Primehouse NY

Went in expecting a nice steak dinner, left with a creepy feeling about a cow that was genetically engineered for me to consume. With all the natural, organic food craze, the theme of the steakhouse is unsettling. The space is huge and the decor is nice although the enormity of the space gives it a corporate impersonal feeling. At the end of the meal our server tried to solicit contact information from us for their "reservation system".

Pros: Decent Food

Cons: Creepy Theme

Posted 01/30/09

Excellent all around.Very nice,spacious bar area.Very good food and service.Some different selections than a typical steakhouse,like hangar steak and short ribs.Good side selections.First time eating here(party of 8) and all were very pleased with the place.Good crowd also.Younger and better mix of men and women than some of the old line spots.Will definitely go back again soon.

Posted 01/26/09

Steve Hanson has done it again. This restaurant is sublime. We went for my then-fiancee's birthday dinner and then decided we had to have a dinner party with our family there. We had 15 guests for the party and it was absolutely perfect. The food is delicious and service is wonderful. Ask for Brian to be your waiter. Favorites on the menu include the Kansas City Sirloin, Grilled Lobster, Parmesean Polenta, Shellfish Tower and White Chocolate or Pumpkin Souffle. We absolutely love Primehouse.

Pros: great service, food and ambiance

Cons: being too expensive to eat here every week!

Posted 12/17/08

Went there with my friends an early dinner before a show. The service was amazing. There was almost always someone at or near our table to respond to requests. They aren't pushy and intrusive though, just attentive and friendly. The waitstaff is also very good about recommendations, and didn't steer us wrong. Although with the menu here I doubt there is anything you could order that would disappoint.

The menu at this place is not just about the featured items but all the thought and care that goes into creating the plates. Of the items that I ordered I was just as excited about the accouterments as I was about the features.

Pros: food,service,ambiance

Posted 11/04/08

I recently held a private brunch party at Primehouse NY. Everything from start to finish was really perfect. First, I was shocked at the amount of menu options you can choose from when throwing a private party. You have 3 brunch items AND 3 lunch items. The food was great and everyone in my party was raving about the restaurant. I have been here for dinner on a few occasions, but I would definitely return for brunch. Also, the maitre d and servers were super professional and helpful ensuring everything was to my liking. The private party room is beautiful and the seats are sooooo comfortable! I had a wonderful experience at this restaurant and recommend it for not only dinner, but brunch and private parties.

Pros: Great food, large room, beautiful decor, attentive service

Cons: There are too many delicious sounding dishes to choose from

Posted 07/15/08

The last time I was here it was Park Avenue Country Club. Wow! What a difference! The space is clean and airy though it part of that could have been because it wasn't too busy yet at lunch time. I took someone here for work. He had a salad and a steak, I had the caesar topped with filet. What a great surprise that they make the salad at your table to your liking. The service was impeccable and the food was great. There are plenty of people on the floor to make sure you're being waited on without too many interruptions. The steaks were very pricey, though it didn't really matter to me since I used a corporate card. Definitely coming back.

Pros: Amazing service, nice space, good food

Cons: Pricey meat

Posted 07/09/08

I have been here 4 times for lunch and I think it is a great place. The service is excellent and the food is very good. I have not been disappointed with anything that I have ordered, including the steaks. The truffle fries are amazing.

Posted 07/02/08

The service was great, the over-priced oysters tastey, and the sides for my steak were great, but the steak itself was just mediocre. I enjoyed the ambiance, but I've had better food for less money at other restaurants. The steak is not better than what you'd get at Morton's or Ruth Cris & the oysters are better at Legal Seafood.

Posted 06/22/08

I live in the neighborhood and eagerly awaited the opening of Prime House. Little did I realize the dichotomy that would ensue. This place is bright, modern and plush with a good deal of elbow room. A nice alternative to Houston's across the way. The bar staff here is brilliant and the wait staff equally knowledgeable and accommodating. It has all the potential of an endruing neighborhood staple. Unfortunately they're asking premium prices here and are weak on some key points. 1. The bar is great. The bar menu isn't. If you don't want the rusty scupper platter, abysmally small cheese plate or homemade potato chips, you SOL. 2. The steaks. Ah yes. This is the whole premise, correct? And I don't mind paying $52 for a steak. What I do mind is paying $52 for a pork chop with a pedigree. I knew not that the "Himalayas" was the end-all of meat storage. To a Sherpa, these cuts might seem of reasonable proportion, but anyone of moderate sophistication may think otherwise. This needs to be addressed, not covered over with sides. I don't know what their business model is, but they need to reconfigure the ratios here or suffer a drop in repeat business. I will go here repeatedly for drinks, but not again for dinner (at least not on my tab). And I would hate to not love this place in the future.

Pros: Plush upscale modern

Cons: Premiums pricing for some weak items

Posted 05/30/08

First, let me start by saying that:
Primehouse has an incredible OVERALL STAFF. I take clients there, I frequent the restaurant with friends and co-workers regularly. I have to say that the general manager makes the warm atmosphere feel most chilly. She is rude, she does not acknowledge prior customers, and has an overall uninviting demeanor. If you can stomach the questionable, "I am theatened by female patron attitude".........the rest of the experience lives up to the Chicago name.

