City Lobster & Steak

I and a business associate went here on Friday March 1st, 2013 for lunch after a meeting we had in the diamond district with a client. It was a place he had seen and wanted to try since we both agreed we wanted a more healthy bite to eat rather than the typical steakhouse lunches we are accustomed to doing. Let me start by saying the aesthetics of the restaurant is nice to look at and comfortable to sit in. The host seems professional but very business like - no ""Mr. Congeniality""; but I can accept that as it is not necessarily a popularity contest pursuant to ordering food in a restaurant. Hey, he could have been having a bad day or something traumatic happened in his life before he came into work or while there. \r \r We ordered off the lunch Prix-fixe menu. I ordered Appetizer: Chilled Sewansecott ""Virginia Salt"" Oysters On The 1/2 Shell (4), Entree:Maryland ""Eastern Shore"" Crab cak(e) with Late Harvest Corn & Sun-Dried Cherry Relish and Dessert: Our Real Florida Key Lime Pie, Drink: Iced Water. My associate ordered Appetizer: Baked Mid-Atlantic Oysters And Crab meat Rockefeller (2), Entree: ""City's"" Down East Lobster Roll with Homemade Fries & Cole Slaw and Dessert: Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie, Drink: Pelligrino . The wait was a MINIMUM of 30 minutes for the food to FINALLY come out of the kitchen. When the food finally did come out we were both amazed to see ONE SINGLE crab cake on the plate. In my entire life of ordering Maryland Crab CAKES, I have yet to ever see ONE SINGLE Cab cake come out on a plate and be defined as an ENTREE and NOT an appetizer - nor specified on the menu as they have for the clams and oysters are on the menu for their appetizers. My associate looked at me and said ""Are you sure that is enough, and you do not want to order something else additional""? Based on the time it took to bring out our initial order, I was fearful we would be there all afternoon and never return to the office in a sufficient amount of time. Keep in mind I am an active 6 ft. 2 inch male diner weighing 210 lbs! After taking 2 bites of the Crab CAKE, we decided he was right and asked the busboy to call over our waiter so we could place another order without waiting another 30 minutes. After our busboy could not find our waiter, he called over the pleasurable host, and I told him to place another order for the Maryland ""Eastern Shore"" Crab CAK(E) with Late Harvest Corn & Sun-Dried Cherry Relish. Surprisingly, this time it seemed to take approximately 5 - 10 minutes for this second order to come out of the kitchen. We also noticed that the staff for a ""lunch time"" crowd seemed insufficient for the amount of diners that were in the restaurant at the time. One of my little test i use to determine god or great waitstaff and service in a restaurant is how attentive the waiter is to refilling your glass with ICED water when they see, know and realize that THAT was your drink of choice for your meal. I LOVE and CRAVE ICED COLD NEW YORK CITY tap water (BEST tap water in THE WORLD!); and had to signal for the waiter EVERY TIME that I wanted my glass refilled - AMAZING! The dessert of the key Lime pie was the HEAVIEST use of lime (our SOURNESS) that I have ever tasted in the eating of Key Lime Pie! It was really inedible. \r \r Bottom line, this was a business lunch between two associates, IF this were a personal lunch with my wife or wife and son, we would have really NOT been too pleased and would have most likely walked out based on the mere waiting time for the food to initially come out and the arrival of one SINGLE Crab CAKE. I highly doubt I would ever enter the threshold of this place ever again. \r \r Phillip more

City Lobster & Steak serve some really EXCELLENT steaks. You could probably predict that based on its name, but their steaks really are much better than some other more famous steak houses. Also, if you go, try to get Sandra to be your server. She's excellent, funny, knows everything about the menu, and cute as well. Enjoy! more

The food was great and our server Rudy was amazing . Will be back soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! more

