Capitale

Don’t waste you money here on prepaid tickets for New Years. Stand in the street for 2 hrs while they keep you out to minimize their“open bar” expense.

Attended an event for Major League Baseball last week and it was possibly even better run and more enjoyable than last year’s event here and that one, too, was a good time.
The staff — from coat check to servers to bartenders and dinner waitstaff — were all professional and efficient. Everyone filled their role very well.
The food was good and properly portioned — not too little or too much. The dinner table & room setup was beautiful. The room was nicely lit up in lovely colors and it had just enough mood lighting for a nice semi-​formal dinner affair. The room is very airy with high ceilings and I loved the entire classy look/​feel. I hope they keep MLB’s annual event here and I look forward to returning.

Don’t waste your time coming here for Halloween. It was a complete mess, and Capitale made themselves appear as complete amateurs in this world. We were with a friend who works for a high end event planning agency and he just couldn’t stop laughing at everything that was wrong.
To start, we purchased VIP tickets in order to get in early and have access to the ‘lounge.’ And boy am I glad we bought them early, because I thought what we paid was overpriced but to see what it kept going up to was ridiculous.
We show up and ask for the VIP line, and the guy manages the lines points us to the longer one. We ask again to confirm and are told yes, indeed this is the VIP line. Fifteen minutes later, another guy walks buy checking to make sure everyone in our line is GA — wth??? So we tell him we have VIP tickets and he directs us to the complete other side of the entrance, so now we’re towards the back of what is now a long line there too. Except the people there in front of us are all GA. So now you’ve got two lines that are completely mixed up, the ‘VIP’ line gets lets in first but most of the people on it before us aren’t VIP, and all the VIP people on the other line get to wait.
Keep in mind the doors opened at 9:!5, when they were supposed to open at 9 PM for a full hour of open bar. Do you think the bar stayed open til 10:15 to make up for this screw up? No, it didn’t.
We ask the guy inside the door if there’s a vip lounge and bar with shorter lines and he points up a huge staircase, but says he can’t let us up yet because he doesn’t have a clicker to track headcount. Are you kidding me??? So we wait a few minutes, because at this point the regular open bar line is ridiculously long. Then we finally climb up the stairs to the ‘lounge’ which turns out to be a crappy hold in the wall room with no music, and the woman there tells us it’s not open yet, nor is it open bar. So now we’ve wasted another 10 minutes on a wild goose chase.
We go back to get in line for open bar, and they have no way of managing the crowd. So you’re standing on that line forever because other people are just cutting in at the front. When you finally get to the front of the line, it’s 9:45 and you discover the vodka they have is basically something they just whipped up in their bathtub. And when you ask for a different liquor that you’re willing to pay for, they claim they’re not serving it yet.
To cap everything off, the DJ sucked and the entire 3 hours we were there they only played house music.
All in all, a waste of time, money, and energy. Don’t bother.

My company had a holiday party here a few years ago and it was SPECTACULAR!
Capitale is so gorgeous with its huge pillars. It really feels like you’re in a roman palace
The food, service, and music that they hosted was great. What a party!

Amazing! We had our August wedding here and it was perfect! The space itself is gorgeous. The tall ceilings and intricate design of the room is stunning. There are large bridal and groom suites upstairs with plenty of space to get ready and a stunning «catwalk» for the bride and groom to make their big entrance into the ballroom. The lighting team there was great and helped accomodate any request we had. Farrah, David and Claudia made our big day so very special. They were extremely responsive leading up to the event, honest and patient. It made the whole process easy and enjoyable. Our guests are still raving about the delicious food and service. We could not have asked for a better day. Thank you to everyone at Capitale!

Beautiful interior, it felt like a palace! I was here for a wedding reception, and the table setup was beautiful. There was a convenient room upstairs to get ready in, and the reception area was a great way to enter into the main ballroom area.
Just a note, it feels a bit dated, so it’s surprising that they haven’t renovated a bit (especially upstairs and the elevator). But overall, a little gem in the Chinatown area.

Came here for New Years 2012… We bought the VIP passes and this is the best NYC New Year party I have been too… The food was great with vegetarian options… There are so many bars that we never had to wait to get a drinks… They served some deserts too…
We were a group of about 20 people from all over US and some outside the U. S… We all had a blast
There were a lot of people but the space is huge and the VIP area was very well managed… Absolutely worth the price!
What’s more a Frnd lost her iPhone, she called them the following day and was actually able to get it back!

