Keens Steakhouse

01What to order

• Mutton chopUS$73 on the current dinner menu; 26 ounces, today cut from lamb rather than mutton, with house mint jelly.
• A Taste of MuttonUS$35, the appetizer-sized portion of the same chop.
• Prime porterhouse for two or threeUS$143 for two, US$177 for three: strip and tenderloin on one bone.
• Prime rib of beef, King's CutUS$89 on the same menu.
• Prime New York sirloin or T-boneUS$69 and US$75.
• Prime rib hashOn the pub menu but served throughout the house, per The Infatuation in 2025.

02The beef

The dinner menu makes one statement about the beef: every steak is USDA Prime, hand-picked and dry-aged on the premises. It names no ranch and no number of days. The James Beard Foundation wrote in 2016 that Keens was among the first restaurants to dry-age beef, and that the 26-ounce chop is now lamb, not mutton; The Infatuation describes it as year-old lamb, about two inches thick.

03The fire

The Infatuation reported in March 2025 that the mutton chop goes under a broiler at 1,000 °F and comes with mint jelly and sautéed escarole. No source read by Steakpedia describes the equipment used for the steaks.

04The story

Keens began as part of the Lambs Club, founded in London, which Albert Keen managed before he opened on his own in 1885. The pipe custom came later: the house says its Pipe Club roll passed 90,000 names, among them Theodore Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein and J. P. Morgan, with churchwarden pipes ordered from the Netherlands. Per the house, Lillie Langtry sued in 1905 for being refused entry to the then men-only rooms, and won; a 2010 press kit gives 1901. Herman Zuch bought the property in 1928; George Schwarz took over in 1978 and spent US$1.4 million restoring it. After his death in 2016 the restaurant stayed with his estate until November 2024, when Tilman Fertitta, chief executive of Landry's, bought the building and the restaurant for US$30 million. The count of pipes on the ceiling depends on the source: 90,000, more than 50,000, or about 45,000.

05The practical

72 West 36th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues; phone 212-947-3636, info@keens.com. Monday to Friday 11:45 to 22:30, Saturday 17:00 to 22:30, Sunday 17:00 to 21:30; open every day of the year except Christmas Day. The bar takes walk-ins. Nearest subway: 34th Street–Herald Square or Penn Station.

Address

72 West 36th Street, Midtown, New York, NY 10018

Phone

+1 212 947 3636

Website

keens.com

Directions

Google Maps ↗

06In New York’s selections