RoofTop at Exchange Place — Restaurant in Jersey City

There is bad service and then there is whatever we experienced at this restaurant. I have never had such horrible service from an upscale restaurant. Beyond disappointed with how the night went but the red flags were evident from the start.

We had to wait just to enter the restaurant standing in a cramped hot stairwell because the hostess was missing from the desk for 10-15 minutes and nobody was there to seat the huge line of people ahead of us.

Once we sat down we were asked about the water preference, which the server noted down, but another server had to come and ask us to double check about our that as well! Couldn’t get water preference right in one go.

After waiting about 20 minutes we finally were able to place in our drink order, because the server was clearly so overwhelmed she barely had time to check on us or wait on us even. We literally had to find another server to place in our food order because 40+ minutes had already elapsed since we sat down and nobody came to take our food order. Our original server did eventually show up to “double check” what we had ordered at the 1 hour mark which i am sure is when the actual order was placed. 1 hour to order 2 drinks and 2 mains.

Then finally after 15 more minutes one of the mains was served, JUST ONE. So we waited 10 minutes for the other one to come out, but at that point the food was getting cold so one of us ate while the other one watched.

Weirdly enough, a whole 30 minutes later, both the mains were served together (steak for the first time, already a bit cold, and the chicken for the second time). We had to send the chicken back because one of us had already finished the chicken. So we had to have dinner separately, because our order was put in twice because of the order confusion or someone else’s food was served to us.

Lastly, we had ordered another drink which was served with the bill, after i had to literally hunt down our server working and remind her of my drink order.

I have never been to a restaurant where the food was served at such different intervals that we had to eat completely separately for a party of two. Tracking down servers, ordering food and drinks and receiving them felt like winning the jackpot, and all the patrons around us also looked visibly upset due to the non existence of service.

The only redeeming factor was that the food and drinks were actually very good, but this restaurant is so poorly managed, even the amazing nyc views can’t compensate for the...

I want to preface this review by saying that our waitress was wonderful. It's the chefs in the back that are questionable.

I found this Pulsd deal a while back. $29 for two entrees and unlimited mimosas/Bellinis/bloody marys. The brunch menu from Pulsd was different than the Pulsd menu at the restaurant (fewer options at the restaurant). I noticed that it only had okay reviews but decided to try it anyway, since it was close to home, and you get some views of Manhattan.

The voucher indicated that we need to email them and reserve. I emailed, but no response. So we tried calling. No response. We decided to just take our chances and go in, since we were running out of time to use it. We got there at around 1:30 on a Sunday and it was surprisingly half full. They were able to seat us.

It took a while for our waitress to come take our orders/give us water, but I think she might have been the only one working and serving all the tables that day. After that, we never had an issue getting her attention. She always made sure our glasses were full. The kitchen on the other hand, is a different story. We both ordered the burger because there was nothing better to order. I ordered medium rare and fiancé ordered rare, but both came out well done. They replaced the order and it came out well done again. We were about to just keep the dry burgers but the waitress said they might have gotten the ordered mixed up and asked if we wanted to try again. We hesitantly said yes and felt really bad afterwards for making her switch so many times. The third time it came out, the burger was medium. The thin truffle fries (the only good thing about the food) that came with the original burgers were now replaced with potato wedges. The burger was super salty, whereas the previous ones were not. Made us wonder if the meat wasn't fresh so 1. They had to cook it until it was bone dry 2. They needed to douse it in salt to cover up the taste. It was definitely pre-frozen too because the patty was a perfectly round disk. We ate half before we realized, so we didn't finish the rest. About two hours later, I did have a mild stomachache but not sure if it was from the burger.

Aside from the burger fiasco, the bloody Mary was good. Probably one of the better ones I've had at a boozy brunch. Plus the views are nice. There's an outdoor seating area that I'm sure gets packed when it's warm.

Bottom line - skip the Pulsd deal or if you do come,...

This place is a so cute! Perf for a nice date night. If you’re looking to impress pick here and send the reservation! I went Thursday night and it was perfect, not packed at all!

They have a floor for dining (elevator to T) called the Terrace (I believe?) that also has spectacular views. The floor has a grand piano and a chandelier, like it’s perfect for pictures girlies!

The food was good! Typical new American blah blah. Google only shows the rooftop menu but they have a more formal restaurant style menu at the terrace. This is where you get seated and receive the full dining experience. I got the salmon w risotto b/c you can never go wrong there and it was delicious! The best risotto I’ve ever had! Apple crisp was okay just really sugary for my liking. I had the chilltown cocktail and it was not good in my opinion the pineapple juice tasted like bitter orange? Salmon w/ risotto honestly saved the day.

Black people friendly? Honestly I can’t tell. There were at tops 15/20 people in a space that can fit about 40/50+ at the time and our food took some time to arrive whereas others did not? And the reason given was that the kitchen was backed up? I find it hard to believe for such a slow, low traffic night. Our waitress gave us some time but seemed to be gone longer than usual. The bus ladies came to refill and gather our plates but never smiled when eye contact was made or when we said thank you. It’s those little things that add to a dining experience that I don’t believe we got to experience. I try to avoid making such assumptions but you always wonder as a person of color. All other patrons appeared to be white or lighter persons of color and they appeared to enjoy themselves so if you identify with those groups you should be fine!

Rooftop floor (elevator to R) is a friggin vibe, I attached a video. It’s absolutely gorgeous! I can see it being magical on a busy night with friends.

Parking - okay I found street parking literally right in front of the space, however this was on a quiet Thursday night! So keep that in mind! There appears to be a parking garage right across the street but research well before arriving!

Overall nice experience. It’s not cheap but it’s worth it! Life is short!...