THE RAINBOW ROOM
30 Rockefeller Plaza
212-632-5100
You go to the top of a tall building to feel your spirit soar. Cocktails at the Rainbow Room should enhance the 65th-floor views—if only the place wasn’t always so packed. When you’re finally allowed up after cooling your heels in the lobby, chances are you’ll be at the cramped bar, where the only thing facing the view will be your back. The Art Deco décor is more corporate phony than grand old New York, and when the $18 Bellinis are added up, you’ll feel like you’ve been had. Is there anything less uplifting than that?