A short history of one steak
Carl Luger opened Carl Luger's Cafe, Billiards and Bowling Alley in 1887 on what was then a German-American block of Williamsburg. His nephew Peter joined and ran the restaurant for half a century. In 1950, after Peter's death, the Forman family — Sol Forman, a kitchenware salesman who had eaten lunch there for years — bought the place at auction for around $35,000. The Formans have run it ever since. Sol's granddaughter Amy Rubenstein took over operations in 2009 and is in the dining room most nights.
The menu has been pared down to the things that work: thick-cut bacon, shrimp cocktail, tomato-and-onion salad, the porterhouse for two (or three, or four), creamed spinach, German fried potatoes, and a single dessert called Schlag — a tower of whipped cream with hot fudge poured over. That is essentially the meal. You can order other things, but you will be one of three people in the room doing so.
What to order — and what to order before that
Order the porterhouse for two even if you are three or four. The kitchen will adjust. The steak arrives dry-aged for 21 to 28 days in the basement aging room, broiled at 800 degrees, sliced parallel to the bone, and returned to the platter sitting in a pool of beef fat and butter. The waiter will tilt the platter and spoon the fat back over the meat in front of you. This is not theater; the fat is the point.
Before the steak, order the bacon. Two enormous slabs of thick-cut, sweet, smoky bacon arrive on a small plate — you will think it is too much, you will eat all of it. Then the tomato-and-onion salad with Luger's house sauce, which is somewhere between cocktail sauce and Worcestershire and is on every table in a small bottle. The shrimp cocktail is fine; the bacon is not optional.
For sides: creamed spinach, German fried potatoes, and — if your table is big enough — the order of sliced onion rings, which arrive on a tower of toothpicks. For dessert, the Schlag is the move. It is whipped cream with hot fudge. It is not subtle. Order one and three spoons.
The two hard parts: the reservation and the bill
Peter Luger now takes reservations on OpenTable as well as by phone. Tables for two on Friday and Saturday at 7 or 8 p.m. open about thirty days out and disappear in minutes. The easier reservation, for a first visit, is a 5:30 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. weeknight — Tuesday through Thursday, two weeks out, usually available. Sunday lunch at noon is the secret hour: the same kitchen, the same steak, half the room, a bargain compared to dinner.
The famous wrinkle: Peter Luger now accepts most major credit cards (a 2024 update — they held out for 134 years). But the house still discounts cash payments and the waiters appreciate cash tips. Plan for roughly $140 to $170 per person with the porterhouse, two sides, the bacon, one cocktail, and a slice of Schlag. It is not cheap and it is not pretending to be.
How to handle the room
The waiters are gruff in the way that all Peter Luger waiters have been gruff since 1950. This is the room. They are not being rude; they are being efficient. Order quickly, order the porterhouse, do not ask how the meat is prepared (it is broiled), and tip in cash. The waiter who serves you has likely been at Peter Luger longer than you have been eating in restaurants. He will appreciate decisiveness.
Bring an appetite calibrated for the porterhouse, not for the appetizers. The steak for two is roughly 44 to 48 ounces of meat off the bone — enough for two large eaters or three normal ones, with leftovers. Take the leftovers home; sliced cold porterhouse on rye with mustard the next morning is the after-image of the meal.
Before and after
Before dinner, walk five minutes west on Broadway to the riverfront for the Williamsburg Bridge approach and a clear view of the Manhattan skyline at dusk. Or walk three blocks east to South 6th and Bedford for a pre-dinner drink at Maison Premiere or the Hotel Williamsburg lobby bar. After dinner, the J/M/Z at Marcy Avenue is one block away — three stops back into Manhattan.
Practical notes
- Address: 178 Broadway, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (at Driggs Avenue, under the Williamsburg Bridge approach).
- Reservations: OpenTable or 718-387-7400. Book Tuesday-Thursday two weeks out; weekends thirty days out.
- Hours: lunch 11:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m., dinner 5:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m. (weekends until 11). Closed for some holidays.
- Payment: most major cards now accepted as of 2024. Cash still preferred and discounted; ATM on the premises.
- Order: bacon to start, porterhouse for two (the kitchen scales it), creamed spinach, German fries, Schlag for dessert.
- Closest train: J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue, one block south.
- Expect: roughly $150 per person with steak, two sides, the bacon, a cocktail, dessert, and tip.
Pull up a chair under the Williamsburg Bridge and eat the porterhouse the Forman family has been broiling since the Truman administration. The room is loud. The waiters are gruff. The steak is right. Tip in cash and take the leftovers home.
Sources consulted: peterluger.com · en.wikipedia.org · opentable.com · ny.eater.com · nytimes.com
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