When erstwhile chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr unleashed this monstrous rib steak served with crossed marrow bones back 2009 we suddenly started seeing rib steaks and bone marrow all over town. The two had of course been serving a similarly appointed cote de boeuf sans marrow at Balthazar since the last century. Simply put it is a modern NYC classic, oft imitated, never equaled. ($145, served with marrow bones and gem lettuce salad, price per oz $4)

April Bloomfield’s stripped down, rough and boisterous gastropub serves a glorious rib steak that is basted in its own fat and served with the heart stopping combination of béarnaise sauce and thrice cooked chips. ($4 per oz)

While Marc Forgione recently opened American Cut, his take on the traditional steakhouse, the rib steak served around the corner at his eponymous restaurant uses the same prime beef but cooks it in a more diligent manner - in Swiss Steal pans rather than a massive broiler. Don't get us wrong, the steak at American Cut are excellent, but the one at Forgione is a cut above. ($144, comes with 2 sides. Cost per oz $3.28)

Like most everything at Momofuku traditional form is given new expression. The rib steak here is basted in thyme and garlic and includes the aged fat cap which is generally removed at other restaurants - it might not be as tender as the rest of the steak but it is profoundly funky tasting. The basting liquids - a murky brown bowl of aged beef fat and butter is served alongside making for some serious dunking. (Weight varies, $3 per oz)

Mario Carbone honors both his Italian American heritage and indeed his Italian ancestors (likely coal miners) with the porterhouse he serves at his West Village hot spot. Cooked over coals and anointed in lashings of olive oil the 60 day dry aged steak tastes better than the era it evokes, authenticity be damned. Note that the restaurant will make you an offer that you should not refuse - to make steak tartare with the filet side of the porterhouse before cooking the strip. ($150, price per oz $3.75)

This way old school Midtown chop house is long known for its association with the theatrical trade. Fittingly the porterhouse for two here is paraded through the dining room — bone pointing straight up in the air on a sizzling platter that sputters and smokes angrily — a grand entrance for command performance of a porterhouse. ($96.50, price per oz $2.19)

This cut has been an enduring feature of Resto, which has seen more than its fair share of talented chefs come and go. The chefs may have changed but the steak remains a triumph of beef and frites and béarnaise. ($120, price per oz $3.33)

It doesn’t get any more classic than Peter Luger Steakhouse. The porterhouse for two here, sliced and doused in lashings of “shine" and hurled across the table at you by gruff but affable waiters, is a right of passage for any true New Yorker. ($99.50, price per oz $2.25)

This upscale red sauce restaurant bills itself as a “Northern Italian” steakhouse although they really only serve NY strips. But no matter — said strip is about as classic as it gets — a massive hunk of dry aged steer is presented whole at the table and is then whisked away for carving. Moments later it reappears as perfectly apportioned square slices. ($100, price per oz $2.24)