Jill DeCandio

As you might expect, the star here is THE VIEW. From the 39th floor of the Marriott Marquis you can see across the bay, see mountains in the distance, and be eye to eye with city skyscrapers. The drinks are decent but pricey. We had homemade potato chips with dill dip; the dip was delish. Servers are very friendly and attentive.

Multi level shopping area with Bloomingdale’s as main anchor store. There was a Nordstrom here but it just recently closed. The building/venue is upscale and there is security walking around the mall and some stores have manned entrances. Good selection of chain stores and some smaller ones I wasn’t familiar with. Zara, Tory Burch, Coach, Adidas, Madewell, American Eagle, Vans, Lululemon, Sephora, Burberry, H&M, JCrew, and Kate Spade to name a few. Various food vendors throughout mall and a number of additional food providers in the food court on the lower level. A number of which specialize in Asian, Indian, and Korean foods, teas, and desserts.

This was my second time at this “secret” speakeasy. I came back because my first visit several years ago was amazing…full of mystery and unique craft cocktails in an intimate discreet venue. This visit was underwhelming. I booked a reservation for 5 weeks in advance. (The allure of this establishment is that you can’t just walk in; because of the size and nature of the venue.) The reservation process was easy and my reservation was confirmed. Having been to the establishment previously I knew somewhat what to expect. We waited outside the venue waiting for the green light to illuminate. It never did. A couple walking by paused by us and looked bewildered. They said they were looking for “green light” and I told them they had found it and asked if they had a reservation and they said they didn’t. They proceeded to go in and didn’t come out. I was surprised. Our party decided to also proceed (although the green light wasn’t it, or any light for that matter). The couple who just “walked in” were sitting at the bar enjoying their cocktails. We were escorted to a small table off to the side. While its a small venue and an intimate setting our table was way to small to accommodate 5 people. It took quite awhile for the waiter to come to the table and even longer to get drinks. Unfortunately the drink menu had not changed. Granted, the cocktails here are good, but since a number of years had passed since my previous visit I was hoping some new concoctions would be available. The others in the party who were here for the first time weren’t overly impressed. We had a few rounds and moved on. This visit wasn’t special and lacked the elements that were attractive which I experienced previously.