My one and only time here , they seemed to have addressed all of the gripes I just read about ie: hot wet towel to wipe my hands after eating,fast food delivery (1,2,3) ,many eyes on me to see if I was needing anything but not stopping unless they got a nod ( I like attention but not having to swallow good food too fast to say all is well) I did however catch a mistake on my bill that was immediately rectified.This is my post to City Lobster and Steak web site! ""I had the greatest lobster dinner there last night! Thomas and Emiliano attended my every need. The oyster appetizer was very flavorful. The huge 2.5 lb lobster was just so sweet I went through 3 hot butters! And then the cheesecake desert was light and creamy! all washed down by some ice cold Stella Beer. Thank you so much for a most excellent meal before enjoying Janet Jackson down the street at Radio City. Great work ,keep it up and I will make it a point to bring friends next time! "" PS all with no reservation ! more

Running the restaurant comes with more then having a food.\r People that think they invented the world.\r I love sea food but will never go to them.\r more

Seafood was so fresh and amazing. Was with a pretty large group and we all had steamed lobster. Also, Had crabcakes to start (im a sucker for good crabcakes). Agree with review below..food was outstanding and the service was very on point. I wouldn't say its fast which is good cause I hate to feel rushed when I'm dining out. Can't wait till I go back.. more

i came here one weekend to eat and this is my favorite spot now!. Food was awesome and the service was fast and friendly. 100% is what i give them overall! more

Ate there last Friday and I've already been back for lunch today. Not really sure I agree with most of the reviews below. The food was fresh and outstanding. Nice ambiance and the staff was on top of everything. more

The RW menu was pretty good for lunch. \r \r We started with the clam chowder, BLT wedge and oysters Rockefeller. Our entrees were lobster roll, angus NY strip and crab cake. The latter was so small it should be an appetizer, not an entree. We had to wait for a long time for our dessert to arrive. The chef is preparing we were told. When we got it, we didn't see why it took so long. We had the red, blue, white shortcake, key lime pie and profiteroles arabica. \r \r The place was not busy at all for lunch on a Saturday. more

I ordered a bowl of soup and an order of fried calamari for dinner on an average Tuesday night. After being advised it would take no longer than 45 minutes (they are 3 blocks away), it took 1.5 hours.\r \r Not to mention, the fried calamari was colder than the cup of Sprite that came with it. I wouldn't feed it to my dog.\r \r I'd highly recommend avoiding. Cons: Late delivery, cold food more

I had a very bad experience at this restaurant. I was not only overcharged on my credit card!!. I Received bad service, Small portion size for the outrageous price & the food was mediocre. Manager & staff are very rude. Brought us wrong orders. We signed one bill for 96 dollars after they fixed their error we were charged on our card way over our original amount!!. FRAUDS!! STAY AWAY! AS FAR AS YOU CAN Not Worth The Trip & Price\r I eat out all the time and praise good service & food but this place is terrible Cons: Everything more

Me and my Daughter dined at City Lobster this past Friday night. I had walked past the restaurant numerous times but never had ventured in. Our server was very charming and attentive, and drew our attention to the pre-fix menu. This menu was continued through restaurant week and was a great deal with three courses for only $35. My Daughter and I enjoyed the delicious menu with the Sea Scallops Entree being the highlight recommended why our waiter. The whole experience was pretty enjoyable except for the multiple arguments we noticed going on in the front of the restaurant amongst the management and employees . Me and my daughter tried ignoring the situation but the fights continued to get louder ruining our meal. I was shocked that the situation was not taken off the floor and bothered by the way the employees were being treated. Overall the food was great for a great price. However the experience was uncomfortable, I would not dine at City Lobster again but perhaps would order take out. Pros: Great Pre-Fix Menu Cons: Nasty Mangement more

My wife and I brought our 2 friends to City Lobster after seeing the advertisement in our hotel room. Our two friends are asian. While this detail seems insignificant, it most definitely is not, as we witnessed the restaurants head maitre'd demean an asian staff member over and over again right in front of our table. Talking loudly and slowly in his face, grabbing the poor mans arm, pulling him around like a slave, barking orders. My wife was visibly upset. later in the evening we saw the same man drinking a bottle of wine glass after glass, which no doubt is one of the causes for his actions, because he had the most bizarre interaction with table directly behind us which we over heard, and when he walked away the man at the table said ""what and who the heck was that? what a creep."" Upon our exit the man mumbled something to us and when I asked what he said he rolled his eyes and walked back again behind the bar, surely to get another drink. The food at the restaurant was delicious, but I will never willingly put my hard earned money in the pocket of such a person. Pros: food? Cons: Incredibly rude maitre'D more

