Spyglass Rooftop Bar

Noting but stars for this place. They were so kind, the manager immediately got us a table. The service was great, the drinks and the food. Should I mention that it was sunset? And the colors on the Empire State were changing every 2 min. Lovely evening in our city!

This is the place to go if you want to host an event! Andrea Boyd and Webster Nelson took care of my group and they were totally happy! The venue was perfect and the food was excellent! My group said the views were stunning. Customer service excellent, bartenders excellent! They were flawless when the weather took a turn for the worse and we had to push our event to a later time. They did it without any issues. I would definitely recommend the Spyglass Rooftop Bar for events!

We came here with 8 people because, Refinery was closed. We got a table with four chairs and we’re sharing the four seats between us all. Then the manager forced us to move down to give someone else the chairs next to us. We obviously needed that extra table considering we had 4 people without seats. Meanwhile we are attending a bachelorette party and did not get any quality service. The manager was very rude not wanting to help accommodate our party at all. The waitress was also hardly around and the alcohol is overpriced. The entire bar is very tight. If you don’t mind being ignored and treated like you don’t deserve service… Check this place out.

Came here for late night drinks last weekend. The cocktails are pricy ($ 18) but the view made up for it. The view is definitely what sells this bar– overall a nice experience.

This rooftop bar is a very chill lounge with a great view. The music and décor is trendy and modern. There are waitresses that walk around in addition to the bartenders. It is a nice atmosphere for a chill, classy party and it didn’t get too crowded. The mixed drinks are expensive (18 $-20 $) and the beers range from (9 – 12 $ around). I had some hard cider which was pretty good. Being in midtown is also a plus!

My 3 of 5 stars applies to several things:
1) the service (even slow when we sat AT the bar)
2) the size/​space (this place is cramped!)
I give the view 4 out of 5 stars.
However, they have delicious speciality cocktails and a delicious habanero bitters they use. Plus, the hotel is chic modern and seems to always be buzzing.
Location is superb; a 5 minute walk to Times Square.
I’ll look at staying here next time I come!

If I was ever asked for my last meal, I would request to sit at this bar with a beer and their bacon. WOW! I am still haunted by this delicious yet simple appetizer.
The bartenders are always super nice and approachable. The bouncers were funny and were not there to intimidate or make the place stuffy. I usually stay down the street but I have stayed at the Archer and will frequent the Spyglass every time I’m in town. Great drinks, beautiful atmosphere, pure heaven! …oh, and bacon! Did I mention BACON!!!

The most beautiful view in the city! The drinks are expensive (of course) but absolutely worth the price and the wait.

Not one of my fave place to go to but if u never been then give it a try. Who knows maybe u like it. The good thing: it’s on top of a hotel in case u get tired lol and they have David Burke downstairs in case u get hungry. The view, hmm pretty good, u will be facing literally in front of the Empire State Building. The drinks was interesting. The bad thing: place indoor and outdoor are tight. The outdoor has no heater at all (I’m talking about when is less than 50−60degree weather). I don’t remember seeing any coat check. The bouncer wasn’t organize AT ALL and yet expect us to respect them. Oo well!!! Anyway my point is unless u have no other rooftop to go to then come to this one otherwise try other ones first.

First of all, great view. Second, it’s neither too crowded (even though you might not find a seat) not too noisy. The place isn’t that big but it’s cute enough for a couple of friends (not a big group) and couples to sit and chat. Defiantly try their first cocktail (forgot the name), it’s really nice!

Friendly staff and best view of the Empire State Building. Watch the building light up over a craft cocktail or fine wine. I ordered the mushroom flatbread and had to stop myself from eating the entire thing! Great spot to chill and enjoy the view.

First star: service! There’s an awesome bartender there don’t know his name but everyone has always been very service oriented every time I’ve been there. But this guy is exceptional and you’ll know if you get him he’s AWESOME. Sorry dude can’t remember your name.
Second star: the view … Awesome
Third star: ambience. No douchebags… A couple tourists… Never been super packed when I’ve gone (usually after work)
Lost fourth star: prices are RIDICULOUS super expensive. Go on a date let the guys pay OMG it’s expensive. Sorry dudes.
Lost fifth star: music is either off or not great. Such a pretty sight if I was the view I’d be offended by the sound.
Go once or twice, see the view, have a drink, hit up a dive pre or post to balance out.

Need a great spot with a killer view? Look no further. The bar is small and gets packed but the space is super chic and very nice. The outdoor area gets you up close and personal with the Empire State Building making for killer photo op.
The staff is great and the cocktails are awesome albeit pricey. But you get what you pay for! A nice stop before dinner.

As a rooftop bar, I would skip the bar, but come here for the view. The cocktails are small and expensive. Plus, I really didn’t enjoy them. I ordered the Top of the World and it was gross. But I still drank it because that horrid drink cost $ 18.
The views are decent and you get a nice view of the Empire State Building. We chose to come on a somewhat chilly night, so the bar wasn’t too crowded. However, the bar seating inside is kind of cramped. I don’t recommend coming here in a large group because it’s hard to mingle with everyone. Plus, the seats are arranged in a way that it’s only best for 2 – 4 people (max).

