Peter Luger Steakhouse

[WPep]

It is around $40 per person for the steak, I believe.

This I know...I am actually trying to get exact prices...everything I've found has been this nebulous. Thanks for the input.

Sorry, I was responding to TrishCT, who posed the question.

[MRX]

Yes, her question was posed in response to my request. People are very helpful here.

[kopi-susu]

What's the protocol on this? I'm perfectly used to tipping after the staff has done me a solid, but this edges up on proper old-world bribery/baksheesh, and I've got no idea how to approach it.

Hand the guy a 20 outright as you're asking if there's a table available? Try to casually put the bill down on his table? Hold it up and wiggle it significantly as you ask? Eye contact? No eye contact? Try to hide it from the people in line behind you? Make a big show?

Obviously, I lack proper High Rolling Bastard skillz. :)

A handshake, an expensive handshake will often get you what you desire at a restaurant.

Approach the maitre'd with your most fabulous posture and self-confident smile. Stick out your hand to shake his. In this outstreched hand you have palmed a crisply folded bill of the appropriate denomination, held inside by the folded flesh of your thumb. Visible money is crass and dropping your intended bribe is unrecoverably embarassing, so practice this until smooth.

As the maitre'd grasps your hand, he will feel the tickle of your generosity. Hold his hand firmly and look into his eyes while you make your request for a table, special seating accomidations (the coveted corner banquette), or just general suck-up-ness. If the maitre'd is willing to play ball, he should exchange a significant look with you as he withdraws his hand from the handshake, subtly scraping the bill from your hand to his (the act of opening your hand enough to firmly shake should leave the bill floating between the two palms), and transfering it into his pocket as he peruses the book to find what you need.

An honorable maitre'd who really, really can't do anything for you will not take your money, pressing the bill back into your hand as he expresses his regrets. Don't take it personally, there really are nights that are just so fubar that no amount of money will help.

Practice with a friend, but one who will give you back your money...

[kurl]

I think a steak for two is like $79 or something.

[Fat Guy]

The last time I was there I believe the price of a steak for two was $78.50. Approximately 3 years ago I believe it was $59.50.

[MRX]

The last time I was there I believe the price of a steak for two was $78.50. Approximately 3 years ago I believe it was $59.50.

And there we have it! Thanks - I saw you browsing the thread and was hoping that I'd get a concrete answer. Thanks to everyone. Now does anyone know how much the beers are?

[Fresser]

HEY!

Sorry to shout, I'm new here and have a couple of questions.

A. I will be losing my Luger's virginity on Monday at lunch.  The deal is a group of friends will be meeting to get burgers (all of us are teachers, so we are POOR! ... I have read enough to know that I do not want to ask for a menu - but I want to know if I'll escape lunch for around sixty bucks. 

Good choice to visit Luger's at lunchtime. Fat Guy says that the restaurant is much less rushed, and you'll thus have nicer experience.

Actually, menus are usually offered at lunch, so don't be shy about asking for one. Dinner time, however, is another story...

[Fat Guy]

The last time I was there I believe the price of a steak for two was $78.50. Approximately 3 years ago I believe it was $59.50.

And there we have it! Thanks - I saw you browsing the thread and was hoping that I'd get a concrete answer. Thanks to everyone. Now does anyone know how much the beers are?

Of course I could be wrong!

[MRX]

Arrrrghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

dpjCNJK>XC; nm.zv v mennkwWEksw/,kwkwokwjiof.fnvonvi.

[pounds head against keyboard]

Edited January 17, 2004 by MRX (log)

[Fat Guy]

One point in favor of my recollection is that Peter Luger usually prices its mail-order steaks exactly as it prices them in the restaurant. Right now, according to Luger's Web site, it's currently $157 for two porterhouses-for-two.

http://www.peterluger.com/ourmeats.html

[kurl]

It's also corroborated by my extremely close guess based on a meal there last week...

[SteveW]

One point in favor of my recollection is that Peter Luger usually prices its mail-order steaks exactly as it prices them in the restaurant. Right now, according to Luger's Web site, it's currently $157 for two porterhouses-for-two.

http://www.peterluger.com/ourmeats.html

If Peter Luger does price its mail-order steaks, exactly as it prices them in the restaurant, then does the restaurant do take-out orders for their steaks? That's a outrageous policy, charging the same for their mail-order steaks!!

