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Expect the Worst From Tad’s Broiled Steaks, and You Won’t be Disappointed
Life is all about expectations. Go into a meal expecting greatness, and 9 times out of 10 you’ll probably leave disappointed. Go into a meal expecting to die, and you’ve got a good chance of walking out feeling like a winner. In those special cases, leaving without feeling sick is a pleasant accomplishment in and of itself. And that is how I felt walking into Tad’s Steaks on Thursday. I was scared. Real scared.
I would call Tad’s a fast food steak place, but that doesn’t really do it justice. It is a Midtown institution- if by institution you mean place everyone knows about. If a restaurant has to be eaten in to qualify, than maybe institution isn’t the proper term. In fact, while most people have a very strong (negative) opinion about Tad’s, few people have actually eaten there. See, there are three kinds of people who lunch in Midtown:
1. Those who have braved a meal at Tad’s, and come away sick or disgusted (a few people I know.)
2. Those who have braved a meal at Tad’s, and thought it was good enough to return (uh, only one person I know, and he accompanied me on this trip.)
3. And everyone else. The haters who have never been, but will not hesitate to tell you how terrible Tad’s must be.
I’ve always been a card carrying member of that last group. I didn’t need to eat at Tad’s to know it was terrible. Whether it’s the already poured glasses of wine, stacked on the counter, covered in saran wrap; or the interior that hasn’t been changed (or probably cleaned) since 1974, Tad’s is not very welcoming. Even the $7 steak lunch special, which should be selling point enough (for its cheapness), ends up doing the opposite. Why is this so cheap? How can they make a steak so cheap? You know what? Scratch that. I don’t want to know.
A year and a half ago I wrote these words: “Got something you’ve seen in Midtown that you’re afraid to try? Email me or post a comment about the place. I’ll go, eat the thing, and write about it here on midtownlunch.com Give me your best shot…”
I knew eventually somebody would make me pay, and 18 months later I found myself walking into the Tad’s Steaks on 7th Avenue btw. 46+47th. See, I’m not sure that all Tad’s are created equal. If you’ve ever walked by the Tad’s on Broadway & 51st you probably fall into the #3 category of people above. It looks kind of disgusting. I mean, really disgusting. There never seems to be anybody in there, and the whole place has the creepiness of a 70s slashes flick. In contrast, the Tad’s on 47th is only slightly disgusting.
Actually, maybe it wasn’t disgusting at all. There were balloons. And a line. That’s right… a line. Did you know that people actually wait in line to eat food from Tad’s? 9 people to be exact. There were 9 people ahead of us in line, and since they cook all the steaks to order, so it ended up taking 15-20 minutes to get our food. And by that time, there were 9 people behind us. At this point, I admit I was feeling a lot less frightened. Some of these people even looked like real pros (i.e. fat). One guy had more on his tray than I eat in a whole day (I tried in vain to find that combo on the menu, but couldn’t), and the rest of the folks looked like they knew what they were doing. Hey, if Tad’s is good enough for repeat visitors to wait 15 mins in a line, it’s good enough for me.
Another misconception about Tad’s is that it’s cheap. It’s actually not that cheap. (Well, maybe for steak it’s cheap.) The regular menu is filled with steaks that are over $10. And while nothing tops $20, I was surprised to find that unless you get the lunch special, Tad’s is actually out of the Midtown Lunch price range. Lucky for us they offer the (mind boggling, possibly harmful to their reputation because you wonder how it is so cheap) deal. $6.99 gets you a steak, baked or mashed potato, salad, and garlic bread. It just doesn’t seem right.
When you make it to within earshot of the grill, the cook will take your order, complete with how you want it cooked. For the lunch special, you get your choice of strip steak or cowboy steak (which is just a skirt steak.) My buddy (the one listed as a #2 above) got the strip steak, so for the sake of thoroughness I went with the cowboy, cooked medium. Conventional wisdom would probably have you ordering your steak well done at a place like Tad’s (cook the the hell out of that possibly rancid meat) but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Medium was my compromise. Raw steak goes on the grill, and 7-10 mins later you’re ready to go, every step of the spectacle there for you to watch (another strangely comforting aspect of Tad’s that you don’t get from most fast food chains in the city.)
