The 2 Fresh Ingredients Peter Luger Steak House Sells As An $18 Appetizer

Prices for a steakhouse meal often verge on expensive, both for the meat itself and all the accompanying appetizers, sides, and other accouterments. While Peter Luger is lauded among the best steakhouses in America, there's a good deal of discourse surrounding both the cost and ingredients of one of its appetizer-menu staples. Averaging around $18 dollars for a dish that serves two, the plate of sliced tomatoes and onions turns a pair of vegetables into what some call an iconic classic and others consider outrageously overpriced.

Tomato and onion salad is certainly nothing new. In fact, it can be an easy two-ingredient side dish to end summer, making the most of your homegrown harvest or flavorful store-bought produce. Per the Peter Luger Steak House menu, the appetizer is composed of chunky slices of the two fresh ingredients accompanied by its house-brand steak sauce. While this appetizer for two averages out to nine dollars per person, many argue that the salad comes across as little more than a haphazard afterthought.

One Reddit user asks, "What's so special about the Peter Luger tomato and onion salad. How do you make a 'good' one? Is it the sauce?" Considering that Peter Luger sauce took last place in Tasting Table's rankings of steak sauces, the last question might incite some derision. Mixed opinions abound, with some saying that the appetizer serves as a perfect palate cleanser, while dissenting diners finding it underwhelming at best.

Many diners have weighed in about the two-ingredient appetizer and whether or not the fresh dish lives up to its $18 price tag. One Facebook user asks, "Am I [the] only one that likes this onion tomato appetizer from Peter Luger?" A shocked response states, "That's just it? Onion tomato S&P? No olive oil or balsamic? I have eaten plenty of onion & tomato sandwiches and I can't lie it's a fire combo but dang I hope it wasn't over $20."

Another says, "There's nothing not to like. There's also nothing one couldn't have at home much cheaper and better." Still, others tout the virtues of this steakhouse starter. Calling out the negative reactions, a Facebook commenter says, "Has no one ever heard of Peter Luger's? This is the classic dish. You're not going to glaze it or cook it or do ANYTHING to it. That's the point of the dish."

Fresh produce on its own can be quite the delight; however, some diners seem to think that the lack of quality in this specific offering from Peter Luger Steak House is yet another sign of its decline. A commenter on a YouTube review video notes, "I'd take the Michelin star away too if they served me tomatoes n onions," referring to the restaurant losing its star three years after it received a scathing review from the most famous food critic in NYC, Pete Wells. So it seems that whether the appetizer is worthwhile as a palate cleanser or is simply an overpriced plate is still up for some debate.