NYC Steakhouse Legend Wolfgang Zwiener Dies at 85
Restauranteur Wolfgang Zwiener, the brains behind the wildly popular Wolfgang Steakhouse, has passed away at 85 on January 23rd, 2025 at his home in Honolulu.
Though his global steakhouse chain is a legend in its own right, Zwiener got his start at the iconic Peter Luger, one of the most legendary restaurants in the world. He remained there for 39 years.
Naysayers worried he wouldn’t have the chops to transition into such a powerful new role, but upon the restaurant’s 2004 opening, his business has only grown. There are dozens of Wolfgang’s Steakhouse locations across the U.S. and even across Asia. According to The New York Times, roughly 15 more global locations are slated for an opening.
This type of work clearly ran in Zwiener’s family. His parents ran a restaurant in Silesia, Germany, and he followed suit by enrolling in a hospitality program in Bremen, Germany. Later in life, he was a waiter on a cruise ship in the North German Lloyd line. After made his way to the U.S. in 1960, he took waiting positions at Sunnyside Brauhall, the Hilton Hotel, and Lüchow’s before landing as head waiter at Peter Luger’s. Though he has become a name synonymous with steakhouses and elegant dining, particularly in NYC, interviews indicate that he discouraged his children from pursuing a culinary career. But he certainly made an impact with his own.
“He had a debonair and overwhelming presence,” Mark Solasz, the vice president of Master Purveyors, the company that supplies Wolfgang’s meats, told The New York Times. “He reminded me of an actor from the movies, but he was real life.”
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