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“Let Me Tell You” is a series of columns from our expert editors about NYC living, including the best things to do, where to eat and drink, and what to see at the theater. They publish each Tuesday so you’re hearing from us each week. Last time, Food & Drink Editor Morgan Carter went to a rave in a sauna.
Back in 2021, TikTok discovered the $28 never-ending skirt steak and fries deal at Skirt Steak. Banking on the single item with a few supporting characters (the aforementioned fries and a side of greens), the Nomad restaurant achieved viral status, generating a steady line of influencers and those who had been influenced. A few years later, the price climbed to $45 (thanks, inflation)—and much like anything else that achieves buzz on TikTok, the hype died down as we moved on to the next. But now the steak frites craze is back, this time reemerging at bars across the city.
While taprooms and lounges that solely specialize in nuts and pretzels in bowls certainly have their place, some of New York’s best food can be found bellied up to the bar. Chinatown’s Sunn’s draws crowds for Sunny Lee’s take on banchan just as much as it does for its wines curated by Parcelle. Williamburg’s Bar Madonna (our Best New Bar pick for Best of the City Awards in 2024) keeps us properly boozed with amari and grappa and fed with osso buco croquettes and the appropriately meaty and cheesy smashed meatball parm. Yet, several emerging bars are leaning into American comfort food: meat and potatoes. Possibly a recession indicator, these bars are sliding steak frites down the same stretch they slide cold beers, somehow without draining our wallets.
Steak frites is the star (and only player) at Funny Bar, part jazz bar, part restaurant in the Lower East Side. The space is definitely a bit of a design mashup, formerly housing NYC’s first kosher Chinese restaurant in one life (peep the red and back columns), and a country bar with a mechanical bull pit in the other (AKA where the sunken dining room resides). While a bit of a hodgepodge in decor, the menu keeps it straightforward with only four items: Bar Steak Frites with Bordelaise at $29, a “Big Steak” with tarragon butter at $69, salad at $17 and fries—not needed if you order the steak frites—at $12.
While the steak frites were advertised as an appetizer when I visited last Saturday, my group of three left plenty full with two orders and a tacked-on wedge salad. Don't expect a cooking temp question; your filet mignon arrives perfectly pink and medium-rare. The fries are a slight step above the bodega variety, best used to mop up the last bits of gravy that pools around the meat. While I wish there was more salt and pepper here, and a more robust crust on the meat, for $29, it seems like a welcome end, or I suppose, a start, to a night out.
For a deal with a drink attached, you can look at Gowanus's Liar Liar. Run by four friends whose collective resumes include stints at Bed Stuy’s Bad Luck Bar and Steven Graf Import, the natural wine bar was adamant about creating a food menu that matched its thoughtfully curated bottles, one that goes above what they called “typical wimpy wine bar fare.” What resulted are ol’ reliable staples, a burger with a herby aioli, a chicken fried sando with a sweet and spicy slaw and a plate of steak frites smothered in a peppercorn aioli for $30. However, the deal of the day goes to the happy hour menu, as an order of steak frites and a bottle of your choice of red wine will only cost $69.
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And then there’s Lori Jayne, the dive-y back-kitchen at Bushwick’s Alphaville, where chef Sam Braverman (no formal culinary training) is exceeding expectations of what dive bar food can be. Cooking up what he calls “good food,” his version of bar food includes Sichuan-rubbed wings and Dr. Brown's stewed pork ladled on top of latkes. But it's his steak frites that have achieved viral status. One of the bar’s most popular orders, the dish starts with a cut of chuck flap, seasoned with salt and pepper and basted with a cultured butter that's cooked down with beef trim. Sliced and placed over vinegar-brined fries, the steak is cloaked in a tingly Sichuan peppercorn sauce, a sauce that's made with freshly ground peppercorns to order. Served with a set of chopsticks for partaking, this above-the-bar (or above-the-dive-bar?) snack is only $22.
Is this just a passing trend? A recession indicator? Or just a chance to spend $30 for a meal? You be the judge.