Once the steak was done, it gets put on a plate with the potato and “garlic bread” (which is actually more like half of a loaf of Italian bread.) For 50 cents extra, they’ll give you a hearty scoop of grilled onions, which I consider to be a must, and after that you’ll get asked if you want gravy, which brought me to another realization. When it comes to Tad’s most people worry about getting sick from the meat. To them I say “Don’t be foolish!” What you need to worry about is the gravy. Of a completely unknown providence, the people behind the counter are willing to ladle the “gravy” over everything, and if you have ever tried it, you will find it hard to stop them. I’m not saying the gravy is the best thing you’ve ever tasted. I’m saying I don’t know if I would call it gravy. Maybe flavor juice is a better term. Wait, juice is probably not right either. Um… flavor grease. Yeah, that’s perfect. As much as you will want to, don’t drink a cup of the flavor grease. That is probably what will make you sick.
Passing by the pre-cut desserts and saran wrap topped wine (stay classy Tad’s!) was not a difficult decision. I chose my salad dressing, declined the tomatoes (which cost extra if you want them on your salad) and headed back to the depression zone eating area to dig in. First things first. Garlic bread. Delicious. You may say the secret ingredient is flavor grease. Obligatory bite of salad (look Mom I’m being healthy!) and I was ready. First bite of skirt steak, sans onions to allow the true flavor to shine through. Nicely seasoned… good char… not dry in the middle. Wish it was bigger… but for $7 bucks what are you going to do. Second bite… add the onions… even better.
Fuck. I think I like Tad’s Steaks.
Seriously. This place is not that bad. Is it the best steak I’ve ever had? Of course not. Don’t be a crazy person. But it wasn’t the worst either. And if you like skirt steak, it may be the perfect choice at a place like Tad’s. The fat is found along the grain of the meat, so it melts in and keeps the steak moist despite being blasted on the grill. It’s already a fairly cheap cut of meat, and tends to be slightly chewy anyway, so you don’t notice too much of a decrease in quality, and the price becomes a little more understandable. My buddy liked his strip steak all right, but if you’ve ever had a great strip steak, you might not be as into this thin piece of cheap meat. It’s clearly of a lower quality, and the fat can be found along the edges of the steak in the form of gristly bites of meat. It’s still worth the $7 though if you’re not into skirt steak.
The real test came after lunch, as I waited for the bomb to drop. Did I feel amazing coming out of Tad’s, dancing out into Times Square “On the Town” style? (Yes, I was in theater geek in Junior high.) Uh… no. I felt like I had just eaten a gross lunch that consisted of a steak, baked potato, salad and a loaf of bread covered in flavor grease. But “sick” or “unhappy” is not a word I would use to describe my experience.
Finally, a few very important notes about Tad’s:
1. I cannot speak to the quality of all Tad’s locations. In other words, this review only stands for the 47th St. location. You step into 34th St. (and 7th) or 50th St. (and 7th) you are on your own.
2. The baked potato is a baked potato. They don’t give you sour cream, and their “butter” is those weird little packs of processed butter substitute (i.e. disgusting.) I know it may go against my previous warnings, but tell them to pour gravy over it. You won’t be disappointed. Unless disappointed means “slightly sick.”
3. I admit that maybe I got lucky. Food poisoning is a lot like Russian roulette, and maybe I just dodged a bullet. I also have been training for this moment for 2 1/2 years, putting lunch after lunch of questionable items into my stomach- turning it into the well oiled (pun intended) machine that you rely on day after day on this site.
For these reasons (and more) I will now indemnify myself of all blame for Midtown Lunch’ers eating at Tad’s because of this review. A message from my lawyer:
THIS MEAL WAS CONSUMED BY A PROFESSIONAL. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION. WRITER WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE INFLICTED BY A MEAL AT TAD’S STEAKS. WRITER ALSO APOLOGIZES THAT HIS STOMACH IS SO STRONG AND AMAZING.
Oh, and make sure you have low expectations.
Tad’s Steaks, Multiple Locations
- 761 7th Ave. (at 50th St.) 212-767-8348
- 701 7th Ave. (at 47th St.) 212-768-0946
- 152 34th St. (at 7th Ave.) 212-947-7760
Posted: August 25th, 2008 under *7th btw. 46+47th, 34th btw. 7+8th, 50th btw. 6+7th, Steak, Tad's Steak.
Comments: 60
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Comments
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 25, 2008, 11:14 am
It’s like the first 25 minutes of saving private ryan.
Comment from Bossman
Time: August 25, 2008, 11:16 am
I thought institutions are the places people are committed to, like marriage.
