Rainbow Room

I have been to the Rainbow room a few times usually around the holidays for a cocktail after we do dinner somewhere else. I've eaten there once, and the food was bad, and the tables were so I felt as if I was eating the food off my knees- very uncomfortable seating. The last time we went they ""FORCED"" me to check my coat. Its not like I was wearing a big ugly puffer- it was an elegant wool ladies coat- really nice, and they would not let me even stand at the bar with it on, and I was cold! I thought that was totally wrong, but since we waited on line for ? hour to get up there I complied. The bar we ""stood"" next to was dirty (behind the bar) and all you saw was garbage. The drinks were fine, but we were double charged. The only saving grace is the view, and even that has gotten old for me. I'd much rather be at the Mandarin Lobby bar- which has a great view and great ambiance, seating, crowd, and is cleaner. Don't go to RBR they think they are special and make you feel like it's an honor to be there. Everyone who works there is stuffy- When I go out for expensive drinks I expect to enjoy my time at the establishment- you will be sorry if you make this your special night place. Pros: View Cons: No place to sit, must check coat, long wait to get up there, low ceilings more

I took my boyfriend there for his 22nd birthday and we had a 3 course lunch. It was prixe fixed of course. My salmon was delicious with lemon grass. I eat a lot of seafood, especially salmon and do i have to say this was one of the best that I had. Its expensive but worth the experience for a special occasion. Pros: Great salmon Cons: Expensive more

My wife and I went there this past weekend and were completely disappointed. Here is what is so sad, this place could be great however they have solely relied upon their past in order to gain notoriety. First, service was horrible. It took them 15 minutes to acknowledge we were there and order a drink. When we ordered a drink and had questions on the menu, the waiter kept trying to pull away in attempt to service other tables. When the ""Captain"" came well into our arrival, she was less than apologetic. Food was mediocre, not worth the price. They brought the check to us much faster than the food or drinks. The environment was loud and not very romantic. My recommendation to go there when there is as little to no people as possible. Perhaps on a weekday and before 6 PM. New Yorkers tend to eat dinner late. My wife nor I will not be going back. Pros: Nice view of the city Cons: Loud, slow service, mediocre food more

Our group of six allotted for 3 hours before our Rockettes show to ""enjoy"" dinner at The Rainbow Grill. All of us were very excited but were very disappointed by the time we left. First, it took 45 minutes before our watier even took our order. He came by once before that and asked if we were ready to order and then immediately went to another table before we could even respond. He came to our table a total of 3 times during our meal. One of the girls never even got a refill on her beverage. I feel that if we're paying good money for food then we should get immaculate service - I guess I was wrong. The food wasn't even very good. I was about an hour and a half into our dining experience when we received our entree. One of the girls ordered her steak medium and it came out more like rare. No one ever even came by to ask if it was ok. Once we received our bill (which we had to finally flag someone down to get or we were going to miss our show) we found out why the service was horrible - our waiter added on a gratuity so he didn't care whether or not he gave good service or bad service. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. The view isn't worth the price or bad service. Shame, shame, shame. Pros: view Cons: bad service, bad food more

I dont understand the negative comments one bit. This place is amazing. Me and me boyfriend went here for a special occasion and it was probably the best moment we've ever had. We were seated almost immediately. Our 2 waiters (one guy, one woman) were very sweet and attentive. The food was not excellent but not bad either. The views were incredible. The only thing to make our dinner less good was the big noisy group of irish diners (read tourists) sitting not to far from us. Other than that, I am very happy that I chose the rainbow grill for our special occasion. Btw, we are 2 new yorkers. Pros: the athmosphere, the views, service. Cons: almost none. hard to find parking unless you wanna pay more

This place is really awful. I have been up to Rainbow Grill before for after-work drinks so I knew it was overpriced (you are paying for the view!). We decided to go up for a drink after our Thanksgiving dinner. It was not a peak hour for cocktails. There were 6 of us. First off, the service ALL AROUND was poor to barely-existent. Don't expect anyone to really welcome you. Before we got on the elevator we had to talk to an attendant and ""see if there was room for our party"". He calls upstairs to ask ""if they had space"" and they do so he says ""ok you can go up"" - gee, thanks? They seat us at a little round table (more appropriate for 4 people max) and we are back near the exit door (which is used by the waiters). Only 1 menu for 6 people to look at. Majority of drinks are $20 (except their nasty house wine - Zonin). Service was extremely poor. We waited a long time to have someone take our order. Drinks were weak. I ordered a bellini (touted as Ciprianis' specialty!) and it was so much juice (was there even champagne in it - I mean prosecco?). No water was brought to us. We had to flag down waiter to get our bill (never even mind having him check back to see if we wanted another round!) They did add gratuity but I assumed it was because we were a party of 6 - but I see they do that to everyone regardless of party size. It is unfortunate because Rainbow Room could be really amazing but Cipriani is a sad excuse for running this place. Everything here is shabby, run down and service is terrible, at best. You would expect this place to be impressively immaculate w/ impeccable, 5 star service. But they run it like a low-level tourist trap that could be found in a strip mall. Even the drink menu is a cheap piece of paper, its the lack of attention to details (burned out lights in elevator lobby), even bathroom attendand was lazy and didn't move to offer towel or anything. If you want to see the view go up to the observation deck - you will be far more satisfied. Cons: Too pricey, weak drinks, NO SERVICE, Terrible management of this NY icon more

