Old Homestead Steakhouse
56 9th Avenue (between 14th/15th)

For some reason I was craving a steak Wednesday evening, and chose to hike all the way out to Old Homestead. After experiencing too many bad steakhouses in NYC (especially the previously-reliable Bull & Bear and the absolutely awful La Carne Grill), I had hoped for better. Well, I didn't get it...

The service, for one, at this venerable institution was just rubbish. The staff barely noticed what was going on, more interested in chatting with each other than to serve diners. There was also an air filtering problem, as cigarette smoke kept being pumped into the dining room. Yuck...

I skipped the starters and chose to go with the restaurant's most-celebrated dish, the gotham steak -- the bone-in 38oz rib steak. I also ordered a side of broccoli. I forgot how big these portions are (the vegetable was enough for a full meal!).

The steak took awhile to come but that's good when the meat is good. It was a good piece of meat, but certainly nowhere near 38oz. It's maybe half of that at best -- which is already too big. The meat was a good piece, but it was extremely bland. Maybe that's why there's this huge bottle of steak sauce on the tables.

I was disappointed with the food, and upset with the service. I did not leave this place happy at all. And frankly, this was one of the worst examples of a restaurant not knowing what to do with lone diners. Bad move...

Food: C
Atmosphere: C
For Lone Diners: D-