Let ’em eat steak! NYC restaurants serve up cheaper cuts to lure inflation-battered red meat fans
Record-high steak prices have forced savvy Big Apple restaurateurs to serve cheaper options — like steak frites — to lure cash-conscious diners still craving a red meat fix, Side Dish has learned.
The popular French-inspired fare, usually made with a less-expensive cut of steak like hanger or top sirloin, has been popping up alongside pricier menu items at restaurants run by top chefs on both sides of the East River.
At Park Ave Kitchen by David Burke, the chef offers a $24 steak frites – featuring a “petite filet mignon” with endless fries as part of his daily happy hour menu, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. That’s a significant savings from the $160 the restaurant charges for a 40-ounce tomahawk steak for two.
The special has become so popular that Burke is adding steak frites to the regular dinner menu at Park Ave Kitchen and his other restaurant, David Burke Tavern.
“I think people are shopping for value now — myself included,” Burke told Side Dish. “I eat alone a lot and an app[etizer] plus a main course and a soft drink — I don’t drink — can cost $100. Everyone is concerned about price in this economy.”
The trend comes as sirloin steak has spiked to $11.79 per pound, up from $6.77 a decade ago, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the US cattle inventory is the smallest since 1951.
The high prices are fueled, experts say, by drought, high grain prices — thanks in part to the war in Ukraine — and rising interest rates that add to the cost of cattle farming.
The price of potatoes, meanwhile, is relatively low thanks to overplanting by farmers last year that had led to a spud glut.
“Steak frites gives you value. It’s a smaller cut of meat but it comes with a side dish and you leave feeling full. It may not be the highest cut, but steak frites are a pretty good savings and it is satisfying,” Burke said.
Kings of Kobe founder Etai Cinader has taken the steak frites craze to another level. His Wagyu Kitchen & Bar, at 650 W. 42nd St., offers unlimited Wagyu ribeye or strip steak — along with unlimited fries and mac-and-cheese balls – every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, for $55 per person.
The discount is a massive drop from the restaurant’s everyday prices: a 12-ounce wagyu strip steak sells for $88 while a 14-ounce ribeye costs $108. Each comes with a side and sauce — but no fries.
“These days, people can go out for dinner and leave not feeling full. I don’t want anyone to feel like that at our restaurant,” Cinader said. “With the economy the way it is, people are looking for deals — and quality. This is a way for us to generate more revenue on slower days while providing a fun experience for our guests.”
Chef Laurent Tourondel’s Skirt Steak has been serving steak frites, and nothing else since it launched. The restaurant – on the corner of Sixth Ave. and 29th St., by the Avanti Hotel – became a cult-like indulgence for steak lovers who line up to pay $45 for a prix-fixe menu of skirt steak, field greens, and endless fries. They have to pay $12 more for sides that ‘continually’ change, according to the website, and another $12 for desserts.
Another steak frites-only eatery is Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote, at 155 E. 54th St., which serves up the entree, salad and endless fries for $33.95.
The recently opened Medium Rare, at 488 Third Ave. at 33rd St., also has a prix-fixe menu of culotte steak, bread, salad and fries for $34.95, plus $12 for dessert.
Over in Brooklyn, restaurateur Matthew Glazier, of Tiny’s Cantina, only recently added steak frites to the menu — and it’s been a huge hit.
Tiny’s offers a $28.95 hanger steak, marinated with garlic herb, a $32.95 ribeye or a $34.95 (USDA Prime) strip. All come with three Mexican-inspired sauces — Jalapeno Green, Cranberry Mole and Red Habanero. The entree comes with a side of fries with one free refill.
“We saw a hole in the market and we tried to fill it. It’s been really successful for us,” Glazier said. “Prime meat is still crazy expensive, so steak frites is like a value proposition. It’s not a perceived value, it’s an actual value, and in this type of economy, that’s what people care about.”
We hear …. Toast the 20th annual city-wide New York Comedy Festival, founded by comedy whisperer Caroline Hirsch with three festival-inspired cocktails that will be available at the festival’s headquarters, the Hard Rock Hotel in Midtown, from Nov. 7-17 at $20 each.
The Opening Act is a pear Prosecco spritz, made with sugar, cinnamon sticks, pear vodka and LaMarca Prosecco, while The Feature Act is a mezcal apple cider made with maple syrup, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, cardamom all spice and berries and The Headliner, a blood orange margarita is bitter and sweet infused with lime and orange juices with tequila — pretty in pink but with an edge, like Hirsch herself.
In addition to The Venue, where the comedy acts will take place, the cocktails will also be on offer at The Venue, where the shows will be, as well as at the Sessions, the hotel’s second floor bar overlooking 48th Street.
The acts at the Hard Rock Hotel’s The Venue include: Sommore: The Chandelier Experience – (Nov. 8 & 9) “Queen of Comedy.” There’s also Before We Get Started – (Nov. 10) a film premiere by warm-up comedian Ryan Reiss featuring Judd Apatow, John Oliver, Amy Schumer, Leslie Jones, Seth Meyers, Leslie Jones, Ray Romano, Ramy Youssef, Rachel Ray, Jim Gaffigan, Howie Mandell, Bob Saget, Mark Summers, and Colin Jost, and more.
This year’s New York Festival line-up features over 200 comedians in more than 100 shows in all five boroughs and includes headliners Tracy Morgan, Bill Maher, Ms. Pat, Zarna Garg, Gabriel Iglesias, JB Smoove, Jeff Arcuri, and Jimmy O. Yang. The festival’s official kick off on Nov. 7 will celebrate comedy icon Joan Rivers with a special tribute, Dead Funny Benefiting God’s Love We Deliver at the Apollo Theater, featuring Michelle Buteau, Rachel Brosnahan, Nikki Glaser, Matteo Lane, Randy Rainbow, with Melissa Rivers and Erich Bergen serving as executive producers.