I went to the New Years Eve bash at Capitale and it was just okay. I really wish they had a bigger dance floor. There were so many people at the dance floor that at times I felt like a sardine in a can haha.
I’m going to break it down below:
Pros:
1. Buffet was delicious! So much food!
2. Open bar tables
Neutral:
1. The event space is nicely decorated — but to be completely honest I didn’t pay too much attention.
Cons:
1. Price was $ 129 per person
2. Small dance floor
3. Bathroom lines were long
Bottom line:
Not worth the price.

On the border of Kewl and kitsch lies Capitale. Housed in an old bank, ornate with grand moldings and gold leaf is the swanky place where high end events are held. I would assume the service and food/​beverages depend on the event budget. No real complaints other than the bar not having hard liquor but again depends on the budget.
The service staff was amazing and I will be back, probably.

Ringing in 2015 at Capitale.
Review:
The event space was absolutely gorgeous — definitely reference other reviews for a description.
Safi C: «A phenomenal venue, the architect took Venice and managed to encapsulate it in here. The columns, marble floors, intricate craftsmanship makes modern day banks look unimaginative and dull. To thing people used to come here to deposit or withdraw money.»
I purchased Royal Seated VIP tickets and wanted to sit in the lounge section of the venue. I had anticipated a large crowd, so I wanted to sit in an area with less people. The layout of the venue was horrible. The lounge area was up a very steep and narrow staircase. My male friend was also cautious when climbing up the staircase (& he was not wearing high heels!)
The open bar was from 9PM-​2AM. However, the bar had a limited selection of liquor, mixers, options etc.
Our waitress upstairs was an airhead. At 8:30PM, we had asked if food was included and stated that we were very hungry; she replied that there was a cheese plate, fruit platter, champagne, and bottle of Stoli on the way. I had read online that food was included.
When a gentleman from the other table passed with a plateful of chicken/​pasta/​etc, we wanted to know where he got it. When I pointed out that there was a gentleman with the plate of food, she appeared clueless — she insisted that there was no food in the venue other than the cheese plate and fruit platter. I asked another waiter and he had the same response.
I proceeded to ask the gentleman where he got the food and he said there was a buffet in the main room. At 10PM, I asked the waitress if there was an additional charge for the buffet and she said, «oh no, it’s included». You should have seen my facial expression at that point. Priceless! *Rolls eyes*
Walking upstairs with plates of food reminded me of an egg-​and-​spoon race game.
The coat check was an additional charge. $ 5 dollar/​item. I checked in three items and the attendant insisted that she gave me change but she didn’t. My friend was there, and also saw that I did not get change. Who wants to work on New Years? No one. But, ‘cmon, don’t be dishonest. SHEESH. If you were honest, I would have given ‘ya a HUGE tip.
Overcrowded dance floor.
Unprofessional/​dishonest staff.
Very good food.
Amazing DJ.
Beautiful ambiance.
Please hire professional staff.
Please consider upgrading the elevator.

«Sunglasses and Advil… last night was mad real».
The backdrop:
It all started with our friend Leo a few weeks ago. He was persistent that we do something «SICK» this halloween. We all bought the tickets and were ready to party. The destination was none other than CAPITALE on the Bowery in the heart of Chinatown. Upon entering the place, past the velvet rope, it doesn’t seem much with its low ceilings. Then, much to my surprise, we entered a bigger hall with ginormoius columns and high cielings reminiscent of a Greek temple. It was beautiful, I instantly fell in love with the architecture and structural design of the place. The DJ booth was planted on a podium with easily maneuvering stairs on both sides. A big clock with roman numerals sits atop the center of the booth. There are fancy tables layed out on the side of the dance floor. «I wish I had my wedding here», were precisely the thought on my mind all night.
Alright lets get into it.
Halloween: October 31^st.2014
I was the Green Lantern, wifey was Catwoman, Michael K was Julius Caesar. Furthermore in the group we had, Harley Quinn, Spectra. Comic book woman and her other half Leo (Pop art man). We later met up with the main Cous/​Pharaoh. Thank god my lawyer friend Leo bought advance general admission AND the drink tickets. He paid $ 200 for 20 drinks for the entire group. WE bought advance GA tix for $ 18 a pop. The day of were selling $ 300 a pop. CRAZY percent increase.
The atmosphere topped off with insane house music was BONKERS!!! Everyone in the crew was having a ball. Ee havent partyied in a while. And I was turnt up! Music was insanity. I couldnt stop bouncing up and down. Costumes were creative and interesting. It was great, hands down.
Thanks Capitale. I will hopefully be coming back to sample the cuisine.

