(212) 642-2211

40 W 40th St
New York, NY 10018 40.752935 -73.983587

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Neighborhoods: Midtown South Central, Midtown

Last updated 9.16.09

Category:

Bars & Pubs, Bars & Clubs, Wine Bars, Hotel Bars

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, MasterCard

Event Planning Services:

Reunions, Corporate Events, Theme Parties, Bachelorette Parties, Bachelor Parties

Bar & Club Special Features:

DJ, Romantic Nightlife, Private Parties

Editor's Tips

What People Are Saying About Cellar Bar

Featured Review

Karen Hudes

Contributor

The Scene – Romantic nightspots sometimes scorch the eye with an abundance of reds and velvets. Cellar Bar, decorated with white-tiled, vaulted ceilings and tapioca loveseats, is cooler than that. The cavernous, descending bar is a warm-weather beauty. – – The Draw – Fashionable couples and sly singles--see the excellent sight lines--throw back lawn drinks like the Citrus Cooler and Cellar Sling (served with a candied black cherry garnish) from smart-looking highballs. Lobster spring rolls and a voluptuous take on knishes, among other luxuriant snacks, lead into…

Editor's Tips

Know Before You Go:
Be prepared for a pricey visit; most cocktails are $14 and appetizers are in the teens.
ambiance
95.45000076293945% positive
  1. “Drinks were expensive, but the decor (high vaulted ceilings) and music (we went there on a friend's recommendation who said the music was good, she was right) made up for it.”
  2. “never been there before, but reading the review led me to the belief that this was a romantic bar that two people could drink & get to know each other.”
  3. “GREAT atmosphere, nice place.”
  4. “The atrocious attitude isn't worth the pretty atmosphere.”
  5. “This place has great ambiance but I would not consider it a couples spot.”
  6. “The weekends are always fun and upbeat and the weekdays there is always a cool party.”
  7. “My idea of a romantic bar isn't screaming over the music to talk to someone.”
  8. “cool atmosphere, decent specialty cocktails”
  9. “Loved the atmosphere and the space.”
  10. “Nothing wrong with that in a bar, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a romantic bar that I could take a date to & talk.”
  11. “Server was pleasant, great music and cool atmosphere.”
drinks
73.53000164031982% positive
  1. “My idea of a romantic bar isn't screaming over the music to talk to someone.”
  2. “liked that the crowd was full of professionals like us and I could see why--with all the bars around this one stands out as a perfect balance of relaxing lounge and busy bar all in one.”
  3. “ordered 3 extremely overpriced drinks at the bar ($8 for a bud light bottle?”
  4. “there is a creative drink list, a friendly staff and the dj spins upbeat lounge music.”
  5. “it's an okay place but the crowd is a mix of hip and not so hip and definitely not nice enough to justify the hipper-than-thou attitude of the service people at this bar.”
  6. “There's a ton of specialty drinks to choose from, including a happy hour list that we definitely took advantage of, and they had a DJ spinning that night who had the perfect mixture of "loungey" and upbeat music--while a little loud sometimes it made it f”
  7. “never been there before, but reading the review led me to the belief that this was a romantic bar that two people could drink & get to know each other.”
  8. “Great music, good looking people along with the hottest staff, delicious cocktails.”
  9. “highly recommend this bar and I'd say my friends and I may be making a regular thing out of it.”
  10. “seriously, if you need to spend an exhorbitant amount of money to feel like you're special, there must be better places in this city to do it than this blandly decorated, pretentious basement staffed with snide waitresses serving overpriced poorly-mixed d”
  11. “cool atmosphere, decent specialty cocktails”
  12. “The best bar in mid-town!”
  13. “The bar was nearly empty when we got there, but all of the tables were reserved, and we were told by an incredibly snide waitress that we could not "enjoy the table service" unless we each bought a bottle of something.”
  14. “Nothing wrong with that in a bar, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a romantic bar that I could take a date to & talk.”
  15. “The place looked really cool and the drink prices were average for the city, but I felt like I was back at the Jersey Shore, constantly bombarded by fist punping guidos.”
  16. “If you arrive early (5:30pm on a weeknight), you easily can get a table or seat at the bar, which is perfect for people watching when the place starts to fill around 7.”
  17. “The drinks were unbelievably overpriced.”
food quality
100.0% positive
  1. “Their app menu is delicious too.”
