Peter Luger Steak House
848 Driggs Avenue | also 178 Broadway | Williamsburg | built 1910
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1887
Peter Luger's Brooklyn restaurant begins as a German cafe, billiard room and bowling alley
The Brooklyn restaurant was established in 1887 as Carl Luger's Cafe, Billiards and Bowling Alley, in a neighborhood that was then mostly German. Peter Luger, born in Germany, was the owner, and his nephew Carl was the chef. The neighborhood would soon lie in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge.
“The Brooklyn location was established in 1887 as "Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley" ... German-born Peter Luger (1866–1941) was the owner, and nephew Carl was the chef.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1950
Two metalware makers buy the closed restaurant at auction for $35,000
Peter Luger died in 1941 and his son Frederick ran the restaurant, which went downhill. Frederick shut it down in 1950 and had it auctioned off. Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer, who ran a metal giftware factory across the street, bid as partners, and they were the only bidders. The auctioneer said the price was $35,000, covering the building as well as the restaurant. Both men had dined there for 25 years and needed a place to take clients.
“In 1950, Frederick closed the restaurant and put it up for auction. Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer, who owned a metal giftware factory across the street, bought it…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1968
Craig Claiborne gives the steakhouse four stars in the New York Times
In 1968, under Forman and Sloyer, Craig Claiborne of the New York Times awarded Peter Luger four stars. The same year the partners opened a second restaurant in Great Neck on Long Island. A fire closed that branch in 1984, and it reopened a year and a half later.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2009
Governor Paterson has Richard Ravitch sworn in as lieutenant governor over dinner here
In July 2009, while dining at Peter Luger, Governor David Paterson had Richard Ravitch sworn in as lieutenant governor in secret. The move was meant to help oversee a State Senate that was in a stalemate at the time.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2019
Critic Pete Wells gives the steakhouse zero stars
In 2019 the New York Times critic Pete Wells reviewed Peter Luger and awarded it no stars. That was a sharp fall from the four stars Craig Claiborne gave in 1968, the three of Ruth Reichl in 1995 and the two of Frank Bruni in 2007. The restaurant lost its Michelin star in 2022.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Peter Luger Steak HouseWikipedia
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