I had lunch here yesterday and the food was excellent. I had the Lobster Chowder and the Lobster Roll. The Lobster Roll wasn't overly mayonaisey like it is at many places. I will definitely be back! Pros: food more

Had dinner here Monday night. Food was delicious! Had a great window seat and the service was flawless without being pretentious. Don’t get where all the negatives comments are coming from. If you work in midtown its the perfect place to have a great dinner after a long days work/ before theatre. Pros: food, location, atmosphere, service Cons: parking in the area can be a pain more

After seeing their ad on TV in our hotel room; my wife and I decided to have an early supper before going to the theatre. Stopped in around 6:00pm on Saturday March 6, 2010. The hostess inquired if we had reservations. We said no. She escorted us to a table in the back in a corner. We asked if we could have one of the many empty tables situated in the middle of the restaurant and also mentioned that their TV advertisement said nothing about reservations needed. Her response, You should learn how to read. We ask for the manager on our way out, the manager in turn ask the hostess what was the issue. Her response; THEY DID NOT WANT TO SIT IN THE BACK, and furiously walk away. Needless to say City Lobster will never have to worry about any of my family or friends ever making a reservation to their establishment.\r \r Pros: location Cons: Very Rude and Obnoxious hostess. more

$1 oysters at this kind of place is a very good deal, not only do they have $1 oysters, but they also have great prices for lobsters. I work and live around the area. When I go there for lunch I usually get the pre-fix menu, or sometimes I get the special of the day. The special of the day is always fresh, and it's also a lot, sometimes I can’t even finish it. The few times that I have been there for dinner, I have ordered the lobster (OF COURSE) and I have also tried the Alaskan king crab legs-DELICIOUS!! I always get the saffron seafood risotto as a side and it’s just so amazingly yummy and plentiful. All the waiters that have been taking care of me have been either very professional, or smiley, or funny, or hilarious. I have never had a bad experience with the service. One of my favorite menus here is the surprisingly affordable wine list ($35-$200 a bottle). I highly recommend this place!! Pros: Service, food, and location. Cons: Hard to find parking, its too busy sometimes. more

Headed to City Lobster last night with much anticipation for a wonderful dining experience. My wife ordered the Australian Lobster Tail directly from the menu...the waitor told us ""we don't have any""....this is on a Friday, early evening, in the theater district. Think about it: a Lobster place that does not serve lobster tails. The food service was not up to par for the prices charged...the actual meal was cold when served...even the bread was old and gummy. I would not recommend City Lobster...there are so many wonderful places to eat in NYC that offer better food and service, and at a better price. Pros: Physical Location Cons: Disappointing Experience more

DEFENITLY THE BEST LOBSTER IN TOWN!!!!!!IHAD A GREAT TIME, SERVICE WAS GREAT AND FRIENDLY!!! I WILL COM BACK!!!!!!! Pros: DELICIUS SEAFOOD & STEAK TO!!! Cons: IT'S HARD TO PARK AROUND more

this place is T.G.I.Friday's with lobster and higher prices! Service is horrible - they don't know the menu, cast aside responsibility, and leave you waiting. Outside of the lobsters, the food is embarrassing...I mean I was embarrassed, and I would be tremendously embarrassed if I were the one serving it, let alone asking for money in return. For instance, the salads were Dole pre-prepared!! And not even a full serving. I think any reviewer that liked the place - for any reason - enjoyed the decently priced lobsters. But that won't even get me back. There are too many restaurants in the city with a good deal on lobster where you can enjoy a thing or two otherwise as well. Anyhow - this place was built for after work neighbors and tourists. And when you put those two together - T.G.I.Friday's is what you get. Pros: right now good prices on lobster - just like elsewhere Cons: horrible food, preparation, service, and how they treat you more