Pros: the managers/bar/waitstaff

Cons: the general manager

Posted 05/29/08

Went there for dinner with my wife. No special occasion, just wanted to try out a new place. The atmosphere was nice. The waitstaff friendly, but erratic with service. For example, no bread was placed at our table. It only got worse from there. Appetizers (ceasar salad and ceviche) were good but not memorable. We were hoping the steaks would make up for the other shortcomings of the restaurant. We were dead wrong. We each had the 10oz Filet Mignon. I ordered mine medium-rare and it came out medium. My wife ordered hers medium and it came out well done. I kept my steak, since it tasted ok, but my wife had to send hers back (and my wife has never had to send food back at any restaurant). The only positive was that the manager came quickly to apologize and a new steak came in less than 5 minutes. We thought the overcooked steak was an isolated event until 10 minutes later a table for 4 next to us had to return 3 out of the 4 steaks that they ordered. We then finished off our meal with the Bananas Foster Sundae and it was just ok. Another thing about the ambience. The place is big, but not as big as Delfriscos. From some reason though, the aisles are not stop traffic jams between busboys, waiters, and customers. Must have something to do with the layout, but it gives the impression of watching traffic on the Long Island Expressway...and this was on a Tuesday.

Overall, friendly staff. Good manager, but he is too busy having to apologize for poor steaks coming out of the kitchen. Definitely not worth the very expensive bill. Could pick any number of steakhouses to go to instead.

Pros: Friendly staff.

Cons: Bad food, slow service, expensive

Posted 04/15/08

My boyfriend and I ate dinner at Primehouse last night and it was possibly the worst dinner!! This is my first time writing a review on Citysearch, but I feel that people need to know how awful this restaurant is! As avid steak eaters, we were really excited to try a new steakhouse, however it did not even come close to living up to our expectations. The only good part was the bottle of wine, but where can't you find a decent bottle?We started with the crab cake and scallop ceviche. My plate was piping hot so god only knows how long that crab cake was sitting under a heating lamp. The scallop ceviche was laughable. I think it was maybe one scallop but you could hardly tell as it was chopped up. For our entree we ordered the Porterhouse for 2. On the menu you have the option of a porterhouse for 1 or 2. The porterhouse for 1is $48 for 20 oz and the porterhouse for 2is $48/person for 39 oz,does that make any sense?!?So our porterhouse came and it was NOT 39 oz. And the porterhouse arrived at our table already separated from the bone and the meat was perfectly seared evenly around, but the bone looked like it had been cooked, to give the appearance that the meat was cooked on the bone - VERY DECEPTIVE!. So we asked if steak was cooked on the bone, and the carver then confirmed that it was not. After the carver confirmed our suspicions, our waitress ran over trying to explain that the meat was cooked on the bone, however, it was clear it was not and she was lying Obviously our steak has no flavor and was below average!! There was a smidgen of filet still on the bone that we managed to cut off and that tiny piece that was cooked on the bone was delicious. They served ketchup with the steak!The prices are ridiculously expensive since all you get is garbage! I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. This restaurant is in desperate need of Gordon Ramsay!! Save your time and money and walk across the street to Houston's for a better meal at half the price.

Pros: the wine was ok

Cons: Terrible Food!!!

Posted 03/26/08

I recently took my wife and father here for a pre-christmas dinner. The inside of the restaurant is nice and clean with a modern decor. Not amazing to look at but it's about the food primarily right? The prices are quite hefty but not too far above the prices we normally pay when going out. What was dissappointing however was the price is only for the steak, there are NO included sides. Instead, sides are priced at $9 each and even the sauce costs $2, kinda silly really. The steaks came out sitting plainly in the middle of white plates. Being the sides and sauces are seperated it leaves a plain boring presentation, just meat in the middle of the plate. The steaks were cooked *perfectly* and all three of us had a different preference. That part was nice as my wife and I are particular about it being cooked the way we asked. Overall my father loved it. He said his steak (porterhouse I believe) was excellent. Both my wife and I felt our filet mignon was good but by no means great. We also felt everything was over salted. The meat tasted like it was salted on the outside (it was the non aged selection) and all the sides minus the onion rings were very salty. We did the $50 one ounce x3 wine tasting which was a great experience though $50 for 3oz is pricey. But man that 1922 wine was amazing. The service throughout the time we were there was very good. In all honesty it was ok but at their prices I don't feel I would go back again. I have been to many places that offer much better steaks with sides and sauce at far better prices and with better decor.

Pros: Great service, they cooked our steaks correctly

Cons: Price, sides and sauces are extra, most items were salty

Posted 01/02/08

My girlfriend and I decided at the last minute to dine at Primehouse NY. Although it was a Wednesday night, this place was busy. I was greeted with a smile upon arriving at the host stand and seated at my table within 5 minutes. My server,an exotic lady with hazel eyes, was not only knowledgeable about wine and food but beauitful (don't tell my girlfriend). She suggested that we start with the Chrysler, a shellfish appetizer that was definitely enough for two (which was fantastic) and move to the "Reserve Cuts" to experience steak that is dry aged. She explained about the different flavor profiles as well (I had no idea that steak could be so complicated). We were so stuffed but we just had to try the desserts. We chose the chocolate souffle and the bananas foster sundae. We literally died and went to heaven. The music was eclectic and the staff actually looked as if they were having a good time as well. I would definitely recommend coming back again and again.

Pros: Beauitful people, beauitful food, excellent service

Cons: nothing

Posted 11/24/07