Chef David Shim (M. Wells Steakhouse, Kristalbelli) puts a shine on standards like shrimp cocktail with gochujang-spiked tartar sauce, and studs the steak tartare with cubes of Asian pear at this Korean steakhouse. Bring your besties for the Butcher’s Feast, a flashy spread of seasonal banchan, two stews (spicy kimchi, fermented soy-tofu) and a daily-changing rotation of four steaks fired on gold-rimmed table grills.

The ceiling and walls are hung with tobacco pipes, some from such long-ago Keens regulars as Babe Ruth, J.P. Morgan and Teddy Roosevelt. Even in these nonsmoking days, you can catch a whiff of the restaurant’s 120-plus years of history. Beveled-glass doors, two working fireplaces and a forest’s worth of dark wood suggest a time when “Diamond Jim” Brady piled his table with bushels of oysters, slabs of seared beef and troughs of ale.

A little more veggie-leaning than your average steakhouse, St. Anselm explores grilling's greaseless, flame-licked potential with a well-rounded menu combining Mediterranean, Asian and local flavors—with smoky slabs of halloumi and miniature fire-roasted eggplants with fried goat cheese and honey. Main-event proteins include a charred hanger packed with a earthy flavor, as fine a slab of beef as is available at any hoary steakhouse in town.

This mustily masculine beef house opened in 1927 and boasts a glass-enclosed street-side meat locker loaded with dry-aged steaks later flamed the old-fashioned way—over a hickory-coal grill. The 52nd Street locker is a landmark in Midtown, with locals and tourists flocking outside for commemorative selfies after conquering their rib-eyes and marbled sirloins.

Although a slew of Luger copycats have prospered in the last several years, none have captured the elusive charm of this stucco walled, beer-hall style eatery, with well-worn wooden floors and tables, and waiters in waist coats and bow ties. Excess is the thing, be it the reasonably health-conscious tomato salad, the famous porterhouse for two, 44 ounces of sliced prime beef, or the crisp apple strudel, which comes with a bowl full of schlag. Go for it all without hesitation.

This restaurant from chef Michael Lomonaco (Windows on the World) is part of the all-star lineup at the Time Warner Center with a neutral-hued interior, sweeping view and generous portions. Any place named for a single menu item had better have a good one, and, luckily, Porter House does. They also have many other fine cuts, too. Pair a gloriously charred steak with one of the 500 wines on offer.

Michael Stillman, the son of Smith & Wollensky founder Alan Stillman, runs this highly stylized industrial theme park complete with meat-hook light fixtures, wooden butcher blocks, white tiles and exposed brick. Lespinasse-trained chef Craig Koketsu nails the steaks and breathes new life into traditional side dishes: the corn crème brûlée and airy gnocchi & cheese (a grown-up take on mac and cheese) are worth the trip alone.

Strip House cultivates a retro-sexy vibe with its suggestive name, red furnishings and vintage pinups. But it’s still a modern meat shrine flaunting French influences. The kitchen makes sure the New York strips arrive at your table still sizzling, seasoned with sea salt and peppercorns, and showing no sign of extraneous fat. Everyone will enjoy the black-truffle creamed spinach, but it's the towering signature 24-layer chocolate cake that really steals the show here.

This playpen for high-rolling carnivores is suffused with wafting scents of singed fat and smoke-laced bourbon. Burnished rosewood tables big enough for a poker game await hedge-funders eager to go all in on beef and booze. The menu caters to lily gilding, inviting you to top any of its wet- or dry-aged steaks with bacon, crab or chili lobster. If you’re keen on embellishments, you’ll want the bone-in rib-eye that’s Katz-ified into a smoky, spice-crusted pastrami steak topped with butter.

A gamble fom Wolfgang Zwiener, a former Peter Luger waiter who opened his own steakhouse in midtown in 2004 and later created an offshoot of his original offshoot. But this is no knockoff; it remains one of the best (albeit priciest) restaurants of its ilk. The steaks are great—thick, juicy and perfectly charred. Duos can order porterhouses for two, and solo diners can dig into a filet mignon, rib-eye or sirloin without feeling like they’re getting second-best.

Opened in 1868 as a dockworkers’ chophouse, this clubby establishment draws a laid-back New York crowd. Yellowfin tuna sashimi and ever-fresh raw-bar selections shine on the menu, but the real star is the beef. Spring for the flavorful strip steak or a well-seasoned prime rib. Any way you carve it, this place stands the test of time.

Making an effort to distance itself from the He-Man confines of machismo steakhouse lineage, Bowery Meat Company touts itself as a "meatcentric restaurant" and raw bar. Servers hoist wooden boards of raw meat around the mildly mid-century room to tantalize diners with three-figure steaks for two. BMC certainly has solid steakhouse ambiance, but its a little more comfortable and relaxed than some of its stuffier Midtown counterparts.

Between its intimate park and the area's ornate architecture, Tudor City feels like a private oasis removed from the city’s frenetic energy. One of its secrets? Tudor City Steakhouse. It may be mistaken for the community’s own restaurant, but this hidden gem is a welcoming space where you can enjoy a comforting meat-and-potatoes dinner where prime dry-aged beef is the star.

An old-school chophouse equipped with a 50-foot marble bar, dark yellow leather chairs and beige wallpapper where Peter Luger alums dole out seafood alongside meaty specialties. Its two NYC locations (and another in Tokyo) are famous for dry-aged steaks (filet mignon, prime rib) and Wagyu offerings, as well as decadent sides like truffle oil mac and cheese and a mozzarella and tomato salad.

Sparks used to be a mob hangout. Now it’s just mobbed. Even with a reservation, you may have to wait for an hour at the cramped bar. It’s worth it: The signature sirloin is a lean 16-ounce prime hunk with a salty, lightly charred exterior. Savory beef scaloppine and steak fromage (filet mignon topped with Roquefort) are also outstanding.