My husband and I and our daughter went to the Rainbow Grill for our 10th anniversary and we went mostly for the view, we already accepted the food and service not to be too great, but, I still wanted to go and it was a way to see our daughter that lives in the city. I noticed 3 tables of 4 nex to the window and was told only a table of 4 people were allowed to sit there. We still could see the view, you can't miss it with the windows from celing to floor. But our table was TOO SMALL for the three of us! It was definitely for only 2 people. The ""captain"" could care less about my compalint about the small table so I got up and asked for a manager. Then the ""dumb"" manager said he would make the table bigger like they do for a table of 4, then I said, ""If you are making our table bigger, then seat us at those tables of 4 by the window."" They moved us but didn't hide the fact that they were upset with us. The service was SO SLOW, and it was early, only 7pm and not very crowded yet. I realized my mistake in picking this place after I already knew from reviews the service would be bad, but, I was stubborn! I will admit my daughter and husband enjoyed their food, I had the plain, grilled chicken, but, there was no reason to charge $35.00 for chicken. Since the prices were super high, we had to be careful with no appitizers and only one drink each and no dessert and coffee. We had to ask for the waiter every time, the reviews are right, you hardly see the ""captain"" and your waiter! The part that also made me angry was that I was told my husband HAD to wear a suit, then, why did I see 2 men dressed in plain shirts, not even a dress shirt. Then I was upset to see the table next to us, a table set for 4 people had only 3 people there and I was watching and they weren't given a hard time, as, well as the table on the other side of us, 3 people give a table of 4 without a problem. My advice is to believe the negative reviews and DO NOT COME HERE> You will not be happy!!!!!! Pros: view Cons: bad, slow service,food NOT WORTH THE SUPER< SUPER HIGH PRICE more

My wife and I took our first Christmas in New York trip last week and were looking forward to eating at the Rainbow Grill for the famous view it has. I had made a reservation the day before, but when we arrived our name wasn't on the list. I informed the elevator guy (who was asking about reservations ) that we had our reservations for the Rainbow Grill, not the Rainbow Room. He said ""oh, just the grill?"".....That should have been our first red flag. When we reached the 65th floor, we checked our coats and were seated right away, but were informed by the ""captain"" that there were no window tables available. We took his word for it and sat down where he escorted us, but soon noticed that there were several tables by the window open. My wife asked our waiter if we could be moved, and he said we would have to ask the captain (whom of course was no where in site). After finally getting our water and some rolls, we observed that other people were coming in, being led to a non-window table and then being moved (after slipping the captain some money ....probably $20.00 if I were to guess). Pros: view Cons: service and if you can't get a window table it's not worth it. more

I recently finished up my first trip to NYC (which was fantastic!) and decided to try the Rainbow Grill based off of reputation and name alone (too bad I didn't know about CitySearch first). Pros: View! Cons: Food; Service; Price more

my husband and i went there for my birthday....... the view was great... but the service sucked. the food was okay, but it took forever to come. the drinks too. everyone was in jeans and t-shirts...... spending 300. on dinner and not felling that you're in a nice place is so not worth it... its a good place to go for so drinks with freinds i guess Pros: view Cons: everything more

I would not recommend this place to anyone. The waiters are very rude and nasty, as they are doing you a favor by being there. Another thing half of them don't even speak english, oh yeah and try getting check thats another bridge to overcome. Pros: The View Cons: The Food, The Service, The Price more

I had a fabulous time at the rainbow grill...the view was wonderful and the waiter was very informative and actually provided great menu reccomendations. I am not the type of person who likes to rush so I enjoyed the time the waiter gave to enjoy the view, drink, and food. The chicken marsala melted in my mouth and being a chocolate lover the chocolate cake is the best i have EVER had, so rich and orgazmic!!!my date and i had a fabulous time! so memorable i felt like a movie star! more

$750 to reserve. Took 4 hours to get through the meal. Most of the time spent chasing down the ""Captain"" Apparently, none of the other waiters can talk... The view was nice...but for that price, I could've booked a balloon ride... Pros: View Cons: Expensive, Slow more

Lets start by saying reservation mean nothing.... Humm?? Many people in the dining area in jeans and no jackets??? What happened to the strict policy? We were there for our Anniversary - very disappointing. They are understaffed, drinks go unattended for 1/2 hour or longer, food is bland with no presentation, and you CONSTANTLY have to waive your waiter down for everything! Including your check - and that came out wrong as well!!! You get better food and better service at Olive Garden! Pros: View Cons: Bland Food, Poor Service more

This is one of the most famous restaurants in NYC, so on a recent trip I made reservations for two. We arrived early and got to take in the great view and snap a couple of pictures before we were seated. The service was so poor, our drinks were left empty for over half an hour. We had to flag down the waiter a couple of times before he even noticed us. The waiter didn't go over the menu choices and at the end of the night we were so fed up we didn't even order dessert. Our food was overcooked, bland and overpriced. I was extremely disappointed and so was my date. We will not be dining there again on our next trip to NYC. NYC however, was fantastic! more