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.