...literally. The city's highest rooftop lounge, Sky Room occupies the 33rd and 34th floors of the Fairfield Inn and Suites on 40th Street, right in the heart of Times Square.I had a chance to check it out last night for a shoot and all I can say is WOW! The views are just incredible! The breathtaking landscape of Manhattan right at eye level...it's enough to make even a long-standing NYC native take a moment to soak in the magic of the city in all of its nighttime beauty.
The space is modern and has that oasis-type feel to it. It's like the Caribbean meets The Jetsons. The uniforms for the female waitresses and bartenders are 50's stewardess inspired, complete with a set of wings (in pin form of course). They give the bar sort of a "mile-high" vibe which I find to be cute, clever, and intriguing. And, for you men, the eye candy is definitely sweet and sure to please!The Happy Hour is pretty standard (4pm-7pm) and, though not as inexpensive as some that I've seen, not outrageous given the bar's location. They also have daily drink specials like $7 caipirinhas on Wednesdays for Brazilian Night. They've got a really fun and exotic cocktail menu for those of you who delve on the fancy side--it's pretty well-known that I'm a beer girl but I will admit that I found the Brazilian Sunshine to be quite pleasurable. Side Note: The bartender who made it, Marcus, is awesome and can do some fun Tom-Cruise-in-Cocktail type tricks so be sure to ask him to show you a little somethin-somethin ;)As for food, the menu is drool-worthy with options to please both simple and more sophisticated palettes. I recommend the Deep Fried Mac and Cheese.....O-M-G!
I'm a very simple woman. Give me good food, good drinks, and good service at decent prices and I'll be happy. I've been to Katwalk before and enjoyed it but I was really disappointed last night.Let me start off by saying that what they do have going for them is location and a great variety of Happy Hour drink specials that are available every weekday until 8pm. Situated in mid-town, minutes away from the Manhattan Mall and Madison Square Garden, it's no surprise that Katwalk attracts a good crowd. They have a meaty drink menu for Happy Hour that is sure to please drinkers of all types; from beer to wine to specialty cocktails, just about anyone can find their drink du jour for $3-$6! One other plus--Katwalk has the absolute friendliest, most polite doorman I have ever encountered in my life! I'm not sure if he works every night but you'll know him when you see him. He looks a lot like the Undertaker (yes, the WWE wrestler) and he will welcome you by first name.Unfortunately, these positives could not outweigh the negatives for my group last night. First off, we waited about twenty minutes to be seated at a table that had been reserved well in advance. Then, our server just vanished without taking our drink orders and didn't return for at least twenty minutes!!! In fact, every time she took an order, she wouldn't come back with our drinks for 15-20 minutes. I know it's busy but this pussycat gets very irritable if she has to wait too long for her drink! Realistically speaking, how valuable are drink specials if you can't take full advantage of them because of snail-slow service? It just seemed like they are a bit under-staffed.Then there is the matter of entertainment. My friends and I were out to celebrate a good friend's birthday. We were, in no way, shape, or form, aware that we were going to be subject to what looked like some crazy 90's Playboy tryout video playing on the projector. I don't even know what to say about this video--it was weird, it was just straight up weird. If I looked up from the table, all I saw was bikini-clad girls rolling around in sand, running, jumping, etc. This isn't Porky's (now, The Yard), it doesn't fit! It just didn't portray the type of image that Katwalk has created for itself. And I'm not just speaking for us girls, my guy friends thought it was strange too! Seriously, just throw that video in the litter box and bury it real good!My last qualm about Katwalk, a very minor one in comparison to the others: candles bolted to the tables. I get why they would do it but it's annoying! One of the candles, strategically (and irritatingly predictable) placed candle in the middle of the table made it impossible to have our plate of nachos there for easy sharing. Again, it's a small problem but, when you're already annoyed, the little things do count.Katwalk is certainly not beyond redemption. On a good day, you can go there and enjoy some reasonably priced drinks with good music to accompany. It just needs to work on some staffing and "entertainment" issues..and maybe get rid of some candles ;)For more info. on Katwalk, visit http://katwalknyc.com/index.html