After not going out on New Year’s Eve in New York City for years I decided to hit the town in celebration of my 40^th Birthday. I bought tickets for myself and my sister. The tickets were approximately $ 155 each plus taxes and a pick up fee. Amongst other thngs, I paid for Main Room VIP with seating and a champagne toast at midnight. Unfortuantley, once we got there we hardly received anything we paid for and what was advertised. We paid $ 5.00 PER ITEM at the coat check. We walked into the main area and of course all the tables are reserved for those who bought bottles. THERE WAS NO SEATING FOR US EVEN THOUGH THE PRICE OF THE TICKETS i PURCHASED SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED SEATING. My sister and i had to stand up at a small table to eat. Capitale advertised that the DJ would play a mixture of Top 40 hits, house music, R&B, electronica, old school, etc. instead the DJ played electronica/​trance music for the ENTIRE NIGHT, with about 30 mintues of The Jackson Five, two slasa songs and a remix theme of FRESH PRINCE OF BELLE AIR. WTF!!! Oh, and we didn’t get our champagne at midnight, defeating the entire purpose of going out in NYC on New Year’s Eve.
The staff was unprofessional, unfriendly, rude and unhelpful. The event was overbooked and understaffed. To add insult to injury there were not one but TWO fights/​brawls by the end of the night and to top it off, once we could no longer stand to be there we go to get our coats at coat check and the attendants lost my gloves and my sisters’ scarf. The attendant was rude, unapologietic even though she and i both know she gave our stuff away to someone else. Once we got a manager involved he wasn’t any more helpful. When my sister explained the situation of the missing scarf/​gloves (for the 50^th time) to him she told him looking on the floor wouldn’t help because everyone else already did that, at that point he starts screaming at her that «I’M THE BEST» and rudely cuts her off mid sentence. Of course he didn’t find them and had to eat crow. The attendants refused to admit they were wrong and I was given some bulls**t line about getting a call if they find anything. I don’t have any hope of getting our stuff back. Needless to say I will be making a formal complaint to the Capitale management and will most likely never return. The building is beautiful but the event staff is awful and the crowd it attracts is less than desirable for the money we paid for the tickets. You’d be better off having a NYE partyin your house, don’t waste your time going to this half assed place.

Was here last night for NYE with a big group of friends. Wanted to do a more «event space”/“ballroom» type spot rather than a club that we’d go to anytime during the year. Reading the Unilocal reviews leading up I was a little skeptical, but fortunately I’ve learned to take everything with a grain of salt.
Entrance: We showed up at 9, it couldn’t have taken more than 90 seconds before we were in the door. There was a line but it was moving and not being held up. One guy to check IDs one guy taking your ticket. Standard stuff. ⁵⁄₅
Coat Check: There was 5 different stations, so it was fast. If you’re complaining about paying $ 5 for a coat check on NYE do yourself a favor and stay home ⁵⁄₅
Atmosphere: High ceilings, an old school clock and cool lighting. There were tables but also a lot of booths which didn’t give it too much of a wedding feel. The lighting was also darker and more clubby. Went to Cipriani’s last NYE and the excess of wedding style tables all around combined with the lighter lighting made the vibe a little different. Much better here. ⁵⁄₅
Food Situation: They had two buffets lined up. It seems people mostly congregated towards the front one and waited on line for a while. I went to the back one with no wait. They had 3 different pastas, chicken, flank steak (surprisingly good and flavorful considering steak cooked in bulk is pretty much never good), vegetables and salad. More than adequate for a buffet style NYE. After midnight they reset the tables with dessert. ⁵⁄₅
Bar Situation: 3 bars spread out, one in the front room and two on opposite sides of the main room. Could they have used another station? Yea. Between 11:15 and midnight the bar was pretty crowded and there was a wait for drinks (expected). Outside of that I don’t think I waited more than 2 minutes ever. They had Stoli Vodka (and a few flavors) Captain Morgan, House Rum, Dewers, Jose Cuervo, Jim Beam, Some Gin, champagne, wine, Coronas, Buds, and Stella. More than enough. Is it my drink of choice to drink Jim? No, but I don’t expect an NYE open bar to have every call brand of liquor, they have one or two of every type to keep it easy (and cheaper). If you’re expecting Goose, Sapphire and Patron at a $ 100 all you can drink 6 hour party you need to examine your head again. The bar never ran out of ice, cups, liquor, beer, wine, champagne etc. The bartenders all worked fairly quickly and didn’t have the IDGAF attitude sometimes common w people working NYE at an open bar (where tipping isn’t always present) 3.5÷5
Crowd: A mix of older and younger. 50 y/o’s in tuxedos, 22 y/o’s in jeans and button downs, mid 20’s guys in suites and everything in between. Girls all dressed NYE festive. Probably an even ratio and surprising a lot more groups of single girls than you’d expect at a spot like this. ⁴⁄₅
Music: Pop stuff early on and then got more clubby as it got later. Mix of top 40 hip hop and EDM (the pop kind nothing too hard) 3.5÷5
Crowdedness: At full capacity it did get a little crowded if you were trying to move through the dance floor, but there was always areas where you could settle in and chill. I was with a group of 10 and whenever we all came together we always had an area where others weren’t on top of us. They could have sold like 50 – 100 less tickets but it wasn’t bad at all. Unless you wanna be at an empty dead spot, in which case stay home ⁴⁄₅
Bathrooms: Down a fairly steep set of stairs which is probably annoying for girls in heels particularly late night with drinks in them. Never had to wait for the guys the room, the girls usually had a line.
Overall solid spot and solid party. Unless everything has changed from all these negative reviews I’ve read, it seems like they were written by amateur night extraordinaires who never go out outside of ‘amateur nights’ like this, or dive bar only people who can’t stand having to wait a moment on a line or have a crowd of people partying along side them. Only real complaint would be one more bar station would have done the party well during the peak hours. If you wanna do this party next year I’d give it a go.