Comment from Blondie
Time: August 25, 2008, 11:26 am
I don’t hate, I congratulate. May I suggest group 4: People who’ve never been there, have always been curious, but a scared by the dodginess? Because that’s the group I’m in.
Comment from Sarah
Time: August 25, 2008, 11:30 am
Zach, that first paragraph… brilliant. Really.
Comment from wayne
Time: August 25, 2008, 11:34 am
Paging Dr. Jellyfingers to the Proctology OR, stat
Mr. Brooks is here with yet another obstruction
Comment from Ben
Time: August 25, 2008, 11:54 am
I should break my 8 years as a vegetarian for this place…
Comment from Danny
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:00 pm
haha, i love it. your stomach is so strong and amazing. i’m kind of surprised you made it through.
Comment from Yvo
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:00 pm
I’m with Blondie…
Rudy - is that the entire part up to where Vin Diesel dies? Because that’s all I watched. Glad to see another fan.
Comment from Spam
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:04 pm
There is nothing at Tad’s that can’t be cured by the bottle of steak sauce on your table. Steak a little tough. Steak Sauce! Baked potato a little bland. Steak Sauce! Iceberg lettuce? Steak sauce!
Comment from CC
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:10 pm
Brilliant post! It had everything–suspense, scary pictures, a happy ending, and if I think too hard, probably some kind of moral. You should get an award–maybe 2 awards–one for this article and one for eating at this place.
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:10 pm
Spam ,you forgot, Dying of the shits? steak sauce bottle up ya arse.
Comment from AL@1PP
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:12 pm
This review kind of suffers because you went in with a bias. There’s no +/- and you are only comparing it to your own level of “rock bottom” Since I have never eaten at Tad’s it would be unfair of me put up an +/-, but judging from your review it would probably be something like this:
The +:
I like flavored semi-solids becuase I’ve had over 90% of my tastebuds burned off in a horrific acid-tasting accident.
The -:
Beleaarcchh….
Comment from fedthefish
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:19 pm
good call AL@1PP - where’s the +/-?
the +: i didn’t die.
the -: i might have tapeworm now.
Comment from JustNancy
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:22 pm
That picture of your cowboy steak plate reminds me of a restaurant/salad bar place I lived near growing up in Ohio: Ponderosa. You ordered at the front of the line, grabbed a tray, filled up your plastic tumbler with fountain soda, and hung out while a short order dude grilled up your steak to order. I always thought I hated steak because of Ponderosa. It’s sad to admit, but that steak looks exactly like the steaks of my youth.
Comment from inexpensivevictualscraver
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:30 pm
Embrace the cheap crap, people.
Comment from Niko
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:30 pm
This is hilarious. No pictures of the desserts? Damn, does that mean I have to go too?
Comment from Apikoros18
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:39 pm
Again, I stand by Tad’s. No, it is not the best quality steak in the city. By far, it is not. But the garlic bread, the flavor juice, the fact that even the onions are a la carte, it had an appeal to me. I like Tads!
Comment from DubbininBklyn
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:40 pm
Sounds like the next meatup location. I worked w/ a dude that loved that place. Dunno if his being Puerto Rican had anything to do w/it..
Comment from dannytheboy
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:47 pm
Looking at food before eating it is RETARDED!
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 25, 2008, 12:51 pm
Sidewalk Bento guy Arrested……..Zach eats very iffy ’steak’.
Macheavelian polt by Imigration and DOH to rid manhattan of migrant workers and provide cheap protein to the masses?
Comment from fedthefish
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:01 pm
i think the balloons are a really awesome touch. if you’re anything like me, you’ll get easily distracted by a shiny bright red balloon - *ooo, balloon to poke* - and will ignore greasy, dirty grills, questionable gravy, and dog meat standing in as beef.
do you get to take one home?
Comment from Jordan
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:04 pm
Best.Post.Ever.
Comment from Joey Deckle
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:06 pm
mmmm….flavor grease
Comment from Lou
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:12 pm
I’ve eaten at the tads near macy’s… it wasn’t bad… it wasn’t by any means a spectacular meal, but it served it’s purpose…
Comment from wayne
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:17 pm
New Slogan Suggestions
“We Didn’t Kill A Food Blogger Last Week”
“Now Rat Free”
“Try Our Lo-Carb Flavor Grease”
and of course
“TAD’S : You Can’t Beat Our Meat!”
