A couple of folks wrote to beg: Would I please, pretty please, tell them of the great steakhouse in Beverly Hills that is but a block from Mastro's and somewhat cheaper? Well, I wouldn't call it cheap — dinner for two can still run you $150+ — but I've been much happier at Wolfgang's Steakhouse. They have locations in New York and Waikiki with others soon to open…but I've only been to the one in Beverly Hills.
The Wolfgang who owns and operates is not Mr. Puck. It's Wolfgang Zwiener. There was some sort of legal nastiness betwixt the Wolfgangs but it has apparently gone away with no name change. Mr. Zwiener was once the head waiter at my favorite place in all the world to eat beef, Peter Luger's Steak House in Brooklyn. One tends to notice a certain similarity between the cuisines of the two establishments, including the signature steak, the thick slices of bacon as appetizers and the German Fried Potatoes, which may be the best thing any mortal has ever done with an edible tuber.
It's been a while since I ate Porterhouse at Peter Luger's but last time I was there, I think the steak was a wee bit better than what I get at Wolfgang's. Then again, according to Mapquest, Luger's is 2801.25 miles from my home whereas the Beverly Hills outpost of Wolfgang's is 2.42 miles. Vive, as the French say, la différence. Also, Peter Luger's doesn't take credit cards and its waitstaff prides itself on being surly and curt, whereas Wolfgang's accepts plastic and seems to actually want you to dine with them.
Best of all, the Wolfgang's webpage plays a lovely rendition of one of my favorite pieces of music: Rondo alla Turca, composed by some guy also named Wolfgang. I liked it so much on the site that I did some Internet-type sleuthing and figured out it was a recording of Mozart by the Canadian Brass, whereupon I immediately ordered the CD. Here's an Amazon link if you like it as much as I do. And if you go to Wolfgang's for meat, I hope you're as happy with the chow as I am.