Monarch Rooftop — Restaurant in New York

If it weren't for the one bad experience I had with the bartender, this review would be 5-stars. To start off, I should say that basically I was getting my friends the drinks they wanted (3 x Jack and cokes and 1 x cherry vodka). I thought I heard the jack and coke was 15 dollars each, so I as I got 20 bucks from each of my friends who wanted it, I expected to get 5 bucks change each. The cherry vodka was only 12 bucks, so I expected the 8 bucks change. What happened after? I thought there was a mistake in the change I received, so I mistakenly gave the bartender some of the change back to make things right with the change I thought he mistakenly gave me (with him thinking I was tipping him). After I understood that the jack and coke was 13 bucks each, then I recalculated until I finally figured out how I ended up with the change I got, so I asked him briefly for the 11 bucks back so I could pay him in card for the tip, and much to his misunderstanding, eventually gives me back the 11 bucks but starts cursing at me, hitting the bar table, giving me the hand to get out of there, and telling me that "it's the last time I'm ever going to order from the bar again" as though he thinks that it's in his control, all of which I found highly disrespectful, particularly because first off, I don't owe him anything more than the cost of the drink; second off, I said I would pay the tip with my card, I wasn't simply asking for it back; and third off, because I never heard a worker EVER talk this way to the customer (I'm not one of many customers to always have my ways by buying into the "the customer is always right" BS mantra, but in this one case, I was right regardless and got disrespected for absolutely no reason at all!). After I got the 11 back temporarily, I went and asked each of my friends how much to tip the bartender, they all said he can just keep the change, and I ended up giving him the entire 29 bucks change ((13x3) + 12 = 51) ((20x4) - 51 = 29), and the tension lasted immediately. I should say that the bartender was lucky that it wasn't my money because if it were, I would've told him that after the way he just behaved, he just lost his tip. I ended up making friends with the dude, but this cannot happen again.

Another weird situation, but not as extreme, was when I asked another bartender much later for water using 4 fingers on my hand (for 3 friends plus me), I don't know what her intent was but she just gives me one bottle which I knew that if I took, I'd have to pay, causing me to think she was trying play with my money, but then I had to give her the hand with 4 fingers for the second time, with her returning the bottle back to where it belonged and giving me the simple 4 cups of water I explicitly asked for.

Other than that, I had quite some experience with the club, how polite people and even the bottle service ladies actually behaved as it's not one of those clubs that considers themselves as "high-class", and even security were not so...

Where to start...food was phenomenal: fresh hors d'oeuvres (little canape type bites: meatballs on cute tiny forks, cheesy mini pastries, empanadas, gyoza, and more) and drinks all evening. The girls passing hors d'oeuvre trays were clearly keeping an eye on where they had been so no one felt overwhelmed being asked the same thing ten times. As soon as you wanted something, they were there. If you weren't interested, they moved on quickly and without making a big fanfare of it. Everything was seamless and made it so we could keep our conversations flowing uninterrupted. I thought that was especially outstanding.

Everything was plentiful and beautiful. Our dessert selection was impressive and spanned from sweets to fruits I'd never seen. Where do you find a pink pineapple?? Amazing.

There were multiple cocktail bars throughout: main bar with impressive variety, a gentlemen's bar to accompany cigars, and no drink was impossible for them either. There were bottles and brands I had never heard of, and the bartender was very informative and interesting on their liquor selection. I explained that I have to limit myself because of my kidney and also must drink plenty of water throughout...they had a standing carafe just for me, and whoever passed by, would give me a refill. I didn't have to say a word.

Their DJ could read the room and our crowd, which skewed a little older. He played a terrific set which allowed us all to carry on our conversations, plus enjoy some very popular songs we all knew. I have had more bad experiences than good with DJs, where they play really niche stuff that is just awkward for a gathering, and ALWAYS too loud.

The evening flew by, which was the only disappointment.

I hope our organization books with them again VERY soon; this has to be one of the most enjoyable nights I've ever had. Everyone is still talking about it today! Thank you for a fantastic evening and an...

The place looked great, but they made us feel REALLY unwelcome. My only conclusion must have been that maybe we getting in the way of some big VIP party that was coming in later, but the rude behavior was unprofessional and insulting. From the start the place had a strange authoritative vibe. When we gave our downstairs host our res he said,” OK there is the elevator.” and when my friend approached it he told her “Not so fast!This is a hotel lobby!” But it did not look like one, and she apologized only to have him say,, “Ok, you can go now.” We heard this was repeated by others in our party later. Upon arriving at the roof bar we see 3 hostesses, not friendly, looking confused. We had 3 different reservations and we asked for them to be together. The place was half empty, this was 9:00 and they could not put our tables together, soon they even asked us to all sit at one the one already crowded table and combine both reservations, wnich was odd because there were not enough seats. It was really confusing and we felt like we were an imposition. Soon, a women from our party, who is in arts development/ management and is a pro at event planning and charming difficult people, asked the waitress if she could talk to her while she was gently placing her hand on hers for kindness. The waitress backed off and screamed, “Don’t touch me!” And eventually our friend was kicked out. Our party of 30, paid our bill and left. If you knew this person who touched the waitress, you would not believe this happened to her, but she handled it with grace in a way I hope this establishment might learn from. Their lack of hospitality was shocking and lacked class. They need better management. I hope this has not happened to...