Tad’s Steak Dare

From an email: “I have a request for you.  Certain people here at my office are obsessed with Tad’s Broiled Steaks and how bad it is.  It would be really cool if you would review the place and take pictures of the food.” I once wrote I would accept any Midtown eating challenge.  I knew at some point it would come back to bite me in the ass.  I guess the Tad’s write-up had to happen at some point, right?

29 Comments

  • DON’T DO IT! Can we just accept that it’s common knowledge that this place sucks and leave it at that? Don’t you normally leave the chains alone unless they offer something unique and delicious? I ate there once and got the worst case of food poisioning I’ve ever had, the shakes started almost immediately and the rest of the night I got very familiar with my bathroom. Zach, please don’t accept this challenge, we need you around to tell us about places that are worth hearing about and discovering, not places that may turn you off to your mission.

  • Do it. DO IT! This place has intrigued me from childhood! I’ve heard such horrible stories that it’s becoming one of those things that you just have to do to say you’ve done it. But if YOU go then I don’t have to!!

  • TAD’S! TAD’S! TAD’S!
    If you can eat @ Tad’s… you can probably drink the water from a Tijuana water well.

  • TADS!!!! Make sure you go to the on 50th st.

  • As I understand it, Tad’s steaks are no better than spam….which segways nicely to….what’s with all the spam on the comments of late? Advertisments in russian?

  • I’ve eaten there twice in the last 10 years. I actually went to one about two months ago. They’re edible. I did not get sick. The restaurants are seedy places, filled with lots of human interest stories. The one on W 34th Street brings back 1970’s nostalgia. Go with a friend and decide for yourself.

  • DO IT! It’s a pretty bad steak, but it does qualify for a proper Midtown Lunch. Also there’s nothing that a liter of A1 Sauce can’t make edible.

  • What a wonderful idea. Show us the Iron tummy.

  • C’mon, Tad’s is no worse than many other places Zach has already dared to patronize (Chicken House)

    So what if the steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it

  • I’ll go, but we have to hit Beefsteak Charlie’s afterwards.

  • Ah I actually went here last week per a friend’s request. It’s not as bad as everyone seems to claim it is, and you get quite a lot of food for their lunch special. Granted it’s no Ruth Chris, and it’s not the best grade of meat (and granted I enjoy my steak w/ ketchup).. but at the same time, I don’t think it’s any worse than steaks you get at local diners. Point is, it’s not great, but it’s edible and satisfactory.

    Maybe I’ll go again sometime just for this review….

  • I would be curious to see that review. I have been there once, only to use the restroom and that was unpleasant enough.

    Is Beefsteak Charlie’s still around?

  • It’s not everyday you can eat a “Poorterhouse Stek” if that’s what they call it there and have a beer and still be within midtown lunch price range with room to spare!

    Today is a Hallo Berlin feast for me personally.

  • zach, my coworker has been “behind the scenes” at Tad’s near Penn, and he has vowed never to eat there… ever. we’re both avid street cart fans (go 53rd & 6th!) so the fact that he won’t eat there means this place is truly a wasteland.

    there’s a possibility that you’ll lose total faith in midtown lunch if you accept this challenge and i’ll be completely lost without your blog!

  • do it do it dooooo it!

    there’s always a line too… makes you wonder wtf?!

  • oh jeez. good luck. are you allowed to take sick days? because you may get seriously ill.

  • C’mon! Sure, do it! People are expressing their distaste like their favorite high-end restaurant kitchens aren’t just as questionable.

  • been there twice and not in a good many years. I would not reccomend it or mention to people that I have been there. However, when you have a certain crave for a greasy/grizzly steak there is none better then Tad’s near Penn Station

  • i went once as a joke with my gf and she actually suggested we could go again (which we did) as it wasn’t the flavor holocaust we expected. that being said, it is pretty bad and i don’t think i’d ever go back. I totally agree with the previous comment about the “human interest stories” that regularly patron the place.

Leave a Reply

You must log in or register to post a comment.