Inside Steak 48, a huge new steakhouse in Philadelphia across from Kimmel Center

The splashy, big-ticket Steak 48, just weeks from opening when the pandemic shut down indoor dining in Philadelphia, rolled out this week at Broad and Spruce Streets, across from the Kimmel Center.

The family run, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based steakhouse, with locations in Houston and Chicago, has taken the spaces occupied formerly by Ted’s Montana Grill and Ruth’s Chris.

As such, it is sprawling. Even with city restaurants limited to 25% occupancy, Steak 48 can accommodate about 100 patrons, in a variety of settings. There’s a row of tables as well as more intimate booths lining the glassed-in expo kitchen, plus a mezzanine.

To achieve proper social spacing, unoccupied tables set with floral arrangements and linens are interspersed with the available, “live” tables.

Lighting is low, and there’s a plush though vaguely industrial feel throughout. Judith Testani of Testani Design Troupe exposed original steel girders of the building, which was built a century ago as the offices of Atlantic Richfield Oil Refining Co.

Brothers Jeff and Mike Mastro and business partner Scott Trolio were 2020 James Beard Award semifinalists in the outstanding restaurateur category for such brands as Ocean 44, Dominick’s, and Steak 44.

The Mastros made the meatery scene two decades ago with the Mastro’s Steakhouse and Mastro’s Ocean Club brands, now owned by Landry’s, parent company of Morton’s. (The “44” is after Steak 44′s address on North 44th Street in Phoenix, and the “48” is a nod to Arizona’s being the 48th state.)

Steak 48 is a homecoming for Overbrook native chef Robert Watson, who worked at the Warwick Hotel and Cutter’s before heading west in 1991. He previously was chef at Dominick’s and Steak 44.

260 S. Broad St., 215-552-4848