Comment from stan
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:19 pm
put Tad’s in a foodcourt in middle america and it would be all the rage.
grew up going to a place at a mall that offered steak tips w/ “delicious mushroom sauce.”
you think that street meat or the chopped stuff in hamburgers is made of finer cuts? As long as it passes its DOH inspections, Tad’s should be viewed as a ML winner
Comment from Harry
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:22 pm
I eat at that Tad’s around once a year. I’ve never gotten sick. I do consider it a little pricey for lunch, but that’s cause I don’t order the lunch special. I consider the $.50 tomato upcharge rediculous.
Tad’s is OK.
Comment from Sarah the Carnivore
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:25 pm
I take my nonexistent hat off to you, sir.
Comment from Jeff
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:33 pm
When people talk about the good times of “Old Gritty NYC” a Tad’s steak is probably the perfect metaphor (maybe too perfect).
Comment from HookedonSamosas
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:36 pm
I think from the pics this location too has the creepiness of a 70s slasher flick.
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 25, 2008, 1:45 pm
They shit in Bigmacs too.
Comment from Blondie
Time: August 25, 2008, 2:14 pm
I ate at Ponderosa too in my childhood, and it’s the same quality as this! Thanks for the memories, JustNancy.
BTW, just got chat from the indian place on 6th (i’m too lazy to find the post). They switched my medium aloo chole chat with someone’s spicy samosa chat. My mouth, throat, and esophogus are on fire. I think i might have to leave work early.
Comment from OneWayThrough
Time: August 25, 2008, 2:33 pm
I’ve never eaten at Tad’s and never had an opinion about it but it seems like White Castle…people call them murder burgers, belly bombers, etc. but buy 25 loaded sliders at a time.
Comment from samwich
Time: August 25, 2008, 2:47 pm
ive had tads..its not terrible at all….the worst part is probably the fountain soda i had….tasted like a$$…i probably should have gotten the wine instead. lol
Comment from Lou
Time: August 25, 2008, 2:48 pm
White Castle is great!
Comment from DubbininBklyn
Time: August 25, 2008, 2:56 pm
Zach, here’s a suitable dessert.. http://www.baskinrobbins.com/nutrition/Product.aspx?Category=Beverages&id=BV228
Comment from mish
Time: August 25, 2008, 3:09 pm
oh man, i don’t know if it’s the intention of this post, but now i’m inspired to also live on the edge & eat here. but i would have to go all out and get a saran-wrapped wine & accompanying dessert.
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 25, 2008, 3:11 pm
Jesus,Mary & the gay guy.
Dubbin, 2310 calories in a shake????
As Lou would say: LOL!
Comment from buu
Time: August 25, 2008, 4:38 pm
dont hate on white castle.
Comment from stevenp
Time: August 25, 2008, 5:30 pm
Sooooo trendy to rip on Tad’s. But take away the Tad’s name (and even Zach’s preconceptions) and look at the actual review and pics, and this would be a positive review,and probably regarded as a pretty darned good ML deal–a full meal with steak for well under $10. Howmany of you have eaten at far skeevier places (holes-in-the-wall or dirty carts)and not dissed them at all, yet Tad’s gets ripped despite a lack of any obvious shortcomings.
OK, go back to ripping on Tad’s now. *sigh*
Comment from Zach@MidtownLunch
Time: August 25, 2008, 5:44 pm
@stevenp - I thought it was a good review…
Comment from Sarah
Time: August 25, 2008, 5:45 pm
He’s right, ripping on Tad’s *is* hot for fall. I just read on Gawker that Anna Wintour was talking shit about the one on 34th at Butter this weekend.
Comment from Little Spicy
Time: August 25, 2008, 5:53 pm
NEW YORK–The Riese Organization, a fast food and TGI Friday’s franchisee, and owner of a number of independent restaurants, is aiming to capitalize on a continued trend in steak consumption and fast food price and service with the reacquisition of Tad’s Steakhouse. The longstanding concept, which once was a national chain, features steak dinners for $6.99. “We are going to take time to work on a prototype and plan on rolling out sometime in the next 12 months,” said Dennis Riese, president/ceo. “I can’t see a reason why this brand won’t grow.”
I can. Somebody lost his job over this one.
Comment from Nancy
Time: August 25, 2008, 7:06 pm
Zach,
Brilliant Review! From the ‘flavor grease’, to ‘the theatre geek in Jr. High’ to the disclaimer from your lawyer ‘this meal was consumed by a professional’…I laughed all the way.
