Don T, you disappoint me. I think your brain's gone soft from all those Tuna Burgers. I thought for sure that once I posted about these historic steak houses, you would definitely post about that fantastic STEAKHOUSE IN TAMPA, FL. with the huge personal wine collection and the private dessert rooms.

Interesting, I had filet mignon tonite... Shop-Rite had a sale, its whole, you have to trim the fat and butcher it, my Godfather was a butcher (hold the jokes pls) and I remembered how to carve it up... so, it was not as juicy or tasty as i get from the butcher in town... and not because of the way i cooked it, its strictly a quality of meat thing, still good, but i used some of the Peter Lugar's Steak Sauce, its good sauce, but really masks the flavor of the food/meat... GOOD rock salt and fresh ground pepper is all you should really need...

For prime rib and similar cuts, embedded cloves of garlic and olive oil

When you were eating that did you think I know someone who has that name?

As you can see I spoil my friends. They talk when they should listen. Anyway, Berns is an overrated place where locals only go when people from out of town come and demand to go. It is too big, too impersonal, too garish, and to impressed with itself notwithstanding good steaks and an incredible wine list.
Anyway my vote for Lugers is final and as long as your interests dont conflict with mine I wish you good luck.

I love Luger's steaks. There is no question that they are the cream of the crop when it comes to cuts of meat. But, I hate Luger's waiters and Luger's atmosphere. The waiters are a bunch of old crabby bastards without any personality whatsoever. Truthfully Luger's is very full of itself and has a lot of attitude. A very impersonal staff all around . Not to mention the fact that if you don't pay off the valet to take care of your car, when your done with dinner you most likely will come out to either find your car stripped down to the frame or gone, period.

Berns absolutely is a garish place. A gaudy place no doubt. However I cannot say that I found it to be impersonal. In fact I found that they went out of their way to make our group feel welcomed and at home. The steaks were outstanding, the wine list is impressive and the private dessert rooms are incredible as are their desserts.

Again, for my money, Sparks wins hands down for all around service, class, and good food.

I like them both, as far as the food goes. Luger's can be offputting, due to their waiters and the "clubiness" of the place, but it's still a great steak. I also enjoy the Palm, Ponte's, and Ben Benson's. The truth is, you're unlikely to get a "bad" meal in any of those places.

The Palm is definitely up there amongst the top steak houses as is Ben Benson's.

However I must say that I was extremely disappointed with Ponte's the last time that I was there.


If ever you have a large group, say like a dozen to 18 people, try booking the private room at The Palm West. The food there is just as good as The Palm and The Palm 2, and the room is fantastic as you and your party do not have to worry about getting loud and disturbing other diners in the restaurant.

A good place to eat before going to a Broadway play.

I LOVE the Palm West!

It's probably the best of the lot, especially before a Broadway play.

Can we all agree that Smith and Wollensky's is unbelievably overrated?

I think that we have wandered off course here a bit as this originally started out as a Historic Places To Eat topic.

Sorry JRCX.

Did anybody here ever go to Jack Dempsey's in New York City?

I never did, and I'm curious if anyone on the Boards has any personal memories of the place.

Signor V.

I was there in the late 60's, long after its hey-day. I don't remember the food as being anything special but I remember being excited simply by the virtue of being there.

Dempsey was still alive then, and he still spent time in the place but, sadly, he wasn't there the night I visited.

(If I remember correctly, the old Garden, which was right across 8th Avenue, had just closed).

Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach. A landmark. Every major politician, mob boss, celebrity and sports star has eaten there.
And they have the best stone crabs anywhere.

We have good stoned crabs here. But that just happens when someone blows their marijuana smoke into the crabpot while they're steaming.

You're killing me, Don T. Here's a little known fact about Joe's: They have the BEST liver and onions I've ever had in a restaurant. SC and SB share my passion for liver, so I thought I'd mention it.

I'll be honest, though, when I just want the stone crabs, I usually get them to go, or I just go for lunch. The place is just too crazy in the evening.

I love liver, onions and bacon. We aficianados should start a thread....

SC, SB and I thought we were the only ones. SB has a nice story about having lunch with Plaw... He was grossed out by the calves liver that she ordered.

I love it!

He sure was!! He said that even the smell was bothering him. Btw, we ate a fantastic place that day in Ramsey, NJ, but darn if I can remember the name of it! It was Cafe something, but it has totally slipped my mind.

Cafe Panache?

I think that was it! Thank you! It was really bugging me!

You're welcomed.

He mentioned that place to me quite a few times in our conversations, and the name has since stuck in my head.

Dear Plaw. I miss talking about food with him, although I guess that's just one of the many things that I miss about him.

Okay, so last night we left the Met game after the 7th inning because they were kicking ass and we wanted to beat the traffic. We wanted to eat, so we settled on the idea of parking over on Steinway Street and eating at one of the many Mediterranean cafes in Astoria. It was a beautiful night, so we figured we might sacrifice a little quality so we could sit outside. But we didn't have to sacrifice quality at all!

We settled on CAVO, a beautiful, Greek themed, indoor-outdoor restaurant, on 31st Avenue, in the heart of Astoria. We ate outdoors in the Mediterranean garden, which has a gorgeous 20 foot waterfall to cool you off on a hot night.

So, cut to the meal- we shared three appetizers: 1) a summer tomato salad, with both red and yellow tomatoes, chunks of feta and extra virgin olive oil, 2) grilled baby octopus, with roasted peppers, olives and arugola, and 3) charcoal grilled peppers with fresh buffalo mozzarella and grape tomatoes.

For my entree I had charcoal grilled shrimp over white beans, served in a white wine reduction, served with braised mixed greens and creamy polenta.

Finally, for dessert, I had a Greek standard of banana and chocolate crepes. Unfortunately, I still can't drink due to some health issues I recently had, but I'm looking forward to going back at "full strength" because they had a stellar wine list.

Overall, the place is beautiful, if a little bit noisy, but I guess that's to be expected. I mean it was Astoria on a beautiful summer night, so you put up with it.

As far as the food, I hate to use the phrase "to die for," because it sounds, well, gay... not that there's anything wrong with that... but it really was.


*** (3 stars from Pizzaboy)

You fat bastard!

Sounds GOOD!

Did you forget to tell us about the Dog, Beer and Peanuts that you had during the game?

Busted!

I did have a hot dog at the game.

I know.

Does it? I dunno...

On the other hand, if you had said

"Faaaaaaaabulous!!"

Different story altogether.

Signor V.

Getting back (ahem) to the theme of this thread...I nominate

BUCA LAPI.

This is one of the oldest restaurants in Florence, Italy, and if anyone goes there do not miss out on this place. Its been there for hundreds of years. It is in a basement with vaulted ceilings, and you enter through the kitchen, which consists in alrge part of a huge woodburning grill. Their specialty is Bistecca Fiorentine (Florentine Steak) which ranks up there with anything in New York , and is better than anything served in our rub joints in Vegas.

A true Bistecca Fiorentina comes from a specific breed of cattle which live outside of Florence. They are fed a special diet, and there is nothing like it.

The cut is Porterhouse.

Google it !