Chelsea Living Room — Restaurant in New York

Chelsea Living Room feels like a portal to the past. You walk in and it’s Gatsby’s secret speakeasy come to life—dimly lit, overflowing with influencers and models, and serenaded by roaring ’20s singers. For a moment, you’re convinced you’ve stumbled into something special. It’s cool, effortlessly so, and it knows it. You can’t help but feel like you’re part of an exclusive club. After all, you booked this table through Dorsia, the app that practically demands a blood oath just to secure a reservation.

But the illusion doesn’t last long.

This isn’t a restaurant for people who love food. It’s for people who love being seen. The staff wears an air of condescension, but it’s less “too cool” and more “completely unprepared.” Service is slow, disorganized, and feels like an afterthought. And the food? On paper, it’s thrilling—cacio e pepe pot pie, caviar-drenched everything. But execution is an entirely different story. What should be rich, bold, and indulgent arrives bland, uninspired, and utterly forgettable. Caviar, it turns out, can’t carry a dish when the rest of it is missing any semblance of flavor.

As the evening drags on, you realize you’ve been caught in a sexy tourist trap. It’s a trap with great lighting, a gorgeous design, and a vibe straight out of a Baz Luhrmann movie, but a trap nonetheless. The kind where you leave hungry, annoyed, and at least a couple hundred bucks lighter.

And yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. The bones of something extraordinary are here. Chelsea Living Room could be a true destination, not just a backdrop for Instagram stories. But it needs to invest in what matters—real chefs, real training, and real hospitality. Until then, it’s just another stop for TikTok clout, where you feel sexy at the table but end your night at Taco Bell for something that actually...

Booked a 6:30p reservation and when we arrived they said they had us at 7:00p. Regardless, they worked to seat us immediately, which was great. I showed them my email confirmation as well, not sure about the reservation system.

The restaurant was lively, well decorated, and overall had a good vibe. The drink menu was fairly robust and varied, as was the food menu. The Tartare with caviar, the cod with caviar sandwich, and the CLR burger were all very good. Another fairly good (new, still learning) location in Chelsea for sure. All of the caviar options on the menu certainly bump the prices up quite a bit but if you stick to non-caviar items then it's normal prices for NYC. Otherwise, it's a bit expensive.

Service was quick and attentive. Food came very quick (almost too quick, kind of makes you think it's pre-made rather than made to order). Biggest flaw in the service was at dessert time... waiter asked what we wanted and we told him, then we also said we wanted another round of drinks but wanted to see the menu. He walked away and our dessert arrived about 5 minutes later but we never got the menu for drinks. After the ice cream was almost completely melted on top of the lava cake the waiter finally came back and had a menu, about 15 minutes later. Unfortunately by the time we'd order another round and get the drinks the dessert would have been long over. It was just poor timing / lack of awareness on the waiter that he needed to hold the dessert and get our drink order taken care of.

Otherwise, everything was decent. Might go back but they certainly need to get the wait staff upskilled a bit for the price. Spending a couple hundred bucks for 2 people, you'd expect much better awareness and expertise. We'll see how they mature as...

Shared a meal with a girlfriend at CLR. The food was good, we tried the wagyu & caviar toast. Very buttery but good. I had the chicken, she had the burger. The chicken sauce was delicious as well as the mashed potatoes! The burger was equally delicious- especially when you pour over the peppercorn sauce. We enjoyed drinks (YES to the Pickle Martini!!) and dessert. We tried the pistachio ice cream, which was delicious. Service was absolutely fantastic. From the inviting hosts, to our charming server, to attentive managerial staff, the hospitality was our favorite part! Now for the bad news. With the menu and interior of CLR, you would expect swanky-jazzy music. Not Nicki Minaj (even though I love Nicki Minaj- just not at dinner!) I think the food would’ve tasted much better if they weren’t blasting club music at 7-8 pm. I know they’re open late, and the bar was definitely getting packed by the time we were leaving, so I understand it turns more into a bar and standing room. But I think they could’ve definitely benefited from a curated playlist for their dinner crowd, or maybe even updating their guests that the scheduled performance would not be there. We had checked their website that said live performance 7-9 pm that night. Overall, we had a great time but I think the atmosphere was damaged due to the lack of continuity and confusion as to what kind of restaurant and food/drink...