Bronx Bomber followers know all about Lobel’s world-class steak sandwiches, served solely at Yankee Stadium — till very lately.
Now, the remainder of New York — even Mets followers! — will know, too, because the historic Higher East Facet butcher’s the place Jackie Onassis as soon as shopped for chops debuts its first-ever sit-down eatery, smack within the coronary heart of Midtown.
Positioned alongside the concourse beneath Rockefeller Middle, the glowing new spot from the 160-year-old Madison Avenue meatery is drawing fans-in-the-know, well-heeled store regulars and busy company fits — all longing for a chew of the until-now elite ballpark treats.
“Every single day since we opened, someone says, ‘We couldn’t wait for you to open.’ We’ve been watching you for a long time.’ Or, ‘We’re excited because we know we used to only get a Lobel sandwich during Yankee games,’” Mark Lobel, co-owner of Lobel’s, advised The Submit.
“People come into our Upper East Side store all the time and ask, ‘Hey, where can we get that sandwich?’”
They’ll’t — or couldn’t.
Till now, these with a hankering for the deceptively easy, surprisingly hearty sandwich of sliced steak on a roll (with a facet of au jus) must await sport day to pattern the fan favourite — a craveable commodity so widespread, they at one level wanted additional safety to assist handle the traces, in a setup that Brian Lobel, Mark’s son, described as “surreal.”
The family-run enterprise — one of many oldest of its variety nonetheless working within the nation — opened at Madison and East 82nd Avenue, simply steps from the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork, again in 1954.
However actually, their story began in Austria within the 1840s, the place Nathan Lobel was a cattle rancher and taught his grandson, Morris, who moved to america and opened their first, and since-shuttered, location in The Bronx.
Now, the custom is upheld by the fifth and sixth generations of meat purveyors.
The fifth era of Lobel’s — Mark, 61, David, 63, and Evan, 69 — co-owns the butchery, working alongside the sixth era — Michael, 25, Haley, 26, Joey, 30, and Brian, 31.
“We’re proud that we have so many generations in the business. We know what we’ve accomplished, and we never take it for granted,” Mark beamed.
The usspot has remained a staple of the neighborhood since opening and has lengthy welcomed well-known people — like Jackie O — and native regulars.
“We’re six generations and have second- and third-generation customers, which is amazing,” Mark stated.
They expanded in 2009 and started serving sandwiches made with their premium meats at a stand in Yankee Stadium. The traces had been so lengthy that the group on the stadium requested them to broaden.
Bleacher creature Adam Billig, 29, has lengthy appreciated Lobel’s as a “Yankee Stadium-specific treat” and usually goes when he’s at a sport.
“I love Lobel’s,” the New Yorker advised The Submit. “Big time.”
He described his go-to order as “genuinely good steak with some sauce on a smaller roll” and insisted it’s “one of the best bites you can get at Yankee Stadium.”
Happily, for him, he not has to trek it as much as the Bronx for a chew. “It’s definitely exciting,” Billig stated.
The Lobel household has been looking for a spot to serve their sandwiches elsewhere within the metropolis that felt true to them. After they discovered of the area underneath 30 Rock, they knew it was a house run.
“You have a real mix of folks down here, and that’s what really appealed to us,” Mark stated, explaining that the crowds of vacationers and New Yorkers are just like those they’ve in Yankee Stadium.
Nonetheless, Yankees followers needs to be warned that the opening menu at Rock Middle differs barely from what they’re used to chowing down on whereas watching Aaron Decide run the bases.
There are not any 99 Burgers ($16) — the stadium staple honoring Decide’s jersey quantity — or beneficiant parts of filet mignon over tater tots with crispy onions, scallions and queso sauce ($20), or pastrami on rye sandwiches ($18). At the very least not but.
The group in Midtown have opted to principally persist with the fundamentals to start with. They’re at the moment serving steak ($24), roasted pork ($18), turkey ($18) and broccoli rabe ($15) sandwiches with selfmade bone broth au jus and “the works” — chili, garlic and lengthy sizzling peppers — if requested.
The proud proprietors say they’ve been shocked how many individuals have walked previous Sweetgreen to order their chopped vegetable salad with turkey ($24) and indulged their candy tooth with their in-house desserts — the brown butter chocolate chip cookie ($6) and banana pudding ($6) are MVPs.
They’re additionally serving breakfast sandwiches, together with bacon, egg, and cheese ($12), in addition to gentle bites corresponding to chips and onion dip ($9) and pasta salad ($8).
“I’m very excited,” lifelong Yankees and steak-sandwich fan Kim Regulation, 28, stated of the brand new store. “I can’t get it a lot, so when I do go to games, I look forward to getting it!”
The 50-seat area options shining white flooring and tables, comfortable banquettes and bar seating that appears like an upscale, iconic Americana delicatessen. It opens every single day at 7 a.m. after they begin promoting breakfast sandwiches and closes at 7 p.m. as folks wrap up their after-work antics — and cargo up on meals to carry dwelling as they do on the finish of baseball video games.
For these on the go, a separate part of the area permits anybody to stroll in, choose up some ready-to-go meals and place it on a counter that makes use of AI know-how to scan objects and ring you up in seconds.
As for the standard of their meat, they cowl all of the bases. Patriarch Stanley Lobel — who labored on the store from 1954 till he handed away in 2024 — holds a number of patents, together with for the extraction of two cuts of beef: Lobel’s Wrangler™ USDA Prime Pot Roast and a Shoulder Iron Steak.
In addition they solely choose from Prime beef — which is simply 2% of beef bought within the U.S. — and use the high-end meat for all their sandwiches and promote cuts in the usdeli and ship worldwide.
Their delivery enterprise has helped them to earn regulars everywhere in the world. Mark shared {that a} household of vacationers from San Francisco who had been strolling the concourse lately obtained excited after they noticed the restaurant — they order Lobel’s meat on a regular basis.
Who knew even vacationers from throughout the nation could possibly be regulars?
Only a few weeks after opening, Lobel’s appears to be knocking it out of the park.
“Everything is so good, but you know, you have to try it,” Mark insisted. “Tasting is believing.”
