THE GRILL — Restaurant in New York

⭐ 1 star The Grill: Where Glamour Goes to Die

I’ve been coming to The Grill for years. I’ve always admired the space—the architecture, the history, the romance of it all. It was once a jewel of New York dining. What I experienced last night was a total betrayal of that legacy.

I brought a friend visiting from Paris, hoping to share a bit of New York’s classic steakhouse magic. We were 15 minutes late due to a thunderstorm—understandable in any major city. Instead of grace, we were met with smugness. “Your table’s been canceled,” they said—then magically found one a minute later. The attitude? Suffocating.

Right before being seated, we were informed we had 75 minutes to finish dinner. Yes, a literal time limit on vintage champagne and prime rib. Are we at JFK or a steakhouse? The staff didn’t seem to care about providing an enjoyable or gracious experience—it was a ticking clock to flip the table and maximize the bill, all while making you feel like an uninvited guest at your own dinner.

To make things worse, my guest has a disability—he’s hard of hearing and deaf in one ear. Any time he asked for clarification or for someone to repeat themselves, they looked at him like he was an alien. The staff acted visibly annoyed, as though accommodating someone’s basic needs was somehow beneath them. Is this really how we treat people now? With irritation and contempt for needing to hear clearly in a loud restaurant?

Our other Parisian friend stopped by to say a quick hello and have a martini. We were at a large corner banquette with plenty of room, but were told she couldn’t join us unless we moved to the bar—mid-dinner. So we were shuffled to a cocktail table the size of a Frisbee, surrounded by crowds and chaos.

And then came the pièce de résistance: just as our prime rib arrived—our grand, dramatic steakhouse moment—a very large man standing double-parked at the bar literally imposed his entire backside over our tiny table, and ripped a fart directly into our faces. We were crop-dusted with our dinner. We asked them to cancel the mains. They brought them anyway—plus extra food we didn’t order, as if force-feeding us would fix the experience.

The staff were visibly miserable. The energy was oppressive. The vibe? Like stepping into a haunted version of mid-century glamour where the ghosts have all quit out of frustration.

We spent over $1,000 on food for two and a martini for one, and left feeling disrespected, stressed, and honestly—scammed.

If The Grill responds to this review, I fully expect the same cold, robotic, customer-service speak we received all night. A beautiful room doesn’t make up for soulless hospitality.

JFK and Marilyn would be rolling in their well-dressed graves if they saw what this place has become. And as for Sophia? She won’t be jumping in the pool—the...

Major Food Group’s “The Grill” is one-of-a-kind. They do a phenomenal job to keep up with the history of the Four Seasons. Quick summary of my most recent experience:

The food is way above NYC average. To me The Grill serves the best steaks and other meats, such as ducklings, in the city. They are cooked to perfection, presented as one would expect. Prices are high, such as $90 for 20 oz. NY Strip Steak. Specialty meats, such as a Wagyu Ribeye, come in for $400 for some 40 oz.; side sides average at $17 ea and started around $30. The desserts were fine with a $15 Baked Alaska as the “star”. But for having a famous pastry chef on board, there was nothing special about the desserts/ pastries at all. Nothing.

At our visit, the staff did not meet what one would expect. Your main server is a “Captain”. Unfortunately, our captain Jason didn’t introduce himself with his name and was nothing more special than a server at Ruth’s Chris. The sommelier, who was supposed to support us with our wine selection from the gigantic list of fine wines, was unfortunately either not willing or capable of finding good accompanying wines for our three courses. Not to forget that our white wine glasses were more or less constantly filled-up. A place like The Grill should know that, unlike red wine, white wine is only poured into an empty glass because of the different temperatures of glass and bottle. Not to forget that the cork from the bottle was not presented at the table.

There’s plenty of other staff present as well doing a good job in providing fast and synchronous table service. Bringing salt and pepper grinders still took 5 minutes and two reminders. The supervisor of the restaurant service, or whatever his position title might be, was busy entertaining a table of models throughout the evening instead of monitoring his staff - at least in our opinion.

The noise level good with lovely 1950s music that was put together so well, one could think is was played live. At exactly 10pm the lights were dimmed and the music changed to much much louder lounge beats, which was both surprising and annoying.

Out final observation is about the bathrooms. There are only two for The Grill and neighboring The Pool. Two. It took forever to find a free bathroom since a black tie event in a private dining room had a very fun night with lots of their guests occupying these facilities for what felt like forever.

Overall it was a great evening, but we encountered a few unacceptable items in service that should not happen at a restaurant at this price level and...

I came in for the Pasta a la Press after a holiday party up the street. I’ve dined here before, took my mom a couple weeks ago, had a nice time. I was informed that I can’t order the Pasta a la Press at the bar, and despite it being 9:20pm with many open tables, they couldn’t accommodate a party of one so that I could at least order the pasta at the table, have a couple bites, and take whatever I couldn’t finish home.

I understand the importance of ensuring guest experience and making sure that the dishes are served at their peak quality. But I’ve seen the presentation of the pasta many times, and had the pasta many times; it’s what brought me in tonight.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was more interested in enforcing their policy rather than focusing on my satisfaction. I think this is a major oversight. If I were a food critic or professional reviewer, then I’d understand the restaurant’s commitment to making sure the quality was 100%; but for someone like me, who has had the dish many times, I think it’s unnecessary to be so staunch in their policies that they actually make me feel unwelcome and like I’ve asked them to do something that is offensive. I felt unwelcome and I felt like they didn’t want my business and in fact, it was pretty clear they didn’t want my business because I left empty handed and hungry.

Total bummer and I’ll definitely recount this experience to friends that I’d previously referred to The Grill. Let’s just say I have policies off of my own when it comes to guest/client satisfaction, given that I’ve also worked in fine dining for nearly a decade and have brought those same fine dining skills to my professional career. There comes a point when the guest who is paying should be given what they want, even if it offends the chef. Maybe it’s ordering a steak well done, or maybe it’s ordering pasta a la while I’m not seated in the formal dining room. Either way, I’d rather go somewhere that I get what I pay for rather than being told that what’s on the menu isn’t available because I’m not seated 10 feet away at a table with...