STK Rooftop — Restaurant in New York

I am fan of the STK brand and this was my 3rd visit to one of their many locations around the world. I have to admit that this was truly underwhelming.

Great location in the Meatpacking District. To access the rooftop restaurant on level 4, you first step into “STK Downtown”. The ambience here looks like what you would expect from an STK. I opted for the rooftop because the temps were mild and I thought it would be nice to dine outside. We had a 5pm reservation and were immediately seated.

Ambience on the rooftop is decent. There is a small lounge area surrounded by vines and flowers. Nice for photos. The majority of the tables and bar are under a covered roof, and even the outdoor tables all have umbrellas. Overall, the cleanliness and ambience of the rooftop did not align with STK’s identity in my opinion.

Many other reviews spoke negatively about the service and now I understand. Our server was really nice and pleasant, however it seemed like they were understaffed (bar and wait staff). Drinks took long to arrive and we couldn’t place our order until the drinks came. There were just too many occasions where we had to look for our server and the worst part is that they did not seem to be busy as the restaurant was not full. All of our empty dishes stayed on the table until we paid the check. We had to clean and stack dishes ourselves. Ordered a 2nd round of drinks and those were forgotten as we had to remind the server. Finally, we ordered salad and it seemed to also be forgotten. We had a table full of cooked items and we were missing what essentially could have been the first item to arrive. I cancel the item with our server, then 5 minutes later the salad arrives. We refused it.

We went during happy hour and for an NYC happy hour, I highly recommend the menu for quality and value. Drinks were VERY good. We also ordered from the regular menu. I didn’t feel that any dish was amazing, but my family did agree that everything was good and above average. Highlights were the LOBSTER MAC & TUNA TARTARE TACOS (They are 2-mini tacos although the menu does not state that).

Another small negative, the table rocked because the legs were uneven. Might sound stupid to some, but this can be very annoying when 4 people are dining. I’ve been at other high end restaurants where they immediately try to resolve.

I have always viewed STK as a high end restaurant, but this service experience was not commensurate with the prices being charged. Definitely recommend the happy hour. Go to the bar after work. If you really want to dine, I would suggest...

In short: Come here for happy hour drinks, but not for happy hour food.

Here is why.

Let me start with the positive aspects of my experience.

I tried their watermelon margarita and a similar cocktail with passion fruit, “Unchained Passion”. Both were rather well-balanced and not too sweet. Certainly kudos for that!

Then, however, comes the food part.

As an oyster enthusiast, I, of course, wanted to try their happy hour oysters, although three dollars seemed a bit too high for happy hour, even in the post-pandemic world.

So I asked what kind of oysters they had. They told me that those are from both coasts but didn’t give me names of the specific types of oysters they had, naming only regions and states. That was probably a massive red flag but I went for it anyway… and it was just horrible.

Just so you know the minimum order of HH oysters is four, and I asked them to bring me different ones, two from the East Coast and two from the West Coast. They came with a very strong blend of vinegar, tomato sauce and a small bottle of Tabasco — none of that is a good sign to me since good oysters don’t really need an overpowering — hot — sauce.

The first EC oyster was very unassuming. The second one made me regret that I didn’t use Tabasco. Ok, I thought, the West Coast stuff is gonna be better, but hell, no, it was worse. The third oyster tasted just horrible. And I needed an effort to finish the last, and it was pretty bad, too.

Then, there was a “tuna tartar taco” for $9. Their regular tuna tartar is.. $34. I would think that what looks like some tower with avocado from the previously posted pics is just that. The $9 thing is just two very small taco shells with tuna. That tasted fine but was nothing special, and $9 was way too much for the size of the portion, even if it’s a steakhouse marketing itself as a fancy place.

The bartender was nice and friendly, and they have other deals (see the pics I attached), but I’m not sure I want to return.

And if I want a filet mignon, I’ll go somewhere else (actually, I know exactly where I’d go — for an expensive dinner and for a budget option but it’s a subject of a separate review if I feel like...

Since their website contact page does not work, i have to leave my message here... Hello, I am not one to go out of my way to message a business regarding their hospitality, but this particular situation was completely out of hand and needs to be addressed. I made a reservation for the STK rooftop in NYC on 8/17, which was my birthday. I purposely made reservations here because I wanted a rooftop setting but with good food. My party arrived promptly at our scheduled reservation time of 8:30 PM. They told us to go to the rooftop bar and hang out while the table was prepared. We sat at the bar for 40 minutes and at 9:10 PM, a worker came over and said we would have to be seated inside "because it is going to rain." Despite me calling beforehand, to ask if the terrace was covered (which it is), she insisted that we be seated inside as I watched the workers separate the three tables and set them for smaller parties. We were then seated at this tiny round booth for my party of 7. The server took our order but then disappeared for at least 30 minutes and never brought our drink order (or my wine tasting). The food arrived, my steak was too well done but I did not have the energy to complain at that point. The waiter also recommended we add butter to our steaks, which we said sure, and did not mention that we would be charged an extra $13 for a pad of butter! To top it all off, we ended up not leaving until after 11 PM and then were late to the next place so they would not let us in, therefore forfeiting my entire birthday night because we were too late. I understand that a Saturday night at a well known steakhouse can be busy, but I also witnessed two of the waiters arguing in the kitchen which made the entire experience even more unpleasant. Luckily, everyone I was celebrating my birthday made the night worth it. Again, I am not one to complain, and despite reading horrible reviews from your Google page, I thought I would try it anyways, but unfortunately STK lived up to the bad reviews and I do not think I am willing to...