Where do you go when you’re craving steak but don’t necessarily want the formality of a steakhouse? If you’re like me, you seek out hidden gems like an unassuming bar in Bronxville, a strip mall in New City, or you skip the pasta at an Italian restaurant and order the ribeye instead.
Visit one of these surprising places for steak.
Steak special at La Casa Bronxville includes three entrees, a choice of sides and two cocktails or a bottle of Malbec. Photographed in June 2024
Elevated Mexican cuisine is at the heart of this refined restaurant, with a menu built around seasonal, sustainably sourced ingredients. And while Carne Asada (skirt steak with chimichurri sauce, plantains, black beans and rice) is a staple on the menus of many Mexican restaurants, owner Spencer Pingel recently introduced steak nights featuring a sous vide ribeye.
The special, offered once a month, is a two-course meal for $65 per person (for a minimum of two guests) that includes fresh guacamole, house-made corn chips and three salsas, plus Esquites and a Caesar salad. The 18-ounce sliced ribeye steak is served family-style with house-made chimichurri sauce and a choice of three sides, such as mashed potatoes, sautéed green beans, asparagus and plantains. The prix fixe meal also includes a bottle of Malbec (or BYOB and corkage included), or you can opt for a margarita and a glass of wine or two margaritas. For those who don’t drink, the restaurant offers a dessert of your choice instead.
The next Steak Nights are scheduled for July 18 and August 15. In addition to breakfast (the restaurant already serves brunch), Pingel also plans to organize paella nights. 7 Pondfield Road, 914-222-9016, lacasabronxville.com.
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When you go to an Italian restaurant, you usually think of pasta instead of steak, but at this New Rochelle gem, chef/owner Giovanni Cucullo is full of surprises. His prime 24-ounce ribeye, which arrives piping hot, is a Black Angus beauty from a top family farm in Kentucky that practices sustainable ranching.
Cucullo and his team dry the meat in the refrigerator, then season it with coarse Sicilian sea salt and black pepper. It’s grilled, rested, and sliced; then finished with lots of butter, garlic, and rosemary. It’s brought to the table in a sizzling cast-iron pan with a side of Parmesan potatoes. It’s $86 for two. 11 Huguenot St., 914-636-0006, marianewrochelle.com.
The bison tomahawk ribeye at Craft Taqueria in New City is a 32-ounce steak from Fossil Farms. It has an ancho chile rub and is served with rice, Mexican coleslaw, and house-made coffee-chipotle barbecue sauce.
The food at Craft Taqueria is consistently impressive—their tacos were featured in my “Best Thing I Ate This Week” series last year. This despite the restaurant being a fast casual spot in a strip mall. What you may not know is that chef/owner Jeff Kreisel spent more than a decade working in the kitchens of some of Manhattan’s best steakhouses, which means he knows his way around steak.
His Black Angus skirt steak taco is always on the menu and features a house-made black garlic marinade ($22).
Also super special (and worth getting when available) is their ancho chili-rubbed bison tomahawk steak, which runs as a special every few months. This massive 32-ounce steak comes from Fossil Farms, which prides itself on its free-roaming North American bison. Kreisel makes an ancho chili rub and serves it with rice, Mexican coleslaw, and house-made coffee-chipotle BBQ sauce for $110 (serves one to two). Also on the occasional special: Wagyu strip steaks, bison hanger steak, elk short ribs, and more. 170 S Main St., 845-499-2211, crafttaqueria.com.
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You’d never expect this unassuming bar with a tiny kitchen to produce such delicious food, but chef/owner Francesco Coli has been conjuring magical creations from small spaces for years.
His steak is an example of this.
Options here include a porterhouse for four, a 1.4-liter classic Fiorentina grilled served with steak fries for $145 or a bone-in ribeye, a 21-ounce portion for $65. Henry’s also offers a 16-ounce New York Strip for $65. All steaks are finished with clarified butter. 32 Palmer Ave., 914-346-5242, henrysbronxville.com.
The Bistecca, grilled ribeye with Argentine chimichurri sauce and house-made potato chips, at Piccola Trattoria in Dobbs Ferry. Photographed on September 20, 2023.
Chef/owner Sergio Pennacchio is known for marrying Argentine flavors with Italian tastes, which makes his Bistecca (16- to 18-ounce grilled rib-eye steak served with chimichurri sauce, caramelized onions and house-made potato chips) a treat. The dry-aged meat is USDA Prime and first seared in a high-quality cast iron pan before hitting the grill. Pennacchio said the seasonings are simple ‒ but a secret. $64. 23 Cedar St., 914-674-8427, piccolany.com.
Jeanne Muchnick writes about food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest food adventures on Instagram @jeannemuchnick or via the lohudfood newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Westchester, Rockland NY steakhouses: 5 surprising spots
