What to Order at 4 Charles Prime Rib

4 Charles Prime Rib is the roughly 34-seat West Village steakhouse from Chicago restaurateur Brendan Sodikoff's Hogsalt group, and the entire menu comes down to one real decision: prime rib production or the burger everyone talks about.

What should you order at 4 Charles Prime Rib?

Pick a lane before you sit down. The Infatuation frames it as indulgence versus restraint, and that framing holds up dish by dish.

1. The prime rib, cut to match your table size. The English cut, around $80, is thin-sliced and "plenty for one or two," per The Infatuation. The Chicago cut, around $105, is heftier and closer to a standard steak portion. The King Cut, around $145, is a double-cut bone-in slab built for two or more. There's also a Gorgonzola-aged "4 Charles Cut," around $120, marked limited availability on the menu.

2. The double wagyu cheeseburger. Two thin Snake River Farms wagyu patties under American cheese, on a bun soft enough that the whole thing fuses together, around $39. The Infatuation calls the appeal "immediate and undeniable," especially with bacon added. This is the dish people go out of their way to mention.

3. The baked crab cake and a martini, the classic pairing The Infatuation puts alongside the prime rib order.

4. Shrimp cocktail or sizzling shrimp scampi to start, both hovering around $30.

5. Creamed spinach or truffle mac and cheese as your side. Either does the job of cutting through the beef.

6. Chocolate cream pie. Called "the best dessert here" by The Infatuation, and separately singled out by diners on Tripadvisor alongside the lemon meringue pie.

Should you get the burger or the prime rib?

Order both if your table has four or more people. The burger works as a shared starter before the prime rib arrives as the main event, and the kitchen will slice the prime rib for the table either way. If it's just two of you and you want the full production, go prime rib, crab cake, and a martini. If you'd rather keep it simple and skip the ceremony, the burger alone is a complete meal, and The Infatuation specifically suggests skipping the "merely good" French dip in favor of it.

What should you skip at 4 Charles Prime Rib?

Skip the prime rib French dip. The Infatuation calls it merely good next to everything else on the menu, and at a restaurant with only a handful of tables, that's not the dish worth spending one of your courses on.

How does ordering actually work at 4 Charles Prime Rib?

The room is small: nine tables, around 34 seats total, and only two of those tables seat two people. That matters more than the menu does when you're planning a visit, since a party of two competing for one of two two-tops is a tighter squeeze than a party of four booking one of the larger tables. There's no bar to fall back on, so every seat in the house runs through a reservation or a walk-in queue at the door. Cuts scale with party size by design: English for one or two, Chicago for a bigger appetite, King Cut or the Gorgonzola-aged cut when the table wants to split something substantial. Expect the server to do the slicing tableside.

How much does dinner at 4 Charles Prime Rib cost?

Menu prices run from about $80 for the smallest prime rib cut up to $145 for the King Cut, with sides between $14 and $26 and starters around $30. Add a shared prime rib, one starter, one side, dessert, and two drinks for two people, and a realistic total lands around $250 to $350 before tax and tip, based on the restaurant's own posted prices. That's an estimate built from the menu, not a single quoted number from a review, so treat it as a planning range rather than a fixed bill.

Frequently asked questions

Is the burger really that good?

It shows up on enough "best burger in New York" conversations to be worth ordering on its own merits, not just because it's hard to get a table. The Infatuation's description, thin double patties, American cheese, a bun that dissolves into the meat, matches what regulars keep repeating.

Can I just walk in?

There's no bar to walk up to, so any walk-in has to work through the queue at the door before the restaurant opens for the day. Reservations are the reliable path, and cancellations open up regularly given how small the room is.

What's the difference between the prime rib cuts?

English cut is thin-sliced and the most affordable, sized for one or two people. Chicago cut is thicker and closer to a normal steak portion. King Cut is a bone-in double cut meant for two or more people to share. The Gorgonzola-aged 4 Charles Cut is a limited-availability variation on the same idea.

Is 4 Charles Prime Rib worth the price?

At $250 to $350 for two once you add a starter, side, dessert, and drinks, it sits at the expensive end of NYC steakhouses, though a smaller-format meal built around just the burger and a side keeps the total well under that.

4 Charles Prime Rib's tables move fast and the room only has 34 seats to begin with. Watch the 4 Charles Prime Rib reservations page on DinnerElite for the drop pattern we're tracking, and get an alert the moment a table opens so you can decide burger or prime rib before you even sit down.