I liked Capitale when it was K Street.
I don’t like the set-​up of this club anymore.
I also don’t like the staff (bouncers, to be exact).
I will NOT be visiting Capitale again!

Capitale is a pretty glamorous spot to spend a night at. I came here for Halloween last week with two friends. Tickets were initially $ 20 and rose to $ 35 the week of (regular admission). The lines were super long but moved fast. We had to sign and date our tickets, which was hilarious. Anyway, once inside, you’re in the huge lobby where the coat checks and bathrooms are. Coat check was an additional $ 5. Then you move into the dance floor area and it’s beautiful. The huge columns, the tables all around, the wooden dance floor, the fabulous ceiling, the large DJ area. It’s really a magnificent interior. I hear it used to be a bank.
The DJ was okay… it was just house music. The people were really fun and dressed up in everything, from ball gowns to lingerie to monkey suits. People were there with their groups of friends, but definitely there to mingle (though there were some very frustrating creeps there). Open bar 9 – 10 was cool too. It was fun to spend Halloween here. I’d return here for other events.

I can’t dislike this place. I like over-​the-​top. I confess I only came to scope out the venue and it did not disappoint. The huge Corinthian columns, the windowed frosted skylight ceiling, the wooden dance floor. The place is just huge and even the lobby is big and expansive. It is just fun making the rounds in this place.
I came here for the French Tuesday Tenth Anniversary and it kinda felt a bit like being at an adult prom. It was suppose to be black tie, but only about ¹⁄₃ of the guys wore tuxedos and ²⁄₃ wore suits. Female attire ranged from ballroom gowns to cocktail dresses to skanky club attire. Age ranges ran the gamut but somehow it still worked given how it was a private event. Crowd type ran the entire spectrum. Hip it was not, but always nice to see guys out partying in tuxedos. Their confidence level is high when they are that overdressed. You inevitably end up meeting a lot of people. People were definitely here to mingle.
There was room for a live band and DJs and dancers on the stage. Lighting was incredible with different portions of the venue changing colors constantly (the columns, the walls, the windowed ceiling), pulsating lights directed at the dance floor, and even a spotlight for the individual performers on the balconies.
All in all, this is a really nice event space. A bit gaudy, but has potential if set up right.

Not bad…
I came here for Halloween with a friend. It was a cute venue, relatively spacious, with a decent number of bathroom stalls in the ladies’ room (though, there was still always a line). The bartenders were just so-​so, but it could’ve just been the way the party was organized (open bar).
I wasn’t a huge fan of the carpeting (carpet in public/​open to the public places creeps me out) but I’m sure it made it easier for the sexy kittens and sexy nurses and sexy ninja turtles to walk around in their 4″ heels.

Attended a work holiday party here. Spacious event space that use to be a bank. You can still see the vault in the back area. The ambiance and atmosphere is great with it’s airy ceilings.
Food was adequate, not great as it was ll in heat trays and flavor wise nothing to speak loudly about. Nice atmosphere and the staff did clean away plates quickly so no clutter. Bartenders didn’t skimp on mixing drinks as well. Bathroom situation is a bit inadequate though. Very few in the front and the back in a old dated style.

