[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]

I love lunch at the Tribeca location of Wolfgang's Steakhouse, a place that is very much out of my budget for evening meals. Lunch specials start at $10 for pasta, $13 for a burger, and $26 for a rib-eye steak.

My favorite? The $21 Lamb Chop special. It's a serving big enough to suffice for lunch, with leftovers for dinner. Two large lamb loin chops to a plate—meaty and tender, ordered rare and delivered accordingly. The special comes with two set sides: creamed spinach, silky and buttery and beautifully rich, and steaming hot mashed potatoes. The waiter accidentally delivered steamed broccoli in place of creamed spinach—but apologized and more than made up for it with an full side order of the creamed spinach. All this talk of bad service in steakhouses? I've yet to experience it here.

Similar to Keen's (which also offers excellent lunch deals), the vibe at Wolfgang's is definitively masculine—guys in suits dominate the lunch hour in downtown Tribeca. (This may be precisely why single diners, especially that of the non-business suit type, get treated better than the norm.) Finish your order of the Lamb Chop lunch special and I'm doubtful you'll find room for dessert—but in the event that you do, head for the warm apple strudel with a heaping side of schlag.

Wolfgang's Steakhouse

409 Greenwich Street, New York NY 10013 (map)
212-925-0350
wolfgangssteakhouse.com