Peter Luger Still NYC's Meat King Despite Review: Patch Readers

NEW YORK — New York City's meat king still has his crown.

Williamsburg's legendary Peter Luger Steak House serves up the city's best slab of beef in the eyes of Patch readers — no matter what The New York Times says.

The Times's scathing zero-star review of the 132-year-old institution, published last week, led us to ask who deserved the title of the Big Apple's best steakhouse if it no longer belonged to Luger.

But perhaps it was a foolish question. Of the 80 readers who responded, 15 picked Peter Luger as the home of the city's finest steaks — more than any other restaurant.

"I have never had a bad meal there in 40 years," Bernard from Bed-Stuy wrote in response to our informal survey.

The Times critic Pete Wells once held Peter Luger in high esteem himself, but he wrote that it has lost the "sizzle" it had when he started dining there in the 1990s. Now, he says, "after I’ve paid, there is the unshakable sense that I’ve been scammed."

But Patch readers stood by the quality of Luger's service and its food, pricey as it may be. They described the steaks as "tender and yummy" and "second to none." There was also high praise for the sides; the restaurant is known for its creamed spinach.

One reader, Chas B. of Brooklyn, said Big Apple diners should pay no mind to Wells, whom he called "an outright liar" who is "looking for nothing more than to boost his readership so he can keep his increasingly redundant job."

"He should write novels, where his fiction will be expected," Chas wrote.

Wells did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that criticism. But he noted in his review that Luger "will always have its loyalists" who dismiss complaints about its high prices and other concerns.

"They will say that nobody goes to Luger for the sole, nobody goes to Luger for the wine, nobody goes to Luger for the salad, nobody goes to Luger for the service," Wells wrote. "The list goes on, and gets harder to swallow, until you start to wonder who really needs to go to Peter Luger, and start to think the answer is nobody."

The Peter Luger team has been resolute in its pledge to keep doing things its own way. In a defiant statement responding to the Times's review last week, the restaurant said it has stayed focused on serving top-notch steaks even as "the reviewers and their whims have changed."

"We know who we are and have always been. The best steak you can eat. Not the latest kale salad," the restaurant said, according to CBS2.

Here are the restaurants that Patch readers said serve the best steak in New York City. Only restaurants that got two or more votes are listed. The totals include votes for different locations of the same eateries. Some 23 restaurants each got one vote.

1. Peter Luger Steak House — 15 votes
2. Keens Steakhouse — 9 votes
3. Wolfgang's Steakhouse — 6 votes
4. Strip House — 5 votes
5. Quality Meats Steakhouse — 4 votes
6. The Palm/The Palm Too — 3 votes
7. Benjamin Steakhouse — 3 votes
8. Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse — 3 votes
9. McDonald's — 3 votes
10. Brooklyn Chop House — 2 votes
11. Gallaghers Steakhouse — 2 votes
12. Smith & Wollensky — 2 votes