You Can Get A $255 Steak At This Classic, 1830s-Era NYC Restaurant

A restaurant that's a part of culinary history as the first fine dining restaurant in America is still serving customers at the original New York City location where it was founded in 1837. Dining at the classic steakhouse in Lower Manhattan's Financial District doesn't come cheap, however. Big spenders at Delmonico's pony up $255 for a steak — the Wagyu Côte de Boeuf 40-ounce Tomahawk Westholme Wagyu— and the most expensive item on the menu.

Many people now know what wagyu beef really is, if only because they've heard how expensive it is. Wagyu comes from special Japanese cattle, and is renowned for its rich flavor and tenderness thanks to abundant fat marbling. Delmonico's $255 steak is Westholme Wagyu from Australia. Westholme cattle come from purebred Japanese Wagyu males crossbred with females from the company's proprietary Mitchell breed. The cattle are born wild and graze on the Westholme range in northern Australia for two years, before being moved to feedlots for at least 270 days. Westholme says this creates a unique wagyu that's tender with complex flavor and a signature marbling.

The 40-ounce tomahawk is a ribeye with a long part of the rib bone left intact and French-trimmed to remove meat and fat, so that it resembles an axe handle. "Côte de boeuf" means "rib of beef" in French. The tomahawk is a challenging cut of steak to cook at home, so you're better off enjoying it at a restaurant like Delmonico's.

Delmonico's was opened in 1837 by Swiss brothers, John and Peter Delmonico, who owned a small confectionery shop nearby. The upscale dining style was new to the U.S. at the time, and the restaurant became famous as the wealthy flocked to eat there. High-profile people who visited Delmonico's included Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and even Abraham Lincoln, who reportedly enjoyed the mashed potatoes topped with cheese and breadcrumbs.

Delmonico's originated several classic dishes in the mid-19th century. It even originated the "Delmonico"-cut ribeye steak in 1850. Although there's some debate about exactly what a Delmonico steak is and how it's different from a ribeye, the restaurant offers its signature 18-ounce Delmonico ribeye for $86. Delmonico's also claims credit for inventing Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska, and Lobster Newburg, which all remain on the menu today.

As time passed and Delmonico family descendants took over the restaurant during the 19th and early 20th century, other locations opened and closed in Manhattan, until the last family-owned location shut its doors in 1923. Three years later, in 1926, Italian immigrant Oscar Tucci bought the brand and revived the restaurant in its original location. Tucci and his family operated Delmonico's for decades, before there were more changes in ownership and closures, most recently during the pandemic. The restaurant reopened from lockdown in 2023, and Tucci's grandson, Max Tucci, is now one of the partners.