LT Steak & Seafood

Inside the Betsy Hotel, LT Steak & Seafood boasts a considerable wow factor before the first course even arrives. Appetizers comprise mostly cold dishes, including shrimp cocktail, tuna tartare, and raw bar selections such as clams, oysters, and stone crabs. Even the sole warm offering — a moist, lusciously herbed crab cake — comes pooled in chilled dill-flecked Meyer lemon dressing. Non-steak-eaters might try lemon-rosemary chicken, seven-spice duck breast with foie gras and mango mustard, or harissa-crusted swordfish steak succulently grilled and highlighted with olive oil and lemon. For dessert, diners can choose three or five of eight all-American artisan cheeses or a round of blueberry-lemon meringue pie with a sweetly brittle pâté sucrée crust, lemon curd, baked berries, a cap of browned meringue, and a scintillating quenelle of lemon-verbena sorbet on the side. Insider tip: It's not easy to find a decent meal among the tourist traps on Ocean Drive, but LT Steak & Seafood continues to impress locals and visitors for its topnotch quality, service, and atmosphere. It's hard to go wrong with any order from the varied menu, but the popovers alone are reason enough to dine here. Before the meal even begins, a large flaky golden puff pastry is placed on each plate. Pull apart the warm, crusty exterior, and lightly spread a pat of butter on the soft dough inside for a bite you won't soon forget.