I am a native New Yorker and will keep to the directness of how we are known to be :)
Food: Good. It's an upscale version of bar food classics. I highly recommend the sliders.
Drinks: Excellent. Great wine selection.
Space: This is a very elegant and sleek hotel bar. This is a great place to bring a date or impress your significant other before going to your performance at Lincoln Center. Scene: People watching. Romantic. Date night. Pickup scene. Trendy.
Crowd: 30-50s Mostly locals, professionals and corporate types. Theater goers and tourists.
Service: Excellent, very courteous & professional.
Drinks are sufficiently well mixed and the service polite and responsive. Nice cocktail-lounge atmosphere, (fake) candlelight, sofa-style seating. The important thing to note is how quiet it is. Conversation and drinks sre complementary and nyc bars are normally filled with drunken youths and would-be youths at fever pitch. Not so the Empire Lobby Lounge!
The best kept secret near Lincoln Center. Though they seem to have trouble keeping products in stock, the hospitality of the staff more than makes up for it. I go there any time before I see a show at Lincoln Center. The rooftop bar is great as well but is a little too "stuffy" for my taste.
All I have to say is, Empire Hotel Lobby Bar has been my safe haven since I touched down in NYC over 6 years ago. Not only is Mike, the main bartender, a great fixture of Empire, the overall atmosphere can make a hard day at work chill out. I highly recommend this over the roof top bar, which can get a little too crazy when it gets warm.
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes