https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/31/dining/steak-fries.html?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email Steak fries, once widespread, have fallen out of favor with diners in recent years.Credit…Jimena Peck for The New York Times

Steak Fries: Deservedly Reviled or Underappreciated Edible Spoons?

They may be America’s least popular fry, but some chefs are still devoted to them.

Steak fries, once widespread, have fallen out of favor with diners in recent years.Credit…Jimena Peck for The New York Times

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By David Segal

David Segal ate a lot of French fries for this story.

Published March 31, 2025Updated April 1, 2025

Steak fries. Steak fries are rarely spotted these days at upscale venues, and Park Ave Kitchen has a considered, of-the-moment menu, with entrees like bison short ribs and black sea bass tikka masala.

“I noticed them two weeks ago,” said the owner David Burke, on the phone one recent afternoon. “I was at the restaurant and I said, ‘What’s with the steak fries?’”

ImageAt Park Avenue Kitchen by David Burke, the chef William Lustberg put steak fries with copious trimmings on the menu.Credit…Heather Willensky for The New York Times

He had originally posed the question to Park Ave Kitchen’s chef, William Lustberg, but rather than paraphrase his answer, Mr. So totally have they lost the war for the American palate that every encounter with a steak fry is like meeting a Visigoth.

One gapes and wonders, how are you still here?

That question sprang to mind during a recent visit to Park Ave Kitchen by David Burke, a Midtown restaurant that, despite the name, is on Lexington Avenue. Read more about it here.