  2. “Great music, good looking people along with the hottest staff, delicious cocktails.”
  3. “Martini menu is tasty as well.”
menu variety
66.66999816894531% positive
  1. “Martini menu is tasty as well.”
  2. “Their app menu is delicious too.”
  3. “seriously, if you need to spend an exhorbitant amount of money to feel like you're special, there must be better places in this city to do it than this blandly decorated, pretentious basement staffed with snide waitresses serving overpriced poorly-mixed d”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “GREAT atmosphere, nice place.”
  2. “It's a a great place for groups of friends and meeting people.”
service
57.5% positive
  1. “The bartenders are very nice, and the martinis tasted great!”
  2. “If you arrive early (5:30pm on a weeknight), you easily can get a table or seat at the bar, which is perfect for people watching when the place starts to fill around 7.”
  3. “left roughly 12% because the bartender was rude and I was bitter about the inflated prices, then signed the receipt and took my copy.”
  4. “Rude doorstaff + terrible service = Cellar Bar.”
  5. “Great music, good looking people along with the hottest staff, delicious cocktails.”
  6. “" I tried explaining to him how awful the service was; rather than apologizing, he said "she had a lot of tables to take care of.”
  7. “If the bouncers were so rude, imagine the staff?”
  8. “plus, the bouncers were just rude, pretending that we (and the people behind us) weren't there.”
  9. “there is a creative drink list, a friendly staff and the dj spins upbeat lounge music.”
  10. “Horrible horrible service”
  11. “seriously, if you need to spend an exhorbitant amount of money to feel like you're special, there must be better places in this city to do it than this blandly decorated, pretentious basement staffed with snide waitresses serving overpriced poorly-mixed d”
  12. “It's a a great place for groups of friends and meeting people.”
  13. “He was turning people away just because he didn't like the tone of their voice, which wasn't bad at all, prohibited use of cellphones, talking between people in like even when I needed to find out the name of my guestlist and almost turned me away for not”
  14. “it's an okay place but the crowd is a mix of hip and not so hip and definitely not nice enough to justify the hipper-than-thou attitude of the service people at this bar.”
  15. “beautiful staff is serving a creative cocktail list and the new furniture layout is great for bottle service.”
  16. “I've been a few times in the last couple of months & the music is always good - plus good dance area, prompt staff, nice lounging/table areas.”
  17. “The bar was nearly empty when we got there, but all of the tables were reserved, and we were told by an incredibly snide waitress that we could not "enjoy the table service" unless we each bought a bottle of something.”
  18. “The staff is friendly and not to mention super hot.”
  19. “never been there before, but reading the review led me to the belief that this was a romantic bar that two people could drink & get to know each other.”
  20. “It's really sexy and chill inside without being pretentious at all---the staff was unusually friendly and helpful and we felt taken care of from the minute we walked in.”
value
31.25% positive
  1. “seriously, if you need to spend an exhorbitant amount of money to feel like you're special, there must be better places in this city to do it than this blandly decorated, pretentious basement staffed with snide waitresses serving overpriced poorly-mixed d”
  2. “The drinks were unbelievably overpriced.”
  3. “Drinks were expensive, but the decor (high vaulted ceilings) and music (we went there on a friend's recommendation who said the music was good, she was right) made up for it.”
  4. “left roughly 12% because the bartender was rude and I was bitter about the inflated prices, then signed the receipt and took my copy.”
  5. “The place looked really cool and the drink prices were average for the city, but I felt like I was back at the Jersey Shore, constantly bombarded by fist punping guidos.”
  6. “The atrocious attitude isn't worth the pretty atmosphere.”
  7. “Drinks were expensive but made well.”
  8. “ordered 3 extremely overpriced drinks at the bar ($8 for a bud light bottle?”
wait time
100.0% positive
  1. “It's really sexy and chill inside without being pretentious at all---the staff was unusually friendly and helpful and we felt taken care of from the minute we walked in.”
  2. “There's a ton of specialty drinks to choose from, including a happy hour list that we definitely took advantage of, and they had a DJ spinning that night who had the perfect mixture of "loungey" and upbeat music--while a little loud sometimes it made it f”
3 Star Rating: Average