We attended the New Year’s Eve party at Capitale with a group of 6 and were excited for the huge party and ponied up a considerable sum for it, looking forward to the «top shelf» drinks, «sick beats», and «white glove affair». We were to be disappointed in all of these respects.
Now I believe that the event was staffed and planned by an event promoting company, Joonbug, so the majority of my complaints are likely with them, not with Capitale or the space itself. However, as the building owners, I hold them accountable as well.
The night began with a 30 minute wait in a line outside though we already had tickets and wrist-​bands. This was presumably to make the event feel more exclusive, but in all likelihood because the staff outside had no clue what they were doing. Though there were at least 5 security personnel visible, none were directing people to the correct lines. This led to a mixture of general admission and tabled guests in a line meant for only tabled guests. These then had to be redirected to a different line, taking even more time because they all felt the need to berate the hostesses for making them stand in the wrong line. Tabled guests were also seated incredibly slowly as though there were several hundred tabled guests, only 2 hostesses who had obviously just been hired and had no training. The security was also entirely for show as neither my ticket nor id were checked at any point. After being led to our table in the ultra exclusive platinum vip room, which was located up a step set of marble tiled stairs, a fantastic idea with hordes of stumbling women in 6 inch heels, we found our table, without any of the promised bottles. We did a little exploring and found a bar and some speakers up in our area, but no access or view to the main room beyond the staircase. This meant to get food, go to the dance floor, or see the DJ we had to traverse the death trap stairs.
We did this right away to check our coats (an additional $ 5 per article of clothing) and get food. The food was described as a «mini-​buffet» which was apt as it was basically a folding table’s worth of food. There was no carving station as mentioned, just some meat on a serving dish. I also did not see any desserts though may have missed them. There was also only one station for the entire several thousand people at the event. It was also laid out irrationally as everyone in my party but me ended up without silverware. There was also no staff in sight to help.
The space itself was lovely though. Very beautiful and old New York with an oppulent Art Deco architecture and majestic ceilings.
At this point, the rest of my party arrived and I had to leave, only to rejoin the now longer line to get back in as there was no way to get them the tickets without leaving. No will call or any event people to hold onto tickets or even a place for me to hand them their tickets so I at least could remain inside.
We then ventured back to our table to get our promised drinks. Now, checking the event website there is no mention of the type of drinks, but I am positive it was there before though unfortunately I can not get an older version of the page. Looking back to the listing for the year before, it is still there. This promised us 2 bottles of Moet champagne and 3 bottles of Grey Goose Vodka. After waiting about 30 minutes for our waitress to finally come by, we ordered the first bottle of each as well as some mixers. At this point she asked who had made the arrangements and I informed her I had. She then came over sheepishly and informed me there would be an additional gratuity on top of the charge for the bottles. I wasn’t happy but said fine as I understood she would be serving us all night. She took my credit card and came back with a bill for $ 100, $ 30 for the champagne and $ 70 for the vodka. I thought this was a terrible rip-​off especially since we had already paid for the bottles though did not make a big deal out of it in front of our guests and because I understand the racket that is bottle service in New York. Fine I said, and paid. I then heard the next table over screaming at her over the extra charge so it cannot be that I had simply overlooked this before. Eventually, like another 20 minutes later, our buckets were filled with ice and our mixers came. It was another 20 minutes until our bottles arrived. We received a bottle of «Double Cross» a Slovakian vodka, and Kedem sparkling wine. The champagne was not on par with Moet, but Manischewitz. I found it at our local wine store for $ 8.95. The Vodka, though it came in an interesting bottle (often a sign of terrible vodka) was dreadful. No matter what I mixed it with a taste of nail polish removed pervaded. I typically like vodka as it doesn’t leave me with headaches or much in the way of a hangover, but after a few glasses of it, I’m still feeling like death 3 days later. I couldn’t stomach the acetone taste any more.

I’ve been to Capitale in the past but it has been a while, I was here this past wknd for Halloween.
We bought tickets in advance of course since we did not want to get caught up in the lines, this time around I was pleasantly surprised barely any lines to get in my friends & I had no trouble.
The place itself is beautiful, gorgeous high ceilings, nice tall columns big open space.
Once we got settle we partied the night away, the music was mainly house which is cool, I would have enjoyed a mix more but can’t complain about the house music since I do enjoy it.
My only real complaint was the long lines for the bar & bathroom but this is something u can expect to come across specially during special events like a Halloween party.
The place itself was a lot of fun, My friends & I had a great time & certainly will probably return in the future.