By Kate King | Photography by Christina Holmes for WSJ
When Delmonico's first opened around the corner from Wall Street in 1837, it coincided with a financial panic, bank failures and the popping of a real-estate bubble. But the steakhouse survived. And in the coming years, it would serve famous customers such as Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain.
Now, nearly two centuries later, the restaurant that calls itself the first fine-dining spot in the U.S. is poised to open its second outpost in Midtown Manhattan next year.
Americans still have a strong appetite for steak and are shrugging off soaring beef prices. Thinning cattle herds and tariffs on some imported meat have squeezed restaurant profit margins and forced operators across the U.S. to raise prices.
Steakhouses may have received a boost from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has highlighted beef as a key way to meet new federal dietary guidelines recommending increased protein intake.
Sales at U.S. steak-chain restaurants grew more than 5% last year, according to market-research firm Technomic, more than double the growth across all full-service chain restaurants.
That growth rate was faster than any other full-service restaurant category in the U.S., except for Asian dining, according to Technomic.
"If anything, consumers seem to want more protein, not less," said Sara Senatore, senior restaurants analyst with Bank of America. "And that includes red meat."
Casual dining such as at the Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse chains have powered much of steak's sales growth over the past two years, according to Technomic. Sales from more upscale brands such as Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and the Capital Grille have also grown, though at a slower pace.
But having steak frites on the menu remains one of the safest bets for New York restaurants, in part because diners are more likely to order alcohol to accompany a red-meat meal, said Keith Durst, owner of the hospitality advisory firm Friend of Chef.
Durst advised steakhouse Golden Steer on its recently opened New York location, its first outside Las Vegas.
"New York just keeps bringing in more people who can spend," Durst said. "We haven't seen any drop in desire for steak at all."
Delmonico's guests over the years included Charles Dickens, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. The restaurant has cycled through several locations and ownership changes, but it has been located for most of its history in the heart of New York City's financial district.
Today, Delmonico's core customers are business executives and their expense accounts, said Dennis Turcinovic, owner of Delmonico's Hospitality Group. A 36-ounce porterhouse steak for two rings up at $210.
At lunchtime on a recent weekday, businesspeople in suits sat at white-tablecloth tables in the main dining room, where the walls are wrapped in cherry-wood wainscoting and heavy blue curtains frame the windows.
Its new location in midtown, at 1330 Avenue of the Americas, is surrounded by a high concentration of Fortune 500 companies and will include more private rooms for business dinners and holiday parties.
The restaurant on Beaver Street, which Turcinovic renovated and reopened in 2023 after a yearslong closure, is steeped in its own history. Proclamations from mayors, decades-old menus and black-and-white photos from the restaurant's earlier days hang on the walls and in glass cabinets of the main dining room.
In midtown, Delmonico's aims to recapture the power-lunch crowd and introduce a more modern twist on its historic brand, said Adam Plitt, the new executive chef for Delmonico's Hospitality Group. Plitt, who spent 12 years at French seafood restaurant Le Bernardin, said he has already introduced a few more fish options to Delmonico's menu.
Newmark, a New York City-based real-estate firm, represented both the landlord and Delmonico's in lease negotiations for the midtown location.
Write to Kate King at kate.king@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2026 13:59 ET (17:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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