America’s Steakhouse Obsession Returns with Burgers That Think They’re Fancy
KEY POINTS
- •Hilary Pollack celebrated the steakhouse revival with nostalgic love for wedge salads and martinis.
- •New York chefs like Alan Delgado and the Corima team focused on affordable, approachable dining options in 2025.
- •Emerging trends included thick tavern-style burgers, matcha's café domination, and Indian fine dining invading strip malls.
2025 was a wild rollercoaster for U.S. restaurants, but hey, at least thick tavern-style burgers got their overdue glow-up — because who doesn’t want a locally sourced meat patty pretending to be a celebrity? Deputy editor Hilary Pollack wept tears of joy over red leather booth steakhouses serving martinis with blue-cheese-slathered wedge salads, scalloped potatoes, and creamed spinach worthy of grandma's cardiologist’s dismay. Meanwhile, New York’s Michelin-starred chefs went approachable—Alan Delgado ditched the Oxomoco high-end vibes for $11 burritos at Los Burritos Juarez, and Corima’s daytime tortilleria Vato proved fine dining also means line-worthy tortillas. The wine bars actually skipped Eurocentric cheese plates to pair jinhua ham and figs like they’re gourmet detectives. Plus, swanky Indian dining popped up in malls with fiery tandoor meats and cocktails, proving that strip mall glamour isn't an oxymoron anymore. Matcha dominated cafe menus like the caffeinated Beyonce no one dared to resist.
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Turns out Americans just needed their steaks and thick burgers to feel like high rollers. Who knew culinary sophistication meant $50 entrees and $22 cocktails next to a $10 burrito? Luxury tastes oddly like red leather booths and Vietnamese banh mi now.
If your cocktail costs as much as my weekly groceries but pairs perfectly with a tavern burger, is it luxury or cruel joke? Asking for a wallet.
2025’s foodie mood: take Michelin stars, slap them in strip malls with Indian curries and call it fine dining. Stark contrast to sad Euro cheese plates, but still, my parents won’t get it.
Source: Eater | Published: 12/11/2025 | Author: Eater Staff
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