Who hasn’t heard of Peter Luger SteakHouse? Did you know that it dates back well over 100 years? Peter Luger SteakHouse was originally established in 1887 as Carl Lugers Billiards and Bowling Café. Uncle and nephew, Peter and Carl, ran the restaurant serving the then mostly German community. In 1950 after Peter passed away his son decided to auction off the restaurant. In stepped Sol Forman a customer for over 25 years and owner of a metal giftware factory called Forman Family just across the street. Sol who was known for eating two steaks a day couldn’t bear the thought of losing his favorite restaurant, so he placed a bid. To his happy surprise he was the one and only bidder and both restaurant and building were his for a mere $35,000. Sol kept Peter Luger’s same high standard and both old and new patrons flocked to the restaurant. Is Peter Luger SteakHouse still as good as they say? For the holidays I had some relatives in who had never been to Peter Luger’s and me, never passing up an opportunity to eat there, was the first to say Let’s go! After some initial hesitation from my husband, and not because of the food but because of the prices, I made reservations and then we headed to Williamsburg. Entering the dining room, after feasting my eyes on the humongous and mouth- watering looking porterhouse steaks that people had ordered, I took a moment to look at the décor and to feel the past and present meeting. The weathered beer-hall tables, brass chandeliers and exposed wooden beams felt nostalgic. Looking at our menus we decided the best way to go was the steak for three as we all like our meat medium rare and the steaks are really enormous. As an appetizer we ordered the Sliced Tomato with Peter Luger’s sauce. I know Sliced Tomato sounds like something insignificant, and if you think so then you have never had it smothered with Peter Luger’s sauce. It is just plain awesome. We also got an order of the jumbo shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. The porterhouse steak just melted in our mouths and, surprisingly for a steak house, the shrimps were quite good. Peter Luger’s also serves lunch daily until 3:45pm. They have different specials for each day of the week, but every afternoon you can order a Luger burger which is over a ½ lb of meat and it is off the charts delicious. Peter Luger SteakHouse also holds the honor of being in Zagat’s for 30 years in a row as The BEST steakhouse in New York and it also has the coveted Michelin Star award. To me, places like this 126 year old eatery is as much a treasured piece of New York as the very bridge it stands in the shadow of. Peter Luger Steakhouse 178 Broadway Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211 Keep in mind of the following tips: Peter Luger SteakHouse does not take credit cards (except their own Peter Luger’s card) and they do not take reservations on-line (which I am sure is foreign to all the OpenTable New Yorkers out there). Dinner reservations get pretty packed and a late lunch is sometimes a perfect way to take in the whole experience. Check out the Peter Luger SteakHouse website for more information
