American Cut — Restaurant in New York

I was early to my 7:45 dinner reservation and my table was not ready at the designated time. I got seated at about 8:10 PM. This lack of punctuality was not a good start to my experience. One thing I immediately noticed was how persistent they can be with up selling you. Within 1 min of being seated I had already been offered expensive bottled water ("bottled or tap?" they ask) and cocktails from 3 separate people in the restaurant. The up selling thing didn't really bother me as I was more than prepared. I came here knowing EXACTLY what I would be ordering. Just keep this in mind if you're trying to avoid breaking the bank here.Let's get to the food. Below ill detail the meal item by item

The Biscuits, 4/5 stars - These were good. They are a clever play on the everything bagel found almost anywhere in NYC. These biscuits are quite rich and hearty and pair well with the vegetable cream cheese spread that comes with them. I didn't find them to be outstanding and life changing as other Yelpers have but they do accompany the rest of the food nicely and add a nice New York touch to the meal.

The Bacon Appetizer, 4/5 stars - This type of Thickly cut bacon is a staple at steakhouses around NYC. American Cuts version compares very well to the competition. I have had the same item at Peter Luger and its better at AC. The difference is the sauce, AC uses a nice tangy sauce that compliments the pork flavor. They also do a good job at making the bacon firm with crispy edges. I found the bacon a Luger to be more flimsy which is a quality I don't prefer in my bacon. If I was a bacon enthusiast I might give this item a 5 but I'm not so it's a 4 in my book.

The Hanger Steak, 5/5 stars - Awe-Inspiring! Its pretty simple here, the way that they age, season and cook their steak is better than anywhere I've been. The hanger cut is not even close to the best cut of steak I've had. In fact, it's the cheapest steak you can buy here. But it's about what they do with it. They coat their steaks in pastrami spice. Imagine biting in to a PERFECTLY cooked medium steak with a delectable pastrami like exterior. The Meat had a beautiful crust similar in texture to the "bark" you will find on an expertly BBQ'd slab of ribs. The seared pastrami spice does wonders in the flavor and texture departments.This is a steak that needs no additional sauce, salt or anything. The flavor is perfect the way they serve it to you..Based on what they did with the cheaper cut of meat I would expect their rib-eye to be unequivocally the best steak I've ever had.

The pureed potatoes, 5/5 stars - These were great! So Buttery and flavorful.They were the best mash potatoes I've ever had. They had a smooth creamy consistency unlike any potatoes I've tasted.

The spinach, 5/5 stars- Just like everything else, full flavored! This was another excellent item that seemed to be seasoned perfectly to my taste.

The Crackerjack Sundae, 5/5 stars- What a terrific conclusion to a virtually flawless meal. This sundae is perfectly balanced flavor wise. It has sweet and salty as well as Creamy and crunchy elements. Who knew that Carmel popcorn went so well with ice-cream?

Why 5 stars? Culinary excellence is the answer. I have eaten in the top steakhouses in New York. Everyone has top of the line USDA beef. What sets American Cut apart is how they prepare it. In my opinion the big name steakhouses in this city have become outdated in how they do things As they focus on preserving that early 1900s taste. American Cut has successfully combined a modern culinary approach with staples that make steakhouses of old the institutions that they are. In addition to excellent food the service was top notch.American Cut offers everything you should expect at this price point. If you couldn't tell from this write up they became my favorite...

I had a reservation at this restaurant on 6/18/21at 8pm. I called ahead to let them know that we were running about 15 minutes late due to traffic, the young lady that I spoke to was very polite and stated that we would still have our table when we arrived. Upon our arrival at 815 the ambiance was really nice dimly lit and a very intimate setting which I loved, and we were immediately seated. I made reservations to celebrate a friend's birthday and he loves steak so I just knew this would be the perfect restaurant for us to celebrate. Our waiter Russ was great, it appeared as if he was overwhelmed with too many tables but he was still great none the less. We ordered drinks and appetizers and starters without any problems, all which came out promptly. We ordered our entrées when we ordered our starters as usual and we waited and waited and waited and waited. I saw a guy that appeared to be a manager walking around greeting people at their tables but he walked right pass our table as he we tried to get his attention. There were people that came in after us that received their entrées before we did so we asked Russ why it was taking so long and he said he'll check on it for us. Russ came back and told us that it would just be a few minutes longer and that was at approximately 940pm. So we waited and waited as other patrons food came and we still haven't received ours. Finally we got the attention of one of the workers and asked to speak to a manager. The same guy who was walking around greeting people at the tables and walked pass us was one of the managers. He came to our table and asked what was the problem was, one of my friends stated to him that it was 1023pm and we've  been there of over 2hrs and we still haven't received our food yet. The manager stated that it's busy but it should be out shortly. We told him that we were told that by Russ at 940pm and we still haven't received anything yet. The managers exact words to us with an attitude was "well it's busy so I don't know what you want me to do". We were all taken back by his rude comment, he himself never once said let me check on it or see what the problem is or anything. As we looked around the restaurant and saw ppl that came in after eating and we're sitting there well over 2hrs and still haven't gotten our food, it was clear that we were being treated less than because of our skin color. We told Russ to give us the check because we were leaving, he came back and stated that he apologized and we can just leave. We left without any entrées and while walking out looking around we realized that we were indeed the only people of color where were were sitting. I guess that's why we got the treatment and service that we received. My money spends the same as any other person and we clearly have the money to dine at this restaurant if we were there. It's sad that in this day and age people are still judged by the color of their skin. I really wasn't going to even leave a review but I had no choice it was eating me up inside the way we were treated. I saw many great reviews about this place and knew that we would have a great time with great food and drinks but I just didn't happen for us. Hopefully you have a better experience than we did I would never patronize this...

Wish I could recommend this place, because the food is quite good. Unfortunately our experience was mostly ruined by the service.

We had a table for 12 people for a bachelor party dinner. Due to travel issues, 6 of the people were not able to make it. We had a $1,500 minimum spend and when we asked if there was anything they could do to lower it, the manager was insistent that we were stuck with the total spend, which equated to $320 per person.

Then when we are seated, the service staff push fancy water bottles on us. After the first 2, I ask if they can only give us tap water going forward. When the bill came, I was shocked to see they charged us for 6 water bottles for a total of $60. When you are dropping over $2,400 on a dinner for 6 people, it is disappointing to see the restaurant try to nickel and dime you for something as trivial and universal as water.

Then the general manager comes over to suggest a wine. We ask for the sommollier and the general manager reacts defensively and says he is certified and that the somm would be by later. We felt like the staff tried to push a specific wine on us instead of presenting multiple options. The bachelor whose upcoming wedding we were celebrating tastes the wine and doesn't say anything for a long time (he didn't like it). Usually this would be a prompt to offer alternatives, but the staff did not do so. Pretty surprising for a $200 bottle of wine.

When we were putting in orders, we originally just wanted to order the appetizers and order the entrees later to space it out, but the waiter pressured us to order entrees as well. We made it clear that we wanted to have time to savor the appetizers and the waiter said he would space it out. Then, when we were halfway through the appetizers, the wait staff tried to pressure us to take the appetizers and told us the steaks were coming out momentarily. The waiter said he would take care of it, but when the steaks came out they had clearly been kept under a heat lamp. Again, when you are paying over $400 a person, you want to have the steaks fresh off the grill (I can taste the difference) and not have to feel rushed.

They did throw in a key lime pie on the house, but when we are dropping $400 a person, that seemed like a small gesture.

Overall the food was good and the ambience is great, but this experience was spoiled by the service. I would expect more at this price point and I would recommend that NY's upper crust...