Rainbow Room
“On certain Fridays and Saturdays there is live music and you are expected to dress for the occasion.”
“The Rainbow Room is by far among the top 5 NYC places to go for an intimate yet elegant brunch or weekend evening of dining and dancing.”
“Epic view of the city, stunning chandelier, and real sense of occasion when you enter, with the beautiful New York skyline below you.”
Rainbow Room
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Good For Dancing: Yes
Coat Check: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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breathtaking.
your jaw will drop when you rise 65 stories high in the sky and enter the legendary rainbow room. the place is meticulous, beautiful, sparkling clean. and you literally feel like you are in heaven up here as new york sweeps out before you with every monument twinkling in the sky.
was here for a lovely private function in the main dining area. it started with cocktails in a side room that looked south on manhattan. there was the empire state, times square and more twinkling and beckoning. appetizers were tuna sashimi (i kept standing near the waiter to get more…!), lobster blt's (i kept standing near the water to get more…), and assorted bites.
the main event for sit-down dinner and dancing was also just superb. the wait staff elegant, professional and discrete. the food almost perfect including a risotto with truffles that would knock your socks off. i mean it was so good that there was an extra plate and seriously– the entire table was eying it and someone very intelligently said it would be a shame to let it go to waste so the table each (of 8 mind you!) each took a bit of it to enjoy! for the main course i opted for the filet mignon and it came with a small lovely assortment of veggies. the filet mignon was the only disappointment of the evening, it was sooooo salty i didn't know how that could happen. i almost wanted to cry b/c i wanted to eat it but it was soooo salty i couldn't! dessert was a trio of tastes but i actually had so much self control (and my pants were getting tight…) that i couldn't eat it all of it tho and had pangs of sadness as they took the plates away (i hate to waste…). they also served delicious hot piping coffee at the end of the meal maybe 11:30 pm so you could you know, uber home safely without drunkenly falling asleep in the elevator.
the event was four and a half hours, and i can say every single minute was a blast. the space really spectacular. the staff just so professional and great. and i guess it certainly helped to have a nice time 'cause it was such a nice crowd. i mean come on, like i only know nice people!
anyway a few days after the event i'm still thinking about how glorious this place is and how wonderful the event was too. and for the most part the food was fantastic and indeed a treat. i do believe everyone was dazzled and happy to be here. i'm looking for a reason to celebrate something just to come back. oh yesireee….!
Was here on June 19, 2016 and was expecting the spectacular brunch we had on my last review. The venue is of course still exceptional at the 65th floor of Rockefeller Center. However, the brunch is now $125 and is exceptional only on how disappointing it is. Certainly we were spoiled by our previous experience. But that brunch has been gutted in favor of a minimal buffet and some interesting menu items that are included. Ultimately though the experience of dining in this beautiful room at the top of this legendary Art Deco tower has value but the lack of performance on the food basically ruins it. I recommend that you save your money and pay $36 to go to the top of the One World Trade Center.
Gorgeous view and really attentive waiters.
I loved the room, the history and the thought that I was hobnobbing with some rich people as well as other tourists.
The orchestra was lovely as was our table.
I was not impressed with the brunch. There was not a single dish that stands out as really delicious. I think the best thing I ate was a bagel. The brunch was like 90.00 plus my cranberry juice was extra plus tax, tip and you're laying out 120.00 dollars for a vast array of just okay food.
I am glad I had the experience and all but I wouldn't go back. I can get a way better breakfast for a lot cheaper many other places.
However, the pictures from eating at those other places wouldn't be as fun!
Views are stellar atop 30 Rock at the Rainbow Room! It's not going to be 360-degree views, but one side offers beautiful city views and remember that you're not that high on the 65th floor.
I was here for a private event and enjoyed the space, the views, the food and the prosecco! I can't comment on the regular menu served here, but the items offered at the carving station were excellent. Staff and servers were friendly and attentive.
Good for a special occasion or casual drinks. If you don't want to spend the big bucks to eat up here, you can pop up for a drink.
The Rainbow Room is hands down the most beautiful dining space I have ever experienced. The chandeliers, the orchestra stage, the wide staircase, the dazzling view, etc etc etc all of it come together to create a spectacular atmosphere. My girlfriend and I, being two 20-year olds, felt out of place surrounded by what I can only assume to be old and new money folks (cue Gatsby reference).
Even from before you step into the dining area, the service from the mezzanine to the waiting room with the New York skyline view, you feel like a kid waiting in line to get on Space Mountain, except the wait is all part of the experience. The level of professionalism and decorum from the staff is commendable. Once we were seated, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of care that our waiter took to make us feel comfortable (sorry I don't remember your name, Mr. Glasses and neat comb-back hair).
The menu looked expansive. I wish I had known before going in that we could order as many things from the menu as we wanted (that it was all part of the buffet). We ordered the lobster benedict and the Luger Omelette. The former was prepared beautifully and tasted just as good. The lobster pieces were huge and delicious. The shrimp was an excellent addition. The latter was good as well, but the steak pieces could have been more rare (or at least could have asked my preference for how I wanted the steak done). However, no complaints, as it still tasted wonderful.
