You can keep this place. The restaurant side is great but the club, not so much. Starting with their haphazard admitting system, which is basically just a free for all of multiple lines zig zagging around the ropes and the promoter or whomever randomly stamping and letting people in. A cover charge is expected in manhattan but who does and doesn't pay should have some resemblance of criteria.
Waitstaff on the other had sucked.
Food was delicious
Lastly when we received the bill, the waiter said let me know when you're ready. She literally returned 2 mins later, opened the bill to see if we had paid yet and walked off. Smh
The ambiance was amazing and the host staff was very nice.
Our reservation was at 6:30pm and they knew we were there to celebrate a birthday. It was early so there were still many available tables. They my party was sat next to the waitstaff section. Where the waitstaff rings up bulls, gets water and utensils and hover around watching the room and their tables. Onet of the waiters slamed a pitcher of water down so hard at the the waitstaff section, water literally came out of the water pitcher and onto my friend who sat closest to the station.
Myself and two friends had dinner at Tao this week to restaurant week and to celebrate a friend's birthday.
But to boot and why I wrote this is, while my friends and I stood off to the side of the bar a men in black extra wanders over and tells everyone we have to move a VIP wants the area. Move? Where? With a packed out club and literally no more standing room where do you suggest I move to? I'll tell you where, outside, because we left. 21$ for ONE mostly ice cocktail and 20$ to get it later, I can safely say, pick another night life spot.
Ambiance is beautiful
For desert we all ordered the same thing, warm chocolate cake it was a small molten cack with Carmel ice cream. They even put a candle and a chocolate happy birthday plack on my friend's serving. My serving on the other hand, the cake was already broken and the center of my molten cake w a oozing out. I asked for another order and the waiter had an attitude about it.
Went on a Friday with a friend. Admission is random; you might get in, you might not. On what basis? No one knows. Can be your looks, the bouncers' mood, the weather etc... eventually we did get in but unlike others, we did not get a stamp. Which basically means we had to pay a charge. We didn't mind, but again, it's nice to know on what basis we were chosen to pay 20$ each. Once inside, we were surprised to see how small the place actually is. You can BARELY move. Dance? You cannot. 1st cause, well there's no space. People are just pushing you around and spilling drinks all over you. 2nd cause the DJ or the random guy next to him kept interrupting the song and shouting random things. LET US DANCE for God's sake. On top of all, there are 10 security guards on the dance floor asking you to move away from the tables (where are we supposed to go?) Then another guy comes to wipe the floor (really? In that chaos?) It's just a big mess. Most importantly the drinks: 23$ for a vodka and cranberry which was basically just cranberry. Absolutely no alcohol in it and this is coming from someone with a very low alcohol tolerance. Sorry TAO you were just a big disappointment.
get the table by the bathrooms. leave through the back door.
And the service was meh. We felt rushed and as if there was an attitude when something was pointed out.
It's definitely a place that you have to visit at least once. Food is amazing every time I go. You can make a reservation for a main dining table or take your chances at the bar/lounge area
The food was delicious. But when I asked for the rest of my appetizer to go, when the waiter came back with it, he put my food on the floor. I really didn't like that. Why would you put someone's food on the floor???
Once you do get inside though it's much smaller than you'd think with a narrow "dance" floor of people standing around. The DJ didn't let one song play for more than 40 seconds before wildly swapping and mashing together numerous genres.
Host staff was great
Tao Downtown Nightclub is a US Night Club based in Manhattan New York, New York. Tao Downtown Nightclub is located at 369 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011, USA.
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