I tried a $1,000 steak at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. It was the ultimate Sin City dining experience.

01.11.2024 - 11:43 / insider.com / Jennifer Lopez / Tom Brady / David Beckham / Meg Ryan

Within minutes of finding our table at Papi Steak, the flashy Miami transplant at the equally flashy Fontainebleau Las Vegas, an EDM song blasts from the speakers. Our server politely excuses himself, answering the siren call.

He joins the wave of waiters and dancers surrounding a nearby table, holding strobe lights and chanting "Hey! Hey! Hey!" in perfect unison. A woman ditches her dinner to join them, waving her napkin around. We turn our heads to gawk as a man presents a briefcase that glows gold every time he teases it open.

Inside is a 55-ounce Australian purebred wagyu steak. It's branded right then and there, a plume of smoke rising above diners' heads like a new pope being announced at the Vatican.

This is the $1,000 Beef Case, and I was about to try it. (Business Insider paid a media rate for the meal.)

You know that scene in "When Harry Met Sally" when Meg Ryan is trying to prove her point — quite loudly — at Katz's Deli, and an older lady turns to the waiter and says, "I'll have what she's having?" The Papi Steak Beef Case is kind of like that.

David "Papi" Einhorn, co-owner of Papi Steak, told me the highest number of Beef Cases sold in one night is 78, a record the restaurant hit during the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. I counted 15 during my two-hour dinner.

It's an effective business strategy for a city that runs on extravagance and spectacle. One table orders a Beef Case, and the rest fall like dominos. You can practically see the high rollers looking over and saying, "I'll have what they're having."

But there'd be no $1,000 Beef Case without the original Papi steak, once just a fixture of Einhorn's star-studded barbecues. His 32-ounce Glatt Kosher dry-aged tomahawk steaks (and dairy-free secret sauce) were all over Instagram, catching the eye of David Grutman, the Groot Hospitality investor behind Miami nightlife staples like Komodo and LIV.

"He was like, 'Why don't you come grill it at my house?'" Einhorn told me. "So I flew all the meat down and made the secret sauce, and Leo DiCaprio and all the A-listers were there, and everyone went crazy for it."

Grutman put the Papi steak on Komodo's menu in 2018, and it was a hit. Einhorn said the Kardashians loved the dish so much that he would be called into the kitchen to make it whenever they were in Miami.

A year later, Grutman and Einhorn opened the first Papi Steak restaurant in South Beach. When the Fontainebleau Las Vegas opened its doors in 2023, the pair knew they wanted to bring their concept to the West Coast.

Once again, the stars — including DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, David Beckham, and Tom Brady — followed.

The vibe at Papi Steak is pure Sin City. The tables are marble, the booths are red leather, and a blue chandelier sparkles at