Comment from stevenp
Time: August 25, 2008, 7:39 pm
Zach, don’t egt me wrong–I thought it was a *great* review. I was just reading endless comments about how bad and disgusting Tad’s is. But looking at your substantive comments (and remembering my 1 or 2 meals there many years back), I thought Tad’s didn’t deserve all the negativity. Not that my view will change anything!
Honestly, without the Tad’s name, would you consider Tad’s lunch special a decent ML deal?
Comment from Wil
Time: August 25, 2008, 9:17 pm
Post of the year.
Comment from RyuriTatsujin
Time: August 25, 2008, 9:50 pm
Parents used to bring me to Tads, from all that I’ve remembered it wasn’t that bad. But that was in the 80s.
Comment from avisualperson
Time: August 25, 2008, 10:11 pm
last time I ate here was in high school and back then, $6.99 x 2 for a steak dinner made for a very romantic dinner date. and, I think I liked the rice pudding dessert, but I’m not sure.
Comment from casadelun
Time: August 26, 2008, 9:00 am
When I visited my mom in Texas, we went to a buffet place called Golden Corral, $15 which included steaks, cooked to order. The picture above reminds me of that, except it was bigger.
Comment from Coachie Ballgames
Time: August 26, 2008, 11:01 am
Word to Stevenp! Why the hate on Tad’s? They’re not fronting like they are Del Frisco’s or anything and their food cannot be any worse than any of the shady carts or delis reviewed on this fine site.
Reminds me of the old, much-missed Upper East Standby, Flamin’ Ember’s. The only thing close that remains is Pee Dee’s Steak House in Spanish Harlem.
Comment from Caroline
Time: August 26, 2008, 1:32 pm
Tads is the worst food I’ve ever had. Some of you guys might have gotten lucky but I walked out feeling worse than after downing a white castle crave case.
My boyfriend and I sat in the back to eat and saw alot of back n forth to the bathroom, excessively. turns out they were dealing drugs in there. To top it off, as we were heading out a lady squealed because she saw a roach. As gross as that was, its pretty unavoidable in midtown, ny. Besdides, I had already eaten and even if I threw it up there was no taking back the fact that I ate there. So back to the roach - a guy serving the meals sees the roach the woman is yelling about. The roach is on the counter where you slide your tray. The guy kills the roach with a rag they use to wipe the counters, shakes it off and goes back to serving up meals.
Comment from bronxbrinergal
Time: August 26, 2008, 3:56 pm
Congratulations, Zach. I’ve written before, I’ve eaten there exactly twice in 10 years. I never got sick, even with the “flavor grease”. I’ve gotten sick from a Sizzler and a Ponderosa, but never from Tad’s. I might even go again. ;-)
Comment from Lisa Clarkson
Time: August 27, 2008, 1:05 pm
Actually I think there’s a different bias going on here. If this had been any other chain, would you have had to qualify that it was only for one location, or say that maybe you luckily rolled the dice and didn’t get food poisoned? Jeez, you had a pretty good (and cheap) meal there.
If this place was a hole in the wall called “Enrique’s” with the exact same food, service, and cleanliness, everyone here would be all over it.
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 27, 2008, 1:08 pm
Lisa, but it isn’t, so we haven’t.
Comment from Jaymin
Time: August 28, 2008, 9:52 pm
I ate there today, and it was greeeeeat. steak, salad, garlic bread, baked potato for 6.99. Not only a great value but great taste.
Comment from Lisa Clarkson
Time: September 1, 2008, 2:16 pm
Rudy, thanks for confirming the bias.
Comment from viv
Time: September 5, 2008, 2:37 pm
My mom used to take me here back in the 80s’, then we would go to the Times Square movie house…needless to say, my mom was a new immigrant to this country
Comment from Jon
Time: September 10, 2008, 1:35 pm
Tad’s is a great place to take your kids for a meal….if you want to punish them for being bad.
Comment from woodrow wilson
Time: September 17, 2008, 5:52 pm
i order a no.6 it was papper thin and it cost me 13 dollors plus tax.i will go there again.Tad use to be good.
Comment from dougiec
Time: November 21, 2008, 12:01 pm
This is the best post of all time. I had Tad’s about 3 months ago and it wasn’t bad. I declined the flavor grease, but now I might have to go back.
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