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Sin City has arrived in New York.
Golden Steer, the 70-year-old classic Las Vegas steakhouse, just opened at One Fifth Avenue, the iconic Art Deco building where Marc Forgione and Mario Batali owned restaurants and Anthony Bourdain and Keith McNally once worked.
It’s an audacious roll of the dice by Golden Steer’s affable husband-and-wife owners Nick McMillan and Amanda Signorelli, who took over when Amanda’s father, Dr. Michael Signorelli, died in 2019.
“It feels surreal,” McMillan said. “History and storytelling is a huge piece of the brand and there’s perhaps no venue in New York with more legacy than One Fifth.”
Architecture firm Modellus Nvous, which also worked on Tatiana and Crown Shy, transformed the space into a sexy, romantic time trip to the Vegas of the 1950s and ‘60s, when Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and mobsters mingled with blondes in mink stoles sunning by the Sahara pool.
A convivial main room gives onto a seductively lit bar-lounge and two private spaces — the “Mob Room,” and “Showgirls Room.”
Everywhere, the 167-seat venue is plush and clubby in the speakeasy style of Chez Fifi and The 86, with tufted upholstered booths, globe-light sconces, stained glass and thick carpeting. A soundtrack of Ol’ Blue Eyes and his Rat Pack pals lend a touch of Carbone as well.
The menu, by executive chef Brendan Scott, a veteran of Montrachet and Carne Mare, shows early promise.
USDA-prime, 24-oz. bone-in ribeye ($104), grilled medium-rare-plus, delivered the blood-and-mineral goods, but my favorite dishes were Italian-inspired.
House-made steer sausage is a rustic thrill, the thick, richly herbed meat in a pool of Umbrian lentils. A trio of tender veal medallions ($52) wrapped in prosciutto and topped with a wine-butter sauce possessed the classic saltimbocca union of flavorful meat and sage.
Maple-glazed, roasted honeynut squash ($17) was perfectly sweet and satisfying, but the “Vegas’s Largest Baked Potato” ($16) was a dud of a spud, neither hot nor seasoned enough to make an impression.
Caesar salad for two ($23), assembled on a tableside trolley, rightly possessed the crackling intensity of whole anchovies, lemon and crisp romaine lettuce.
But another tableside feat, bananas foster ($26), flopped. The flambeed bananas were insufficiently caramelized and ordinary despite generous application of banana liqueur and dark rum.
Golden Steer comes to town in the midst of a beef boom. The city’s modern-steakhouse scene is oversaturated with La Tete D’Or, Bourbon Steak, Gui, Dynamo Room new locations of Del Frisco’s, Capital Grill, Rocco’s — just to name a few. On the horizon, there’s Maple & Ash, a second Cote, and a fourth STK.
Master butcher Pat LaFrieda, who isn’t associated with Golden Steer, told me he sold 25% more beef to NYC restaurants in 2025 than in 2024.
“No matter what anybody says about red meat is bad for you and no matter how much prices go up, it only seems to create more demand,” he chuckled.
But, even steak-loving Gothamites might reach their fill of. Golden Steer has a lot of competition.
If looks were the only thing that counted, it would be a clear winner. For my two cents, though, the restaurant also needs a high-quality burger, as most steakhouses offer, and a few more seafood entrees beyond shellfish, salmon and halibut.
When I mentioned this to Signorelli, she said the menu was intended to resemble the Las Vegas original.
But what works on Sahara Avenue doesn’t necessarily work on lower Fifth.
I hope Golden Steer keeps its eye on local taste — and lives up to its promise.
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