Some New York restaurants are trendy for six months. Keens Steakhouse has been serving serious steak for generations. Located in Midtown Manhattan at 72 West 36th Street, this legendary NYC steakhouse is practically a piece of New York history—with a menu that makes ordering a salad feel like a missed opportunity.
Keens dates back to 1885, when it opened as part of the historic Keens Chophouse. Today, it remains one of the city’s most recognizable destinations for classic American steakhouse dining.
The restaurant is perhaps best known for its mutton chop, a signature dish that has become almost as famous as the restaurant itself. If you’re expecting a standard steakhouse menu, Keens has plenty of beef, including its celebrated porterhouse steaks and prime cuts. But the mutton chop is the dish that has generations of diners talking.
Then there is the room.
Keens is famous for its collection of tobacco pipes, which cover the ceilings and walls of the historic restaurant. The pipes aren’t simply decoration; they are part of the restaurant’s history and help give Keens its unmistakable old-New-York atmosphere.
For anyone searching for the best steakhouse in NYC, Keens is a name that consistently belongs in the conversation. It’s particularly suited to special occasions, business dinners, visitors looking for a classic New York experience or anyone who believes steak tastes better when served in a room with serious history.
And while New York’s restaurant scene constantly reinvents itself, Keens doesn’t need to chase every culinary trend. Its formula remains remarkably straightforward: historic surroundings, generous portions, excellent steaks and a dining room that looks like it has stories of its own.
If you’re planning a NYC steakhouse dinner, put Keens on the list.
Just don’t ask whether the mutton chop is big enough to share.
That sounds like a challenge.
