How Much Is That Steak in the Window?
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

There was a fellow standing on the sidewalk outside of Tad’s Steaks on 34th Street the other day, watching through the window as the cook flipped the steaks on the grill. A woman with a gravity-defying hairdo approached him and, unprompted, offered a quick review: “It’s a safer bet to get the rotisserie chicken, because they can’t do anything to mess that up.” The fellow laughed, nodded, and then went inside and had a steak anyway.
This scene – in which the fellow happens to have been me – neatly captures several key elements of the Tad’s Steaks experience: the allure of the flaming grill, the mix of sketchiness and kitsch that Tad’s represents for many people, and the way those concerns are often trumped by the timeless appeal of an inexpensive steak meal.
Most of that is just how the founder of Tad’s planned it. And in case you’re wondering, his name wasn’t Tad: It was Donald Townsend, who opened the first Tad’s in 1957 (the restaurant’s name was a nod to one of his business partners, Alan Tadeus Kay). Then, as now, Tad’s hooked potential customers with the sizzle of the window-side grill – the “steak show,” as Townsend called it – and reeled them in with cheap prices. Tad’s current lunch special of a steak, baked potato, salad, and garlic toast is only $6.99, which, after adjusting for inflation is actually a slightly better deal than the $1.09 price at Townsend’s original outlet.
This combination of spectacle and value, a fixture in New York for nearly half a century now, has helped Tad’s outlive Townsend, who died in 2000. It’s also turned the chain into something of a pop-culture phenomenon. “It’s amazing how many people know Tad’s,” said Jamie Galler, executive vice president of Riese Restaurants, which now owns the Tad’s chain. “They associate it with old New York, almost like folklore. And we like the brand, too. They’re profitable restaurants.”
One reason they’re profitable is that the prices are more in the $10 to $15 range once the lunch special ends. Another is that Tad’s has always kept down labor costs by eschewing waitress service in favor of a cafeteria-line format. But none of that seems to bother people: When I stopped by the 34th Street outlet at 8:30 on a recent Wednesday night, the line of customers waiting to place their orders doubled back upon itself in the restaurant’s lobby. It was almost as long when I left an hour later.
“It’s no-frills, but the food is good quality,” Mr. Galler said. “It doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is. It’s not a table-service restaurant, but it’s not a fast-food restaurant, either. You can get a good steak meal for a fair price.”
Indeed, an affordable steak dinner is one version of the American dream, and you can see that dream playing out at Tad’s, where the crowd these days is heavily Hispanic, mirroring the shift of New York’s working class from European to Spanish-speaking. Many of these customers are couples, and it’s not hard to imagine the “C’- mon, honey, I’m taking you out for a steak dinner!” that preceded their trip to Tad’s. Viewed in this context, Tad’s isn’t old-school or a nostalgic throwback – it’s as contemporary and vital to its core market as it was when it was founded.
So how are the steaks? To be sure, nothing at Tad’s is going to make you forsake Sparks or Peter Luger, but the steaks won’t make you regret walking in either. They’re not USDA prime (I doubt they’re even choice, the next grade down) and they’re cut thin, but the rib eye, sirloin, and T-bone are pleasantly beefy and, particularly in the case of the T-bone, surprisingly tender – definitely better than the steak you’d get at most diners.
One reason for that is that Tad’s moves a lot of meat, and the high turnover ensures that everything is fresh. Another reason may be one of Donald Townsend’s original concepts: He reportedly tenderized his cheap cuts of beef by marinating them in papaya juice.
Asked if Tad’s still employs that technique today, Mr. Galler was noncommittal. “That would be a proprietary secret,” he said.
But how big a secret can it be if it’s referred to in several of Townsend’s obituaries?
“Okay,” he grudgingly acknowledged. “Let’s put it this way: That’s part of the recipe.”
At its peak, Tad’s had 28 outlets spread out across the country, including eight in New York. These days, it’s a more modest concern, with the whole chain consisting of just three Manhattan outlets, but Mr. Galler says Riese hopes to expand it again. “We’ve actually been looking for real estate for additional locations in downtown Brooklyn, 125th Street in Manhattan, and Fordham Road in the Bronx,” he said. “I even got some calls a few years ago from a woman who wanted to open some of them in Korea, but we weren’t interested in that.”
In a city known for its great steakhouses, it’s easy to poke fun at Tad’s: The food line includes glasses of wine topped with Saran wrap; the menu listing on the wall has a photo of a rib steak mislabeled as a strip steak, among other discrepancies; the decor is somewhere between Spartan and tacky. Does it bother Mr. Galler that all this makes some people think of Tad’s as the punch line to a joke?
“Listen, not all restaurants are destinations – some are impulse buys,” he said. “So when you’re walking by Tad’s and you see the show, you see the steak sizzling on the grill, that sends the message that this is honest food, it’s prepared right in front of you. It is what it is, and there’s an integrity to that. If some people find that kitschy, that doesn’t hurt my feelings.”
Two last thoughts: First, Tad’s accepts credit cards these days, but pay with cash – it fits the tenor of the place much better. And despite what that woman told me, don’t bother with the rotisserie chicken. At a steakhouse, even one as humble as Tad’s, it’s all about the beef.
Tad’s Steaks (152 W. 34th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-947-7760; 761 Seventh Ave. at 50th Street, 212-767-8348; 701 Seventh Ave. at 47th Street, 212-768-0946).