You go to Peter Luger for two lessons, one in meat and the other in New York City, because this acclaimed steakhouse in Williamsburg is, whether you like it or not, a wisecracking monument to only-in-New York City attitude. Originally an eponymous German beer hall when it opened in 1887, Peter Luger became one of the world’s most famous steakhouses after it was bought by patron Sol Forman in 1950. Forman’s wife Marsha was trained by a retired meat inspector named Joe Dowd on how to buy the best beef available in New York City and became a local legend stalking meat lockers in her pearl necklace and fur coat. Peter Luger got slammed by a New York Times restaurant critic in 2019, but its steaks are excellent, it’s still family-owned, and the atmosphere is worth the big thumping bill that lands at the end of every meal. (Credit cards aren’t accepted.) —Alexander Lobrano

Alexander Lobrano is a Writer at Large at AIR MAIL. His latest book is the gastronomic coming-of-age story My Place at the Table: A Recipe for a Delicious Life in Paris