50 Is The New 40

The price of an average steak dinner has edged past $50 in many of Manhattan's busiest steakhouses.

“Beef is taking another price leap now. It’s in short supply and difficult to get,” Michael Lomonaco, chef and managing partner at Porter House New York, told Crain’s. His restaurant has been charging more than $50 for a year; the cowboy ribeye goes for $57. Morton’s charges $60 for a 24-ounce porterhouse at its Fifth Ave. location. At Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse a 30-ounce prime rib has been going for $55 for seven months. Old Homestead has three $52 steaks, while Smith and Wollensky and Primehouse each offer just one to test customers’ reactions. “For $50, it better be a good steak,” Gregory Elle, 74, of Manhattan, said outside Porter House on Sunday. “Everything is more expensive. I remember when a good steak was $10.”

Beef is forecast to rise another 10% this year alone.