02/13/12

Cellar Bar is a Party House

by Girls Gotta Dance at Citysearch

My friend, Daisy had a rad party here. AccessGotham booked the party free and gave us a delicious strawberry birthday cake for 40 people. We even got a free bottle of Merlot. Celebration extraordinaire.

1 Star Rating: Poor

03/29/11

Dangerous, shady place

by cb618 at Citysearch

I will never set foot in this place or Bryant Park Hotel ever again. A male was photographing me inside the bar and when I asked the bouncer for help I was instead carried out violenty and left on the street. I have bruises from him on my lower back. I asked to speak to a manager and was told no manager was on staff. I ended up calling the police to report how badly I was treated. The staff then ganged up against me and started to call me names. What's worse is the police arrived and took their story first and carried me out in handcuffs for "trespassing". The male who was photographing me was not asked to leave and remained in the bar, while I was taken to a holding cell. I now have to appear in court to fight criminal charges for a crime I didn't commit. Very scary place, scary and bullying staff. All you girls reading out there, I beg you not to go here. I don't want what happened to me to happen to you.

4 Star Rating: Recommended

02/04/11

Great for Networking Events

by Jean Berko at Citysearch

I'm responsible for setting up a semi-annual networking event for my young professionals group. We used to do it at loft spaces but wanted something a bit more upbeat this year. The event planner we used recommended Cellar Bar as the best place for us. The interior was very impressive and well suited for us. Our group got a great drink special from 6-8pm. I would definitely contact the staff at JSN Productions to setup your event, they're thorough and will get you a great deal

1 Star Rating: Poor

01/09/11

NYC Hot Spot? NOT!

by MartinH90 at Citysearch

I was never treated so poorly in my life. We came in to celebrate my friends birthday, and from the start we were looked upon as trash. as the night progressed, we were thrown out, because someone tried to start a fight with us, Keep in mind we purchased 3 bottles and were not able to enjoy them. I will not go back and would not recommend this place to anyone, as a native new yorker and an avid club guru. The bouncers and door men, were nasty as can be, and were not wiling to work with us, my choice was to be thrown out in cuffs or pay my bill. very disappointed i was treated like a criminal while they stole my money! Another big issue was the age limit, as we were walking around, it seemed as if the age of alot of the club goers were in their teens? so if your a guy looking to have a good time BECAREFUL!

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

12/14/10

NYC Hot Spot

by Stacey Peters at Citysearch

Went here for a friends birthday last weekend. Very laid back and relaxed atmosphere and the layout of the space was cool.

Great for large groups, however I would recommend getting on the guest list by contacting AccessGotham. com. We went in the VIP and were inside in a a matter of minutes!

Drinks are a fairly priced, remember were your to a bar in the Bryant Park Hotel, the place is fancy. I look forward to going back soon!

The Details on Cellar Bar

Place Categories:

  • great music
  • friendly hottest staff
  • romantic bar
  • great cool atmosphere
  • overpriced poorlymixed drinks
  • nice place
  • full crowd
  • awful service
  • energetic cute crowd
  • very nice bartender
  • not nice people
  • just rude bouncers
  • mixed old songs
  • great martinis
  • always fun weekends
  • amazing dj
  • cool overall vibe
  • loved space
  • great vibe midnight
  • worst face control
  • enjoy table service
  • decent specialty cocktails
  • big clubs
  • great new furniture layout
  • nice loungingtable

As Seen In…

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Best of Citysearch

New York