Formerly: Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley
Brooklyn, New York · Founded 1887
Opened in 1887 as Carl Luger's Café, Peter Luger became a Williamsburg steakhouse institution after a 1950 rescue by Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer.
Peter Luger Steak House opened at 178 Broadway in Williamsburg in 1887 as Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley. Peter Luger owned the business and his nephew Carl worked in the kitchen, serving a largely German neighborhood years before the Williamsburg Bridge opened. After Peter's 1941 death, his son Frederick ran the declining restaurant until Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer bought the restaurant and building at auction in 1950.
Peter Luger opened Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley at 178 Broadway in Williamsburg. Peter owned the business, while his nephew Carl Luger worked in the kitchen.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story'; historical restaurant references summarized in Peter Luger Steak House histories.
The Williamsburg Bridge opened, making Manhattan more accessible and bringing new customers to the Williamsburg neighborhood. The bridge did not exist when Peter Luger opened in 1887.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story.'
Peter Luger died, and his son Frederick took over the restaurant. Accounts describe the business as declining during Frederick's tenure.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story'; Peter Luger Steak House historical summaries.
Frederick Luger closed the struggling restaurant and put it up for auction. Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer bought the restaurant and building as partners for a reported $35,000.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story'; Peter Luger Steak House historical references; Eat Up New York, 'Peter Luger SteakHouse - Timeless Gem,' January 20, 2015.
Marsha Forman learned beef selection from a retired USDA grader and began the meat-inspection system that the restaurant says continues through Forman-family participation.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story.'
Peter Luger Steak House was named a James Beard Foundation America's Classics honoree.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House historical reference material; James Beard America's Classics listings.
Peter Luger continued operating at 178 Broadway under Forman-family management.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story'; current restaurant information, accessed September 14, 2026.
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Peter Luger's official history identifies 1887 as the opening year and gives the original name as Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley. It says Peter Luger owned the business and his nephew Carl worked in the kitchen. The 1887 date establishes the restaurant's start at 178 Broadway, not the construction date of the building.
Peter Luger dates to 1887, but reported older New York City steakhouse contenders include Old Homestead, founded in 1868, and Keens, founded in 1885. In addition, historical accounts say Frederick Luger closed the restaurant before its 1950 auction, so uninterrupted operation has not been established. Peter Luger is a major historic steakhouse, but it does not hold the citywide oldest-continuously-operating title.
Peter Luger's official history says Sol Forman was the only bidder at the auction, while historical restaurant accounts identify Seymour Sloyer as Forman's partner in the purchase. The transaction included both the restaurant and its building, with the reported auction price of $35,000. The exact ownership shares and current successor ownership require corporate-record verification.
Peter Luger's official account says Forman regularly brought prospective clients from his nearby metal-giftware business to the restaurant and entered the auction because he did not want to lose that lunch spot. The anecdote is central to the restaurant's history but was not independently verified here through auction documents, Forman-family papers, or contemporaneous press.
Peter Luger's official history states that the restaurant remains under Forman family management. Historical accounts trace that management to Sol Forman's 1950 auction purchase with Seymour Sloyer. The reviewed record does not establish a complete current ownership roster or legal operating entity.
Peter Luger's official history says Marsha Forman learned meat selection from a retired USDA grader and that family members still visit wholesale markets to inspect short loins. The claim is detailed and plausible but has not been independently confirmed through current market records or reporting.
Published award listings identify Peter Luger Steak House as a 2002 James Beard Foundation America's Classics honoree.
Peter Luger's official history makes a broad top-steakhouse-since-1984 claim, but the reviewed evidence does not include annual Zagat rankings or a defined measure of a continuous first-place record. The statement should not be presented as a verified historical fact.
Peter Luger Steak House was founded because of Williamsburg Bridge construction.
Peter Luger opened in 1887, while the Williamsburg Bridge opened in December 1903. The bridge later brought more people to Williamsburg, but it was not under construction when the restaurant began.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story.'
Sol Forman alone bought Peter Luger Steak House at auction in 1950.
Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer purchased the restaurant and building as partners at the 1950 auction. Peter Luger's own account focuses on Forman as the bidder, while historical accounts identify Sloyer as the co-buyer.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story'; Eat Up New York, 'Peter Luger SteakHouse - Timeless Gem,' January 20, 2015.
Peter Luger is New York City's oldest continuously operating steakhouse.
Peter Luger opened in 1887, after reported earlier steakhouse contenders Old Homestead in 1868 and Keens in 1885. Historical accounts also say Frederick Luger closed the restaurant before the 1950 auction, so a continuous-operation claim is not established.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story'; Old Homestead Steakhouse historical reference material; Peter Luger Steak House historical references.
The building at 178 Broadway was built in 1887 for Peter Luger Steak House.
The reviewed evidence establishes the restaurant's 1887 opening at 178 Broadway but does not establish the construction date, original purpose, or architectural history of the current building.
Source: Peter Luger Steak House, 'Our Story.'
Peter Luger survived because the Forman/Sloyer purchase group treated a fading neighborhood restaurant as worth preserving for its food and client-lunch culture, then made the old steakhouse model unusually disciplined. Forman's wife Marsha learned to evaluate beef from a retired USDA grader, and the restaurant says family members still inspect short loins in wholesale markets before steaks enter its dry-aging process. The service style—wooden tables, limited payment methods, porterhouse tradition, and a deliberately spare room—became the brand instead of a liability as Williamsburg changed around it.
Peter Luger Steak House opened at 178 Broadway in Williamsburg in 1887 as Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley. Peter Luger owned the establishment and his nephew Carl ran the kitchen. After Peter Luger died in 1941 and the business declined, Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer bought the restaurant and building at auction in 1950; it remains under Forman-family management.
No. Peter Luger opened in 1887, while reported older New York City steakhouse contenders include Old Homestead, founded in 1868, and Keens, founded in 1885. Peter Luger is one of the city's most historically important steakhouses, but it does not hold the oldest-operating-steakhouse title in this register.
Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer bought Peter Luger Steak House and its Williamsburg building at auction in 1950. Forman was a longtime customer with a metal-giftware business across the street, and the restaurant's own history says he bought it after the business declined under Peter Luger's son Frederick.
Historical accounts say Frederick Luger closed the struggling restaurant and placed it for auction in 1950, after which Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer bought it. The exact closure duration and reopening date were not established in the reviewed sources, so the restaurant should not be described as continuously open without qualification from 1887 to today.
Peter Luger's official history says the Brooklyn restaurant remains under Forman-family management after Sol Forman and Seymour Sloyer acquired it in 1950. Historical references identify later ownership passing through Forman and Sloyer descendants, but this record has not independently verified the restaurant's complete current legal ownership roster or operating entity.
178 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 387-7400
Peter Luger's Brooklyn dining room uses a traditional payment policy that has historically favored cash, debit cards, and Peter Luger store cards; confirm current payment rules, reservations, hours, and menu details directly before visiting.