Vantage Rooftop Lounge and Conservatory — Restaurant in Springfield

TLDR: Tried to come for drinks, was told someone was coming to scan our IDs after bartender said she thought it was fake. Waited 20 minutes, and after asking a second time about the security guard, was asked to wait in the lobby. Supper classist, rude, and disrespectful staff (based both on our review and plenty other negative ones on Google). Will never step foot in again. Support a smaller, locally owned bar - you’re better off! The vibes here were extremely pretentious and mean-spirited.

Tried to come here for some drinks last Saturday (5/31/25 around 11pm) with three friends and myself. They had all been to Vantage before, two of them often enough to know one of the bartenders and the location itself. I had just turned 23 earlier that week, and also got engaged the day we had tried to visit. So I was very excited to be able to experience Vantage for the first time. As soon as we had went in, no one was at the door to check IDs like there typically is. After walking up to the bar, she asked to see our IDs. She only took two of the four of them, immediately frowned and said “This one’s good, I don’t know about this one.” And then took said ID and compared it to some random customer at the end of the bar. She then took it to her coworker/manager, brought it back and said she didn’t feel comfortable serving us. Our friend whose ID she was refusing stated that it was a valid ID and that he had been served here before, so he asked why it wasn’t valid. She said that it “Had a shadow in the back and was too flimsy.” Him and his wife said that it was real, while my partner and I tried to extend ours’ out. She then said “I could call our security guard up here up here to scan them all if you’d like.” Obviously we said that would be great, and took a seat at the bar. We were upset, but calmly speaking amongst ourselves while waiting.

About 10 minutes pass, and my friend asks if the guard’s still coming/if someone else would be able to check/scan our IDs. The bartender kinda of snappily said that there’s only one and that he has many other things to do; so it’ll take him a second to get up here. At this point, my fiancé and I’s IDs haven’t even been looked at. We ask about that, she says she can take a look at them. My fiancé was mildly frustrated, so he kind of tossed it onto the counter so it slid towards them. They didn’t like that, but she looked at it, didn’t say anything while giving it back, and then wouldn’t take mine. She repeated “My manager already checked it as well. You’ll need to just wait for the security guard.”

At this point, we didn’t even want to buy anything from here. But it was the point of respect and honesty, which I think is not upheld at this business at all. Ultimately, after another 5-10 minutes, my friends ask if he’s still coming up. She snaps, “Look I’m gonna have to ask you wait outside.” We put all our IDs up, state that it was ridiculous, and that if you don’t want to serve us, just tell us so. Don’t make us wait for 20 minutes.

We decided to just leave rather than wait in the lobby. There’s nothing on their website of dress code (even though we all had clean, appropriate jeans/t-shirts), or anything that could’ve made us feel like we weren’t adequately prepared for this location. And I honestly don’t even know if someone was ever coming up to begin with. But based off of other reviews, this business seems to be very classist, rude, pretentious, and ignorant. And also racist, I can’t attest to that, but I truly wouldn’t put it past them after this. I’m not sure what the bartenders’ names were, but I will never step foot in this location again after this interaction. Super unfortunate, it looks like a cute place! But the good attitude and customer respect is severely lacking. I would recommend giving your money to somewhere locally owned that will actually treat you with kindness...

I rarely leave reviews that aren't positive, but I feel they earned this. There were 4 of us that met Friday night 8/23/24 at 8pm. We were there for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. It was a first time visit for all of us. My wife and I met another couple, all in our early 60's. I only drink water. Our wives each had a coke and 2 dragon drinks, my friend had 2 beers and I had 3 glasses of ice water. We also ordered 6 raw oysters, 6 baked oysters, a small Charcuterie tray and smoked fish dip. All of it was tasty and well prepared, but the oysters were all unusually small to us.

The issue came with the absolute lack of service from anyone. We had to order our first round of drinks and the oysters at the bar after 35 minutes without seeing a waiter. It was another 25 minutes before we got our food. I had to go to the bar 2 more times for refills for cokes and water. After a 4th trip to the bar to order round 2 of beer and dragons, a waiter came to our table after he canceled our drink order I had placed at the bar. 15 minutes later we got our drinks, followed by a visit from a short blonde woman stating that she'd had complaints about someone by the fire pit being loud and cussing at the staff. Wasn't us, I explained, as we haven't seen any staff to cuss at. They also gave us someone else's bill which required me going outside the restaurant to find the manager that was by the elevator talking with other employees about weekend plans.

We observed 11 employees, and it appeared the service was equally bad for the approximately 25 guests that were there.

Our total bill was about $145 for everything.

This could be a nice place with better management and an attentive staff.

They sadly earned the 2...

Absolutely worth the trip! A truly great experience and will be going back soon. The bacon sampler that we had was absolutely the best bacon that I have ever had. It was perfectly cooked think slices of bacon drizzled on a sweet sauce. It was the perfect combination. We were in a hurry when we were there, so we didn't get to try as much as we wanted to, but I'm sure that if you order anything off of their vast menu, then you will not be let down in the slightest. The staff is also amazing. They were very kind and helpful in every way. It's a great experience and worth every second. The igloo's are also an awesome addition to the beautiful rooftop. From this point you can see almost everything in Springfield and the sunsets are seen beautifully. I would recommend anyone that I know to stop by the hidden gem in Springfield. This place actually wasn't as expensive as one would think. A great place for a good time...