server on the night of my one and only visit . I won’t rehash this review of my visit to Keen’s back in 2015 (which is posted below–click link to read in full, with more photos). However, if everything about a classic old-world steakhouse were to be blended into a unique and comprehensive experience, Keen’s knocked it out of the park. Ambiance, service, white tablecloth, booths, comfort, taste, exceptional quality, and some great company that night likely influenced this spot leaping into the top-5 and likely remaining there forever.
(3) SMITH AND WOLLENSKY (Miami Beach)
I made many trips and lots of work visits to South Florida, mostly staying in West Palm Beach, which I got to know well since I dined out every single night (11 years, times 14 nights annually = est. 140 dinners). The corridor from WPB down to Miami is perhaps my favorite selection of restaurants of anyplace I’ve visited and places where I’ve spent lots of time dining out–with heavy concentration on Italian and seafood. But one doesn’t think of “steak” and “Miami.” S&W is a chain of ten restaurant locations, and I’d eaten at the Las Vegas location multiple times. We were in Miami and decided to dine along the waterfront and saw the S&W was open. Florida dining habits are a bit unusual, as there’s always an early rush (mostly seniors, who come and eat at 5 pm–early bird specials are everywhere, which are a great all-inclusive value in semi-fine dining). We ate much later, so the dawn fell over the bay, outdoor seating, a gentle breeze, and then the food delivered an epic experience. The steak and sides on this particular night were exceptional. Of all the chains, this is my favorite, and the Miami location was the best of the three locations I’ve tried.
(4) RUTH’S CHRIS / MORTON’S OF CHICAGO (multiple locations)
These selections will probably get me kicked off the snob foodie club, but I’ve never had anything less than a B+ meal at either Ruth’s Chris, the classic New Orleans-based chain, or any Morton’s of Chicago restaurant. I can’t count how many visits I’ve done (probably 40-50) and each experience met high expectations. I think the RC at Harrah’s New Orleans is the best, and I’ll also go with the Morton’s at Caesars Atlantic City (not sure if either locations are still there). I’d downgrade the Morton’s here in Las Vegas on Flamingo. It’s good, but not quite up to par with the other locations.
(5) PETER LUGER (Las Vegas)
I’ve done two locations, one time each. As noted in another post, I thought both were exceptional.
(Honorable Mention) SIZZLER (Carson City, NV)
Finally, the kicker to the “greatest steakhouse” list and stories. About 25 years ago, Marieta and I were driving from Reno to Lake Tahoe, and passed through the main street in Carson City, Nevada’s state captital. It was lunchtime and we pulled into the local Sizzler. I’ve always thought Sizzler was a solid economy steak, certainly satisfying for the money. We ordered a couple of filets, and — much like the N9NE story above — when we tasted the cuts they were blow away delicious. We just sat there in a daze. I couldn’t believe how awesome that steak was. I think the whole meal was maybe 15 bucks, and that included sides and the salad bar.
We spoke to the manager who informed us that particular Sizzler location uses local beef and they are all free range cattle. I’m not sure what else they did to the cuts so far as aging, grilling, seasoning, etc. but whatever they did there in Carson City made it as good as any steak I’ve enjoyed. Marieta had the same reaction, so it wasn’t just me being hungry.
Over the years, we stopped in a few more times and the steaks there were always particularly tasty. Unfortunately, I haven’t been up there in several years so I can’t testify as to its current status. But yeah, Sizzler almost makes my Top-5.
Other Notable Steakhouses and Grades (Most Memorable):
Bazaar Meats by Jose Andres (Sahara Las Vegas) …. A
Delmonico’s (Venetian Las Vegas) …. A
Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse (New Orleans) …. A
Morton’s of Chicago (New Orleans) …. A
Dakota on Akard (Downtown Dallas) …. A-
Sage Room (Harvey’s Lake Tahoe) …. A- (closed)
Old Homestead Steakhouse (Caesars) …. A- (closed)
Prime (Bellagio Las Vegas) …. B+
SW (Wynn Las Vegas) …. B+
Vic and Anthony’s (Golden Nugget Las Vegas) …. B+
Triple George Grille (Downtown Las Vegas) …. B
Circus Circus (Las Vegas) …. B
Sparks (NYC) …. B
Hugo’s Cellar (Four Queens Las Vegas) …. B
Morton’s of Chicago (Georgetown-WDC) …. B
T-Bones (Red Rock Las Vegas) …. B
Golden Steer (Las Vegas) …. B-
Morton’s (on Flamingo Las Vegas) …. B-
Herbs and Rye (Las Vegas) …. C+
Binion’s (Downtown Las Vegas) …. C
Hope you enjoyed the steakhouse memories. Feel free to share your own, if you wish!