-Steve

[Mister_Cutlets]

FWIW --

I've been told through the restaurant grapevine that Peter Luger is buying whole truckloads of meat at the Restaurant Depot. I was very skeptical, but on the other hand, I'm getting a lot of reports about underwhelming steaks, and the more I think about the harder it is for me to believe Jody Speira's assertion that they are carrying 60% food costs.

What do you guys think about this? It's just restaurant gossip, but I wonder if there's any truth to it.

Josh

[Fat Guy]

I've received reports of underwhelming steaks at Peter Luger since about three days after I started writing about food, but I've never personally had less than an excellent steak there.

In terms of food cost percentage, it's not a particularly useful measure in isolation. Far more important is the raw dollar amount a restaurant makes on a cover. For example, restaurant A sells pizza at $10 a pie and has 10% food cost. Restaurant B sells caviar at $200 per portion and has 75% food cost. All other things being equal, restaurant B has $50 per cover left after food cost and restaurant A has $9. Steakhouses traditionally have high food costs, but they still take in a lot of money per cover and they turn tables quickly. It's also worth noting that Luger's owns that property and probably has relatively low labor costs. In other words, I have no idea what Luger's food cost is, but I have no trouble imagining that it could be a profitable business even with a very high food cost percentage.

[Marlene]

Are they open for lunch on Sundays?

[Unagi2000]

It's also worth noting that Luger's owns that property and probably has relatively low labor costs. In other words, I have no idea what Luger's food cost is, but I have no trouble imagining that it could be a profitable business even with a very high food cost percentage.

At the risk of boring everyone with a pedantic lesson in economics, Luger's ownership of the property is irrelevant from a business profitability standpoint and simply means that there is a greater likelihood that the operation has positive cashflow. An assessment of whether the operation is profitable needs to take into account the opportunity cost undertaken by the owners of the business. In this case the most meaningful opportunity cost would be whether they could make more money by selling the property and re-investing the proceeds at a higher rate of return or using the property for an alternative, higher (financial) value purpose besides cooking and serving low-margin steaks. My guess is that, if you were to consider the business from this perspective, it would be unprofitable. Another way of looking at this would be to say that every steak Peter Luger's serves is subsidized by the Forman family's (owners of the business) own profits.

Of course this just looks at the situation from a financial point of view and does not take into account non-financial forms of value such as the enjoyment and satisfaction the owners might get out of running what is generally regarded as the best steak house in NYC.

I've been told through the restaurant grapevine that Peter Luger is buying whole truckloads of meat at the Restaurant Depot. I was very skeptical, but on the other hand, I'm getting a lot of reports about underwhelming steaks, and the more I think about the harder it is for me to believe Jody Speira's assertion that they are carrying 60% food costs.

There is no question that the steak I was served on my recent visit to Luger's left a lot to be desired. If it is true that Luger's has adopted a lower-quality approach to sourcing its meat, this can be explained through another economic principle: supply and demand. First, with many new players getting into the USDA prime dry-aged steak business in NYC (e.g. Fairway, Citarella) there will be increased demand for the scarcer, high quality beef that Luger's traditionally buys and this will, in turn, increase the market price of the beef. Second, general demand for beef has sky-rocketed recently with everyone drinking the Atkins kool-aid and thinking that an all-beef diet will lead to slender hips. Although this will have primarily affected the price of mid-quality, mass market beef it will have also had knock-on effect on the price of high quality beef. If Luger's margins were already razor-thin, it probably couldn't absorb the higher price of the beef so it would have two options: 1) raise the prices on its menus and 2) source lower quality, lower cost beef. I'm guessing that with the economy still in turn-around they wouldn't have the ability to raise menu prices without negatively impacting covers. Of course, option two carries the risk of the reduced beef quality affecting the restaurant's reputation which will have a much greater negative impact on covers in the long-run. It's a slippery slope.

[abier]

Hello. Welcome.  May I make a humble suggestion...  You won't get a better burger deal pricewise in the city than at Peter Luger's ($5.95 last I knew unless the price went up) so order the burgers....However why not order one "Steak for 2" for the whole table to share?  (I don't know the current price--I think around $60?  Someone help!)  If you divvy the price by everyone in your party it won't be so bad and you won't be deprived of an orgiastic porterhouse experience.

I like this idea!

