90 E. 10th St. is for rent, bringing an official end to the stand-up steakhouse phase

A for rent sign now hangs — as of this past week — in the front window at 90 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue... this marks the official end of Ikinari Steak, which debuted here to great curiosity (and hype!) in February 2017.

As previously noted, this was the first U.S. location (there are more than 100 worldwide) for the popular Tokyo-based restaurant. The concept: Diners, particularly in-a-rush office workers, stand and basically eat quickly.

However, the craze didn't quite catch on here. By early 2019, the fast-expanding company — Pepper Food Service Co. — continued to struggle to find an audience and shut down seven of the 11 Ikinari Steak outlets in NYC and converted two of them to another type of restaurant. 

The original 10th Street location remained open... until the PAUSE went into effect back in March. By the summer, financial difficulties — due mainly to rent payments — caused the chain to face closing all its NYC locations.

In 2018, the company became the first Japanese restaurant chain to go public on the Nasdaq stock market. It was delisted from Nasdaq last year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• 1st sign of Ikinari Steak, the quick-serve, no-seat steakhouse coming to 10th Street 

• On 10th Street, Prime & Beyond has closed; popular Japanese steakhouse coming

If you can stand another post about the no-seat Japanese steakhouse, which opens today

Ikinari Steak officially debuts today at 90 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue.

As previously noted, this is the first U.S. location (there are more than 100 worldwide) for the popular Tokyo-based restaurant. The concept: Diners, particularly in-a-rush office workers, stand and basically eat quickly.

The restaurant is getting the full-court press treatment. There are previews galore. Here's more via Eater:

Besides the standing portion of the meal, dining at the restaurant is intended to be an interactive experience. Patrons choose their cut of meat by the gram, and a butcher cuts and weighs it right in front of them. They cook it only one way, rare. The steak then arrives at the table on a sizzling cast-iron platter, where people can choose from a dizzying array of sauces, dressings, and other additives to top their meal.

It’s just the beginning of the chain’s presence in New York. Ambitious founder Kunio Ichinose and his stateside operations manager Takashi Tsuchiyama want to open 20 more locations in Manhattan in the next five years.

And Gothamist:

There are only a few things you need to decide about your steak. First, the cut, choosing between decadent Japan Cut Ribeye, meatier Sirloin or tender Filet. Next: size. Steaks are cut and priced to order, ranging anywhere from 300 grams (10.6 ounces) of Ribeye for $27 at 9 cents a gram, up to 1,000 grams (35.3 ounces) of Filet for $110 at 11 cents a gram.

At each station wait a bevy of different sauces and condiments, though steaks are already garnished with a garlic paste and fried garlic chips. Thermoses of J-Sauce, a soy sauced-based umami bomb, are table-side—you'll understand why they provide you with paper aprons once you've drizzled it all over the meat. There are also tubs of wasabi (very good on steak), salt/pepper, garlic and a sweet Ikinari steak sauce.

And the Daily News:

Come for the meat, but don’t underestimate side dishes like a sublime, steaming hot plate of garlic white rice sizzling with corn, pepper and chunks of beef. Even the salad dressings, like a sweet onion variety, are tasty.

In our road test this week, standing while eating steak wasn’t much of a challenge, though at $30 or so for a regular-sized sirloin or filet mignon, prices are only a little less than restaurants with a little more comfort.

The lack of pretensions - and the no-tipping policy - were a definite plus, though.

There were congratulatory flowers out front yesterday...





... and a spy pic inside the other evening...



The restaurant does include 10 seats, if you want to stand out and sit while dining here.

Find the menu here. Ikinari Steak is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Previously on EV Grieve:
1st sign of Ikinari Steak, the quick-serve, no-seat steakhouse coming to 10th Street (29 comments)

On 10th Street, Prime & Beyond has closed; popular Japanese steakhouse coming

1st sign of Ikinari Steak, the quick-serve, no-seat steakhouse coming to 10th Street

The signage has arrived for Ikinari Steak at 90 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue...



This will be the first U.S. location (there are more than 100 worldwide) for the popular Tokyo-based restaurant. The concept: Diners stand and basically eat really quickly.

Here's more on Ikinari Steak and its owner, restaurateur Kunio Ichinose, via The Financial Times:

Customers stand at 1m-high tables and order the precise number of grammes desired. The cost — Y5/gramme for rib-eye to more than Y10/g for sirloin — gives customers what Mr Ichinose claims is a vital sense of control.

Everything is calculated for speed of throughput and optimal use of limited ground floor spaces in key city locations. The height of the tables, Mr. Ichinose demonstrates by jumping up and miming, has been calibrated so that diners are unlikely to put their knives and forks down between mouthfuls. He pulls out a smartphone, which funnels him real-time CCTV footage of all the restaurants, to show this happening.

Press materials for this first U.S. location note the following:

The idea behind Ikinari Steak is to serve “super thick” high quality meats quickly and economically, therefore people stand while consuming their steaks. It’s a fun, interactive, communal, and brand new experience for New Yorkers! This is what is called "J-Steak" (Japanese style steak), a phrase coined by, and being introduced to New York by Ikinari Steak. Three cuts of Choice Beef are offered at a minimum of 12 or 14 oz.: ribeye, sirloin, and filet, cooked on an open-fire, served with corn, and presented sizzling on a cast-iron platter. Guests can choose to add more to their steaks at an extra cost. Therefore, any tenth of an ounce increment above the minimum is possible, as all steaks are cut to order. Lunch will offer a set meal of a 14oz Chuck Eye Steak with salad, soup and rice for $18.

The restaurant, designed by Idea+ Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, and Goodspeed Architects in NYC, has 40 standing stations and 10 table seats. The same loyalty program, so popular in Japan, will also be offered in New York. It's a "beef mileage card" app that allows diners to track how many pounds of steak they’ve eaten and ranks them against other regulars.

The original opening date was November... so not sure what the new date is. Soon?

This address was home to the steakhouse Prime & Beyond until last summer.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On 10th Street, Prime & Beyond has closed; popular Japanese steakhouse coming