New York's Best Budget Steaks, Reviewed
Your definitive guide to steaks that cost $19 to $45, plus reviews of affordable cuts at Swoony's, St. Anselm, Le Dive, and Atla
Please enjoy this essay on the rising price of affordable steak; to access the full list of the city’s top steaks under $45, consider subscribing!
A Brooklyn steak that’s still $15 in our hearts
Whenever I went hunting for affordable steaks during my Eater days — sounds like something a well-heeled caveman from Portland would do — friends and colleagues would inevitably steer me toward St. Anselm in Brooklyn.
They’d send me off with strict orders. Get the butcher’s cut. For the following reasons:
It’s one of the best steaks in town
It’s also one of the city’s best steak deals
This won’t shock anyone but: It was really good advice! Even as the years pass, it’s still a heck of a steak, grilled to a cool rare and drenched in garlic butter.
But the “deal” part of the equation has changed.
St. Anselm — the most famous Williamsburg steakhouse that isn’t Peter Luger — charged what New York Magazine called a “head scratching” $15 over a decade ago. It was such a bargain that even the Infatuation cited the original price in its last review. Heck, whenever I mention the butcher’s cut to a food editor buddy, one of the first things he brings up is what the streak used to cost.
Most of us know that restaurant prices rise over time — St. Anselm’s steak was $25 in early 2019 — but a recent hike this year has pushed the butcher’s cut to a more sobering level. It now runs $34.
Add on tax, tip, and a side, and you’re out over $60.
Now here’s the scary part: That’s still a solid price for an entry-level steak in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Even if it’s not quite a “deal” anymore.
The Pricey State of Affordable Steaks
I tell that St. Anselm story as a reality check. You can still find fairly priced steaks in New York. You’re just going to have to pay a lot more than you’re used to.
To be clear: These affordable steaks aren’t the gorgonzola-aged wagyu cuts that lure in roving groups of guys taking out clients. These aren’t porterhouses for two where the only included side is a puddle of beef fat.
These are the steaks you eat by yourself — with a pile of fries or a stack of tortillas — as a one plate meal.
This is my favorite class of steak. And so this is a guide to that (relatively) affordable category.
Grub Street published a similar list in 2013, reporting on cuts that ran less than $30. These days, the going rate for a non-fancy steak — sometimes known as a bistro steak — is a bit higher, ranging from the mid-$30s to the mid-$40s.
I’ve set the limit for this guide at $45. It’s not a pricing tier that many folks would consider to be accessible, but that’s where we are.
Western droughts and steep herd maintenance costs have put cattle supplies at a 70-year low. That’s why steak prices are up nearly 40 percent (!!!) since before the pandemic, with no relief in sight. Now you know why your favorite filet au poivre at a nice brasserie costs $63.
But just as a new class of tasting menu venues are reacting to the skyrocketing cost of fine dining with accessible prix fixes, quite a few New York restaurants are still offering steak (and lamb) dishes at non-ripoff prices.
Sometimes, these cuts are small. Sometimes, they’re not. Many are hangers or skirts that come with fries. Some of them, alas, come with nothing. In one case, the steak is seasoned with loads of chile oil and arrives pre-sliced for making DIY tacos (good!). In another case, the cut is slow-cooked short rib served in the style of steak au poivre (excellent!). But what they all have in common is that they’re all super tasty.
Some of New York’s best steaks these days are budget steaks.
So let’s go eat some beef!
Behind the paywall | Subscribe for reviews of…
The short rib au poivre at Swoony’s
The incredible $19 skirt steak at Leyenda
Atla’s amazing chile-rubbed ribeye
Le Dive’s hanger steak frites
The (new) $32 steak haché at Pastis!
The Iberico butcher steak at Saint Julivert
New York City’s 15 Best Budget Steaks & Chops
This list is presented in no particular order.
The epic butcher’s cut at St. Anselm | $34
There are quite a few chops on the menu at St. Anselm, but my visit there last Thursday suggested that most folks come for one specific thing: a hanger steak that doesn’t quite taste like other hanger steaks.
It remains one of the city’s top cuts, at any price.