Sparks Steak House
210 East 46th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
Manhattan
(212) 687-4855

We have never had a bad meal at Sparks. New York City is full of great classic steakhouses, Smith & Wollensky, Peter Luger's, and Palm among them, but Sparks outshines them all.

Ambiance
Detractors call the place "cavernous" but despite its huge size, the rooms are broken up enough with banquets and half-walls (with etched glass that provides privacy but still allowing the golden lighting to show through) that you don't feel like you are eating in a large gym (as you do in some other places).

Food and Wine
Let's face it though: you don't go to Sparks for the ambiance; you're there for the meat! And whatever you order, we promise that you'll love it. As far as the main meal goes, we are especially fond of the filet mignon and the medallions of beef with Bordelaise sauce. Sure you could have fish (and the lobsters are quite popular), but we think you should stick with what Sparks does best. There is a reason that "steak house" is part of the name. If you must have seafood, have clams, crabmeat or shrimp as an appetizer, although we personally perfer to start with the excellent spinach salad or caesar salad.

But whatever you do, don't miss out on the wine. Sparks is famous for their winelist, and rightly so -- it is impressive in both range of offerings and in reasonable prices.

Insider note: Sparks' wine collection is so vast, they have to store the bulk of it off site.

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