Rooftops are pretty hit or miss in this city because at least 50% of the clientele on any given weekend are posers pretending to be rich and successful, fueled by management that encourages such posturing to justify their $ 18+ drinks.
Spyglass wasn’t our first pick, but when we learned our first pick was closed for an event, the bouncer kindly recommended Spyglass, so we thought, why not? I’m glad we did because the vibe here was much friendlier than at other places, from the bouncers to the bartenders to the other patrons. While the view wasn’t the most breathtaking, it was pretty good. I didn’t get a drink, so I’m not sure how much they were (probably still in the high teens), but as established, sometimes you just want an unpretentious, non-​meat market rooftop scene, and Spyglass delivered that.

Head to the 22^nd floor in the Archer hotel to find this rooftop bar! Basically another rooftop bar with a view of the Empire State Building (although i think you can find a nicer view elsewhere)
3.5 stars! Drinks are rooftop bar pricey but I love how they serve a canned version of my favorite cider brand Rekorderlig (SO GOOD)
They’ve got a Bar, two counter tops, and some standing tables on the balcony area PLUS also a lounge area on the other side of the elevators if you want to be more secluded

After attempting to go here many times in nicer weather (and be turned away by the less than friendly bouncer), a friend and I final got our golden ticket on a chilly November Saturday, as we planned to arrive when they opened. Spyglass is located on the 22^nd floor of the Archer hotel. You’ll have a great view of the Empire State Building, as well as other parts of midtown Manhattan.
It’s small, even by rooftop bar standards, especially compared to its neighbor (Refinery Rooftop). There’s a long bar with cool purple bar stools and additional seating (high boys and low stools) in the inside. There’s a narrow roof deck that seats probably another 20 or so. The décor was lovely and the coasters are pretty cool (black and white Empire State Buildings with their signature drink recipe on the back). We found the staff to be friendly and the drinks to be god (but very overpriced… no surprises there though, you know you are paying for the view!). We each got a glass of their least expensive champagne ($ 17/​glass) and enjoyed our view.
The food was a pleasant surprise, we opted to share a margherita flatbread pizza which at $ 15 was very reasonable! A lot of others near us tried the lobster rolls or dumplings and the shrimp tacos, as well as the other flatbreads.
Given its size, definitely plan to arrive close to opening if you want to guarantee you have a seat or are coming with a group of people!

For my 1^st rooftop experience this place was a pretty good time mostly because I was with good friends. You get a fairly straight on view of the Empire State Building. I arrived at about 6:15 on a Tuesday night to meet my friends. A waitress came to take my drink order as well as to get a 2^nd drink for my friend. I absolutely couldn’t believe that it took what felt about between 15 – 20 minutes for her to return with our drinks. I might have been able to understand if the place was super crowded but it wasn’t.
The drinks are highly priced as to be expected in midtown. I ordered The Empire State which was a gin cocktail which was mixed with what tasted like ginger bier. It was very delicious, especially at $ 18 a pour. We didn’t order any food but the food we did see served at other tables looked and smelled very appetizing.
Overall, it was a mediocre experience. I’d return or suggest this place if people were visiting from out of town and wanted the rooftop experience. However I wouldn’t go out of my way to return here.

Overall good experience at Spyglass, but I’m subtracting one star for the douche bag bouncer downstairs. After waiting in line for half an hour, I got to the front of the line and wanted to wait for my friend who was running a few minutes late before I went upstairs and he tells me, «either go up or go back to the end of the line» !!! wtf is that about? I tried to reason with him to no avail, so I went up and then my poor friend had to wait another 20 minutes before she could join me upstairs. Worst part is that there were no seats or tables available upstairs, so then I had to stalk people so that I could snatch a table as soon as someone got up. Why let people up when there’s no where for them to sit? The bouncer upstairs was sweet as pie though and was very friendly and made up for the mean one downstairs, he was even trying to help me find a table.
This rooftop is one of the smallest I’ve seen, there’s only a very narrow outdoor space with less than a handful of two-​top tables and then there’s additional seating at the bar inside. The view of the Empire State is phenomenal though. Specialty cocktails were good, but not very strong, I’d recommend the «Top of the World» — a watermelon/​prosecco drink. I also had a glass of pinot noir, which was decent. I was surprised that their bar food was pretty good, we shared the mushroom flatbread, the charcuterie plate and the olives appetizer. All good. Service was prompt and professional. Crowd is non-​pretentious and I liked the fact that there were a good mix of people there, not all young, but some «older» folks in my age bracket. It was a lovely spot to spend a warm summer evening.

We visited Spyglass while staying at The Archer on a weekend in NYC. The view is amazing. They have an unobstructed view of the Empire State Building and other high rises in the city. The drinks were good, but very pricey. Two drinks will put you back $ 40.
The bar was PACKED on a Friday evening around happy hour. It was hard to maneuver or even enjoy the view. The bartender was paying attention to those not right up at the bar, so we were able to get drinks in a reasonable amount of time. They seems to have servers walking around helping as well.
It was nice for a short while, but we only visited one of the three nights due to the cost and the volume of people. Wish they would open up an hour early for hotel guests and we would have been there to enjoy the view every night.