The Empire Room (CLOSED)

Located on the ground floor of the Empire State Building, this Art Deco lounge seeks to match its center-of-the-universe location with a tribute to old moneyed New York. Soaring ceilings and a marble bar create a theater of nostalgic boozing, but the vibe is deflated by the hit-and-miss cocktail menu. The Waldorf, a rye-soaked take on a Manhattan, was plagued by medicinal absinthe, while a rummy Prohibition Punch was watered down with melting ice before we could make a dent. Play it safe with the compact list of sipping spirits, but brace yourself for the prices. If the bar were 102 stories up, we’d happily splurge for the view, but down at street level, it needs better value to woo us back.