I'd like to second that. A few mouthfuls of the steak will certainly be enough to get a taste of it (which, in my opinion, is an absolute necessity if you're going anywhere near Williamsburg, let alone Peter Luger)--you can fill up on a burger if you like.

Actually, you could fill up on the bizarrely good rolls--I almost did that by accident last time I was there (I'm not on the Atkins diet, if you can't tell).

[foodboy]

Been to Luger's twice and I just don't get the hype! I wonder if the waiters can differentiate the best steaks from the others and if they give the best ones to regular customers, VIP's, etc? Any waiter who gets a sufficient eyeball of me would conclude that I'm a piss-on gerbil of little or no influence.

The best steak I ever tasted was a strip steak at Eddie's in Great Falls, Montana a few months ago. Flavor and texture unlike anything I've ever had. I wish I had made more of an effort to find out where their steaks come from.

[Fresser]

Been to Luger's twice and I just don't get the hype! I wonder if the waiters can differentiate the best steaks from the others and if they give the best ones to regular customers, VIP's, etc? Any waiter who gets a sufficient eyeball of me would conclude that I'm a piss-on gerbil of little or no influence.

I really don't think that the Luger's staff would slight any guest--whether it's a V.I.P. or just an everyday beefeater.

When Big Mushy (from the New Jersey board) and I ate there, we were dressed VERY casually after a day of sightseeing. A most gracious bartender served us highballs and Diet Coke, and our waiter took a shine to me and playfully teased me during the meal. I think he could tell I was a tourist...

As for the quality of the steak, I must admit that I prefer ribeye to porterhouse, so I can't vouch for Luger's superior beefsteak reputation, but the overall experience was wonderful. The staff treated us like family, and I made a point of telling the manager this as we left.

[Fat Guy]

Luger's ownership of the property is irrelevant from a business profitability standpoint and simply means that there is a greater likelihood that the operation has positive cashflow. An assessment of whether the operation is profitable needs to take into account the opportunity cost undertaken by the owners of the business.

We could make a lot more money on eGullet if we changed it into a porn site. We have a powerful server and all the equipment to do so, yet we've decided to settle for a few dollars a month from the Endless Pool ad. Nonetheless, if eGullet's earnings are greater than its expenses, it will be profitable. Not as profitable as it could be as a porn site, but nonetheless profitable. You seem to be referring to an academic notion of profitability that says a business isn't profitable unless it is maximizing its profit. Most people, I think, would disagree with that characterization. For example, I don't think the IRS lets you take a deduction for the opportunity cost of running a business instead of renting the property. Economics-class semantics aside, if Peter Luger is generating positive cashflow it's profitable.

[MRX]

We went for some FANTASTIC burgers today, were over 20 minutes late (we did call) and were seated promptly. The bacon was the clear winner. two beers each, bacon cheese burgers, total of $26 each with tip. Not cheap, but pretty damn good. I'd give a full burger review, but it'd just get lost on this thread - and unfortunately I am told not to give a review on Burger Club unless everyone else eats there.

It's a good burger, but Cozy's Kaluba burger is still a better burger.

[Fat Guy]

How about starting an "Ode to the Luger Burger" thread?

[Schielke]

Luger's ownership of the property is irrelevant from a business profitability standpoint and simply means that there is a greater likelihood that the operation has positive cashflow.  An assessment of whether the operation is profitable needs to take into account the opportunity cost undertaken by the owners of the business.

We could make a lot more money on eGullet if we changed it into a porn site. We have a powerful server and all the equipment to do so, yet we've decided to settle for a few dollars a month from the Endless Pool ad. Nonetheless, if eGullet's earnings are greater than its expenses, it will be profitable. Not as profitable as it could be as a porn site, but nonetheless profitable. You seem to be referring to an academic notion of profitability that says a business isn't profitable unless it is maximizing its profit. Most people, I think, would disagree with that characterization. For example, I don't think the IRS lets you take a deduction for the opportunity cost of running a business instead of renting the property. Economics-class semantics aside, if Peter Luger is generating positive cashflow it's profitable.

Hard-drive partition!!!!

[MRX]

How about starting an "Ode to the Luger Burger" thread?

...I can't because Cozy's Kaluba burger is so much better. It is. No joke.

[jerry-smith]

would it be safe to say that Luger's is the McSorley's of steakhouses? from North Carolina and have been to the ale house many, many times but late Super Bowl Sunday night will be my first trip to Luger's.