About

A project to eat at every steakhouse in New York City and rank them.

One steakhouse every two weeks. With each visit: one Manhattan cocktail, one shrimp cocktail, one filet mignon,  one side of creamed spinach, and one slice of New York cheesecake — scored out of 100, updated twice per month.

There is no shortage of steakhouse coverage in this city. Eater has lists, the Times has reviews, every food publication runs its annual roundup. What seems to be missing is a single project that visits all of them, scores each one by the same rubric, and produces a real, defensible ranking.

The hypothesis is simple. Order the same things at every steakhouse, judge them by the same rules, write up each visit with care, and the resulting list is more useful than any individual critic's gut take. It is also, I hope, more fun to argue with.

It will take roughly three years, so I should be complete mid-2029.

The Rules

Each visit is scored across categories totaling 100 points.

Manhattan

The bar program test. Spirit, vermouth, dilution, cherry, glassware.

10 pts

Shrimp Cocktail

Kitchen basics. Snap, sauce, presentation.

10 pts

Filet Mignon - the control

Execution on the lean cut. Crust, doneness, seasoning, presentation.

30 pts

Creamed Spinach

The control side. Bechamel, nutmeg, texture.

10 pts

New York Cheesecake

The pastry program test. Texture, crust, restraint.

5 pts

The Room

Atmosphere, noise, comfort, that ineffable steakhouse-ness.

10 pts

Service

Knowledge, warmth, pacing.

10 pts

Extras

Bread, butter, the small touches.

5 pts

Value

Did the bill match the experience?

10 pts

Total

100 pts

Every visit gets a full scorecard.

A note on substitutions: where a steakhouse doesn't carry an item from the standard order, the following substitutes apply, in order of preference. Shrimp cocktail → lump crab cocktail → oysters on the half shell. Creamed spinach → creamed corn → vegetable gratin. NY cheesecake → the house signature dessert.

The Manhattan and the filet are required; any qualifying steakhouse has both.

What counts as a steakhouse

A restaurant qualifies if and only if both of the following are true:

1. It self-identifies as a steakhouse — in its name, on its website, or in its press materials.

2. The menu is structured around the steak format: la carte cuts listed by weight, sides ordered separately, a serious cocktail and wine program.

Both tests, not either.

This excludes great-steak-but-not-a-steakhouse restaurants - Minetta Tavern, Balthazar, the Polo Bar, Carbone. They serve excellent beef. They are not steakhouses, and reviewing them under this rubric would be miscategorization.

It includes hotel steakhouses, modern chef-driven ones (Cote, 4 Charles Prime Rib, Quality Meats), and one location of each national chain (Capital Grille, Del Frisco's, Vastro's). For chains with multiple NYC locations, one location is reviewed — the one that can serve the full order.

The full canon — 74 restaurants by current count, drawn from all five boroughs — is on the Atlas page. If something belongs and isn't there, let me know.

The Author

My name is Kevin. I live in Manhattan, and I've loved steak - and in particular the steakhouse experience - for as long as I can remember. The steakhouse is a quintessential New York City institution, and one of its most exacting. A great one does a narrow thing perfectly: a few cuts, cooked precisely, served in a room that has often done it the same way for a hundred years. This project is an appreciation of that - of specialization carried to the point of heritage.

Follow Along

New reviews land every couple weeks. Subscribe by email, follow on social media, or check the site whenever you remember. There is no algorithm here; only a slow project.

For corrections, suggestions, vehement disagreement, or a tip about a steakhouse missing from the canon: contact me.