I kept hearing about the Rainbow Room for years and finally got a chance to visit it with some of my friends. It's located on the 65th floor of the tallest building in the Rockefeller Center. A special express elevator zips you up there in the matter of seconds during which your ears get clogged due to the change of pressure. Once the elevator opens, you get into an ornately decorated hallway with the coat check and passages leading into various dining rooms. The main room pictured above is quite large. It has the dining tables situated around a circular dance floor which slowly rotates counter-clockwise. Next to the dance floor is a space for a live band. In the windows one can look down at the magnificent view of New York City.

When we walked in there at around 11 PM, there was a latin band playing salsa which surprised me because I expected to see a swing band. But it turned out that the Swing band was taking a break and the latin band was just filling in. The swing band that was playing that night was Cab Calloway Orchestra. They played a medley of classic swing songs like “Take the A Train”, “In the Mood”, etc...

The dance floor was crowded, but after midnight there was more room. Dancing was interesting since without moving around the dance floor you end up in a totally different place by the end of the song since the dance floor slowly rotated. There were some zealous swing dancers in zoot suits. One of them was showing off with some lifts and tricks once there was room on the dance floor.

At the table we did not have any food. The dinner would cost us $150 per person for a pre-fix menu. We just had drinks which were also quite expensive - $10 for a small glass of fruit juice. I don't remember how much were the alcoholic drinks since I was not interested in them, but they were more than that. The cover charge was $20. Still, the high prices were worth the elegant ambience and great fun we had. Too bad it was over at 1 AM. The time flew by fast. Next time we’ll have to make sure we get there earlier.

The attire is black tie or dark suit for gentlemen, evening dress for ladies.

If you decide to go, make sure you call them for reservations at 212-632-5100. The address is 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York N.Y. 10112

Photos