With the mission of affordable steak for everyone, Jonathan Glover has opened four Flat Iron locations in a year to feed the city’s craving.
The numbers Jonathan Glover shares about the growth of his steakhouse restaurant chain proves that some can weather, and even contend, with the troubled times plaguing the city’s restaurant industry.
20,000 steaks, 1.8 tonnes of beef, and one large container shipped every month from Australia to Hong Kong. Perhaps in a fortuitous fashion, the head of Flat Iron Steak has seen success where many this past year have not.
“I am a restaurateur that cooks,” Jonathan tells Foodie; his title is as grand as his commitment to Hong Kong’s F&B scene. 30 years in Hong Kong manning a swathe of concepts and restaurants, his next venture began in earnest in early spring 2023. The aim? “Affordable steak for everyone.”
Jonathan first began his mission of affordable steak with the opening of Macelle, an Italian steak pop up, in February 2023 offering diners a taste of the flat iron cut. After success with selling the inexpensive flat iron cut of steak, coming from the shoulder of the cow and having the same quality as a chuck roast, Jonathan rebranded the business into Flat Iron Steak, which took over the same spot in Soho in October 2023.
Since then, the original Flat Iron Steak location moved to Hollywood Road, Flat Iron Deluxe opened in Wong Chuk Hang with a variety of steaks, burgers, and seafood, Flat Iron Burger found its footing up in the north of Soho, and a new Flat Iron Steak location recently opened in Sheung Wan. Launching four restaurants in a year in a tough economy is daring, but not for Jonathan.
Evidently, Jonathan has a love affair with steak. “Beef is easy to cook and it appeals to a broader audience. I have a good relationship with the farmers that we work with.” Jonathan claims he “can put a steak on a plate cheaper than anyone else Kong,” and he is correct. A flat iron steak meal at each of his restaurants, barring the burger store, is HKD168 for lunch and HKD228 for dinner.
“We have been creative with our steak. Everyone in Hong Kong wants a ribeye. We found a secondary cut (flat iron) that is just as good, even tastier [than more premium steak cuts], but is half the price of ribeye.”
Through creative messaging and social media, Jonathan has spent great time in marketing the unknown steak cut to conjure diners to enjoy his great value for steak. With the restaurant business hit hard locally with changing tastes and dining habits, the steak businessman is intent on keeping prices down and smiles up.
“Our menu is limited and we focus on what we do best: affordable steak. Our customer base is 25 to 45 years old, 95 percent of them being office workers in the Central and Sheung Wan area. The market does not want to spend four digits on a meal, they want to spend HKD200 on a meal, and that is what we are doing.”
Sustainability is in the forefront of his beefy business. The steak used in the restaurant is imported directly from Jack’s Creek, a reputable Australian cattle farm committed to carbon neutrality by 2030. All sinew from the steak is used to make dog treats and french fries are cooked in left-over beef tallow.
The trimmings and wastage remaining after the steaks are cut to portion found their place at Flat Iron Burger in Soho, an answer to closing the loop for no-waste in the business. “The burgers are mixed with chuck, brisket, and rump and trimmings from our flat iron and gaucho steaks.” Great value is also present in the burger store: a six ounce burger, fries, and a frozen custard milkshake comes out to only HKD148.
On the business end, Jonathan has opened Flat Iron locations inside restaurants looking to shut up shop, recycling their kitchen and furniture without shelving out millions of dollars in retrofitting new interiors. He continues employing the same server and kitchen team from the shuttered business too.
Is it crazy to open four restaurants over one year in an industry experiencing a heavy hit in business? No, he says. “We are all about opportunities [at Flat Iron]. If someone says to us, hey we have this restaurant, do you want to run it? We will look at it. It is not because Flat Iron is so successful, but I have a lot of trimmings left, so now I need to find another burger restaurant to use up all the trim.”
Jonathan is intent to multiply his locations by a count of five to 20 restaurants in Hong Kong in the imminent future. Shenzhen, Macau, and Guangzhou locations are also on his agenda to spread his Flat Iron ideology far and wide in the Greater Bay Area.
Head to your local Flat Iron Steak restaurant today for a taste of Hong Kong’s greatest value for money steak.