The monkey bread doused in caramel was succulent. The biscuit, not as much, as it felt dry. I guess the two balanced each other out. The bacon bar was amazing, my favorites being the fatty pieces on the cutting board and the pastrami salmon (I must have eaten half a pound of salmon). The crepe station was not what I had expected (they roll the crepes instead of keeping it flat in the semi-circle), but the creamed-salmon crepe that I had was DELICIOUS (which I topped with more pastrami salmon lol). The juice bar had a ton of choices, but I went for the orange juice which tasted very fresh. The dessert bar had like 15 different options. I tried the strawberry pie, the cheesecake, and the chocolate tart, all of which were perfect.
You may think $125 is too much for brunch. Normally I would say yes, but with the combination of the view, the service, and the food, I can't help but think that this is one of those life experiences that everyone should try. The Rainbow Room is back, folks, and it's bringing its former glory here to stay.
My partner and I attended an event for two of our friends here on Friday evening and the whole experience was absolutely amazing!!
It all started out at cocktail hour in the gallery where we met up with friends and got seat assignments. Glasses of champagne were being passed around but you could go to the bar and get a specific cocktail if you would like. The views at the top of the rock are always amazing and this space was no exception. A few cocktails and after some wonderful hors d'oeuvres later we all made our way into the Rainbow Room.
The room is spectacular and is almost out of a dream where everything seemed to shine magically. After a ton of pictures, everyone made there way to their seats and the band started to play. Entree and wine orders were taken, I had the Brazilian fish and my partner had the vegetarian option which was a cauliflower dish. All of the food was great, from the mushroom risotto appetizer to the plate of small deserts.
The end of the night dancing on the rotating dance floor filled with friends, laughter, and great memories. Overall I don't think you could go wrong with the venue weather its for brunch, dinner, a wedding, or a special event. 5+ Stars for sure!
We were here for my boyfriend's birthday Saturday night for dinner of two. There are pros and cons.
Before we were allowed to take elevator going up to 65th floor, we had to waited in check-in place for around 20 mins with all groups. Once you got in, it's totally beautiful. The ambient and decor of the place is truly vintage and classy like 1930s. Live concert and live Jazz dancing fits perfectly in. The view of Manhattan is amazing we wish we were allowed here earlier to catch the sunset. The cons are the food is just okay compared to the other fine restaurants like the modern and the fig and olives. There's no single dish amazes us and some of them is clearly not as exquisite as it should be. It's an interesting experience however for almost 700 bill for 2 the food is just not that standard. We still enjoyed it and had a wonderful whole nights dining there. Most important thing happy birthday my March Pieces bf!
Dining at the Rainbow Room–which has a single seating and prix fixe dinner only–is unlike any dining experience in America. The food is exquisite, yes. But 65 floors up, the room is like a little universe where every detail, from the slowly rotating new floor to the crystal curtains to the refurbished ceiling dome, creates an alternate reality.
Run by the Cipriani people (among the most disliked in New York's hospitality business for too many reasons to count) before the 2009 closure, the Rainbow Room's reputation had diminished considerably. The view is the view and people would pay to eat Chicken McNuggets and drink Two Buck Chuck to gaze out on the most beautiful city in America. But people who remember coming years earlier (in the 1990s, say, when my friend's son had his bar mitzvah there) had somehow stopped coming. When you mention the Rainbow Room to longtime New Yorkers, the response tends to be: "Oh, I haven't been there in years." Tourists continued to flock to the iconic venue but foodies weren't excited.
All that has changed and the new crowd running the place has scored a home run. The first three courses are set: rillette of duck confit and a small shrimp cocktail, chicken liver parfait with quail egg and a small bit of foie gras, lobster cavatelli (that doesn't skimp on the lobster, which is both tender and flavorful), and then a choice of filet mignon or a black bass for the main course. All four courses were outstanding, though the dessert underwhelming. It's too much food for one person, and I ended up bringing most of the filet home for a sandwich the next day.
My elegant server, Klay, is one of three servers who returned after the closure and renovation. His love and pride in the place he's worked close to three decades comes in every word and glance.
Brian Newman, Lady Gaga's bandleader with a standing gig at Django, the lounge space at the swanky Roxy Hotel in Tribeca, plays three sets. The band is phenomenal and transports one back in time. Michael Garin, a pianist in New York going on four decades (the Limelight, Elaine's, and much more) provides inter-set entertainment, with a mix of Latin and non-Latin songs to which people dance between courses. While three professional dancing couples dazzle non-dancing diners, the dance floor was full of couples ranging in age from 30 to 75.
Yes, it's expensive. But next to Hamilton, the Rainbow Room is a bargain. And with Broadway tickets routinely 250 in the orchestra for hot shows, the prix fixe price tag is not unreasonable. One arrives at 7pm or 7:30pm and leaves around 11pm. It's dinner and a show, and when you consider that spending four hours on the 65th floor feels like traveling to another world, dinner at the Rainbow Room is worth every penny.