A very special trip to Peter Luger's in New York City (UPDATED 2/10/10 with 2nd trip!)

Dateline:  Saturday January 23, 2010.  I'd been taking some time off from Roadfooding for a while for a number of reasons, to get into better shape, feel healthier overall and to train for the Boilermaker Road Race coming up in July of this year.  However, on this day, my friends had devised an inspired plan to combine a love of running with the love for great food.  With that in mind, we plotted out a 4-mile training run that ended right at the front door of Peter Luger's!  

Billyboy, Eben and Al after the run.  I had called ahead a week before to secure a reservation and good thing I did.  They don't serve food at the bar on weekends, so we couldn't just slide in for a burger, we needed a table.  I also asked if we could come in dressed in running gear and they said that was fine.  All set!

We met up with Al's brother-in-law, Tim at Luger's. We all ordered the bacon cheeseburger, medium. Our waiter started us off with a basket of those great, crusty, chewy rolls and the steakhouse sauce.
My lunch. Tim had gotten an order of the creamed spinach which he kindly shared with us. A great creamy, spinach-y (sorry, searching for the right word here!) complement to the rest of the meal.
I had contemplated getting a second burger on this day!  I asked our waiter and he said they do grind the meat in-house.
I never get tired of looking at this.
Tim, Al and Eben, feelin' satisfied, as 70s supergroup Boston would say!  The guys really loved these burgers.
 were
Dessert was a must and we had earned it. Tim went for this Holy Cow Hot Fudge Sunday. I don't know if Phil Rizzuto ever ate here, but I could almost hear Scooter utter his classic phrase when they brought this out. They even put the gold chocolate coins for the table in the bowl!
Al grabbed a piece of Pecan Pie. I didn't try it, but it sure looked good.
Eben and I split an Apple Strudel. Wow! Flaky and sweet with lots of apples, raisins and cinnamon. The outer layers were a bit darkened around the corners which brought another wonderful level of flavor to it for me.
And of course, the obligatory bowl of SCHLAG!! I wish I could buy a sleeping bag made entirely of SCHLAG. Just incredibly light and just sweet enough whipped cream. A perfect end to a perfect day with friends. Hopefully, more training runs/food stops are in the works!

Wow...looks as great as ever...that burger on that great looking roll...wow!!

What a meal after a run! Does good Pecan Pie really need powdered sugar?

Beautiful as usual!

What's up with the bacon?

Oh my God, I can't wait for my burger!

brickie - not sure I understand the question.  In what respect do you mean?

billyboy


brickie - not sure I understand the question.  In what respect do you mean?

It's just that the bacon looks more like a side than the usual " bacon cheeseburger."
Looks great though!

I love it!  Run to a 3,000 calorie lunch!

Everything looks great.

Wasn't it Harry Caray with the famous "Holy cow" signature exclamation?

I agree brickie! That's some fine looking bacon.

There are people on this site that just don't like Lugers. Look at the bun, burger, bread, sides and deserts. It just doesn't get much better. Its always been at the top of my list. Great Report and Pictures...Russ 

Hey brickie, yeah the Luger bacon is one of their signature items.  It's offered as a side/appetizer on their dinner menu.  Lots of people get it with their steaks.  Crazy, but crazy good!!  On my first trip for the burger, I had wondered if it would be the Luger bacon or they would actually use different bacon to put on the burger.  When they brought it out, my belly smiled!  That bacon had to be tasted to be believed.  The concept of bacon so thick and hefty that it can't fit on the burger blows my mind in such a good way!
 
Play27 - a lot of restaurants do that for presentation.  I think they feel that the item on the plate alone doesn't have enough "wow" factor.  I think that's how the parsley sprig was invented. 
 
MiamiDon - I think Harry and Scooter both used it.  That Sunday was massive!

Wow that all looked incredible. Nice report!

billyboy -

You continue to raise the bar in terms of descriptions, pictures, places and now...with the Race for Roadfood getting a literal interpretation!

Great job!

So, it's easy to get into Luger's for lunch???
Just walk right in, no reservations needed?
(cause I showed  for dinner once, and they told me they
were booked for 3 months...I was turned away..
the welcome mat was not out for me...)
(this was a few years ago, perhaps they will be more receptive
nowadays, with the recession going on?)

Is their famous porterhouse available for lunch, too?
I've gotta try that burger!!!!  ASAP !!

Hey Ellen!  The two most important words a Roadfooder can say:  "it depends".  I would call ahead for a reservation just to be on the safe side.  Especially if you are coming from AC.  If you have other places to hit in the city it wouldn't be a total wash if you couldn't get in.  I can take a long walk to Luger's or 3 stops on the subway from where I live.

For lunch during the week, you can eat at a table or eat at the bar.  For a table, you really should have a reservation.

For lunch on the weekends, they DO NOT serve food at the bar, so you must sit at a table.  They were pretty busy when my friends and I went the second time, so I had called about a week ahead for a reservation.  Plus, we had just finished out run and were still wearing our track pants and sweat shirts so I double checked with them that our dress was appropriate.  I suspect the lunch crowd isn't as busy as the dinner crowd and a reservation may be easier to come by. 

Not sure about the porterhouse at lunch as I'm not a huge steak person and that's a little early in the day for me to be eating steak! 

Gregg - thanks so much!  That brought a HUGE smile to my face!  Have fun in Charleston.  Wish I could be there.

The porterhouse is most assuredly available for lunch.

I have always had great success with the Great Neck location for lunch with no reservations.  As a matter of fact, I have NEVER gone with a reservation and always been sat at a regular table - with no wait.  The Brooklyn location, admittedly, gets a little busier.

While the Brooklyn location has been around for 100 or so years, the Great Neck location is no Johnny-come-lately, either - they have been serving since the early 60's.  From what I have read, in addition to the greater ease with which one can be seated, the service is less gruff.  While I don't have Brooklyn experiences to compare, my own dining experiences at Great Neck lead me to believe that there could be some truth to this.  The waiters are still older...and still a little crusty, but I have had one or two who try to inject a little humor here and there.

So, if you don't want to run the risk of the Brooklyn location, Great Neck might be worth a shot.

I am heading to the Great Neck location in 2 minutes for a birthday dinner (mine!).  I actually prefer it over the Brooklyn location because it is less crowded and touristy.  Will be bringing my camera and taking lots of pics.

Happy birthday Stephen, and enjoy that burger (or whatever)!

No burgers at dinner time, Ms. Nancy.  I can't say for sure, but I suspect porterhouse is on the agenda for tonight.

I had recently heard that the burger is available on the dinner menu - as a side order

Unconfirmed

I actually do know of someone who has had a Luger burger at dinner.  I think his house account is number #00004 or something close!  ;-)

I do not believe that the burger is included on the dinner menu (maybe that is a better statement).  If you know someone, you may be able to get one served.

Stephen Rushmore Jr.


I am heading to the Great Neck location in 2 minutes for a birthday dinner (mine!).  I actually prefer it over the Brooklyn location because it is less crowded and touristy.  Will be bringing my camera and taking lots of pics.

I hope you had a nice birthday dinner.  How was the food?  Are you going to post any of the photos? 

I am sitting here, reading these wonderful accounts of that fabuloso cheese burger - and I am eating dry cherrios.

I will be Jonesing for that cheeseburger from now until eterninty.