Peter Luger (January 22, 1866 – January 21, 1941) was a German chef and restaurateur, who founded

Peter Luger Steak House Peter Luger Steak House is a steakhouse located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York City, with a second location in Great Neck, New York, on Long Island. It was named to the James Beard Foundation's list of "America's Classics" ...

in 1887.

Early life

Peter Luger was born in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

, which became part of the German Empire when he was around 4. He immigrated to the United States when he was 13 years old. He lived in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

Restaurant business

In 1887, Peter opened a

pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serv ...

and

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

with his nephew Carl in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. As of the 2020 Unit ...

, called "Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley". Peter transformed the building into a steak house and renamed it to Peter Luger Steak House. Peter was known for his serious demeanor and was present almost every evening. He created a "no-frills" atmosphere in his restaurant. Other sources say it was his father Carl that founded the original business and nephew Carl was the chef''Brooklyn by Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges and More Got Their Names'' by Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss. NYU Press: 2006. pgs 27 – 28
/sup> when Peter inherited the business after his father's death.

Death

Luger died on January 21, 1941, leaving a $241,806 estate. Ownership of the restaurant passed to his son Frederick Luger. Frederick was unable to maintain the quality of steak his father served and sold the failing business to longtime customer Sol Forman, who owned a metalware store across the street. Forman restored the restaurant to its original prestige.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luger, Peter German chefs American people of German descent 1866 births 1941 deaths People from Brooklyn American restaurateurs Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States