Best Steakhouses In New York

We're lucky enough to live in a city that has more varieties of steakhouses (and restaurants in general) than previous generations could have ever imagined. There are high-ceilinged, super-modern lounges, old-school clubhouses full of brass and leather, and everything in between. But whether it's clad in red leather or red lighting, décor is only one aspect of the overall steakhouse experience. When you get down to it, it's all about the steak. And from ripping-hot broilers to charcoal grills, these New York steakhouses, culled from our ranking of the 50 Best Steakhouses in America, do it right.

#5 St. Anselm
This game-changing steakhouse shook up New York's dining scene when it opened in Williamsburg in 2011, and the simple and perfect grilled and sliced butcher's steak (also known as hanger steak) was named the city's best by New York Magazine in 2012. It's still the most popular item on the menu, and it only costs $15.

#4 Porter House
One of the better "chef's steakhouses" around, this Time Warner Center restaurant, with its romantic views of Central Park, lets culinary veteran Michael Lomonaco have fun with a menu whose choices range from roasted beef marrow bones with toast and filet mignon steak tartare to grilled skirt steak with Argentine chimichurri sauce and chili-rubbed 45-day-aged Brandt ribeye.

#3 Christos
This Mediterranean-influenced dark-horse casual steakhouse has been hiding in plain sight in Astoria, Queens for years, and a 2006 makeover pushed it into the upper echelons of New York steak. What's so special about it? The steak! Aged for 21 days in their own dry-aging room, charbroiled at 1200 degrees, and finished with sea salt and dried Greek oregano, these steaks are works of art.

#2 Keens
Since 1885, this New York institution has done one thing, and done it really, really well: steak. Perfectly charred steaks and chops are served in this shrine to old New York, one of the only remaining truly old-school steakhouses in the city. Before you're even served your expertly cooked, gigantic dry-aged sirloin, filet mignon, prime rib, porterhouse for two, or porterhouse for three, have a look around. There's memorabilia from more than 100 years of New York history, including playbills, political cartoons, and photographs, as well as a collection of more than 50,000 pipes from back when regulars, including Babe Ruth and Teddy Roosevelt, would store theirs there. You can't go wrong with a steak, but their mutton chop is also a thing of legend.

#1 Peter Luger
When you sit down at your table at the Peter Luger, located in an off-the-beaten-path corner of Williamsburg, don't ask for a menu. Just order the tomato and onion salad, some thick-cut bacon, creamed spinach, hash browns, and the steak for three, a massive porterhouse broiled under extreme heat before being sliced and presented on a platter. Sure, the waitstaff might be a bit gruff in this surprisingly casual German-style old steakhouse that's been around since 1887, but that's all a part of the show. The star attraction, the steak, is dry-aged and butchered on-premises, and when it's presented in all its crusty, well-marbled, beefy glory, your jaw might very well drop.

Click here for the full ranking of America's 50 Best Steakhouses.