The LCL: Bar & Kitchen

WAY over priced… not all that!
2 stars because the service is good.
Maybe that is what you are paying for.

Stayed at the Westin for 12 nights while on business, we visited this restaurant frequently. The service is amongst the worst I’ve ever experienced. Waiters are very slow and inattentive, had to get up and hunt down a server to ask for the check a few times. Was served the wrong coffee drink 2 times before being served the «right» one which tasted horrible. Hours are not convenient either, limited menu and close early. I gave two stars for the food which is somewhat decent, the veggie burger was very good.

We tried to get two drinks from the bar but were told that because we were «part of a bigger group» that we would have to wait for our server.
It took over 20 minutes to get a drink with this approach vs a bar that was basically empty.
By the time the server was able to get to all of us… my boss was pretty upset and it led to a ruined night for our team.
The night prior we had the same experience with slow service and we ended up spending all our $ to get a drink at the pizza place across the street. This bar should understand that customers come first and to serve people at the bar or tables… Whatever comes first.
The waitress was very rude to my coworkers and my boss. The manager had to try to make up for it but we won’t come here again because of the service issues.

WOW! Local everything. I absolutely loved the burger with blue cheese. Great service, fabulous burger. When my coffee got cold chatting, they gave me a fresh one. Overall I will be back to take more clients here for lunch.

This bar is located at the lobby level of the Westin hotel where I am currently staying. The host is super disorganized there and you have to waive nonstop to get someone’s attention to order your drink — so much that I had to walk up to the bar to place my order. We had dinner plans that evening and just wanted a drink and some nuts to nimble on before going out in the city: they somehow «ran» out of nuts. They have NOTHING to offer you with your drink, no nuts, no pretzels, no peanuts. I can’t understand how a bar that is attached to a reputable hotel has NOTHING of that sort to offer to its customers — this pretty much ruined our drink experience.

This place has great atmosphere, and delicious drinks! The staff is very friendly and professional. Billy — the GM there is one of a kind and does a great job managing that place.
I recommend it 100%.
I’m confused with all the bad reviews. I never have issues at this place. Love it there!

Side order of fries took 25 minutes, showed up cold. Also got the turkey burger which made me a little sick.
Servers are nice, but food and service itself are mediocre.

Not sure what all the bad reviews are all about… I thought this place was great.
Had a business lunch here and ordered the cobb salad. It was delicious and prepared in a very interesting way: with all the ingredients stratified/​layered vertically in the bowl. Nice presentation. The service was very good. Additional note: The place is architecturally very nice — furniture, décor, and lighting.

I am a native New Yorker, no transplant here. I can say that I was a semi-​regular at the LCL for my own particular reasons. There are many other options in New York, but for all that, I still kept going there — that is until tonight. I went there to order my usual bacon cheeseburger and get a few martinis. The young gentleman with the glasses he is a GREAT BARTENDER. But I did not get him I get someone else. This is where it all went wrong! The other bartender did the standard meet and greet.
Anyhoozles, the other bartender pretty much acted as though I didn’t exist. Once I got my drink and served my food by someone else, that’s where it sorta ended. I didn’t even get any complimentary snackfood! While I was waiting on my food. The dude next to me offered me his! I didn’t know where his hands where but I thanked him and politely said no thank you. It’s funny how the young gentleman who knew that I came there on a semi-​regular basis made a point to say hello. She saw that interaction mind you. Well she did ask me if I wanted a drink but my glass was empty for 20 minutes! I noticed how she treated everyone else that came to the bar after me. They got Lights! Camera! Action! Smiles! Dance hands! I got tumbleweed rustling in the desert. Did my Right Guard take a left? As I was finalizing my bill, my dumb butt was actually about to give her a tip. And I had to think about it. FOR WHAT? I have family members and friends that are bartenders so I know the importance of tipping. What made it worse is that I put my coat on stood up for 8 minutes. I then walked to the hostess and asked to speak to the manager. I waited another couple of minutes.
I’m saying all this to say that I could have done a dine and dash with the way I was ignored. I mean there was a man next to me where he was asked twice if he was ok and needed another drink, another woman to my left was asked the same. Me. NOTHING! When I wanted another drink, I said politely «excuse me». She pretended not to hear and put on her showgirl Vanna White sex appeal to the others. I told the manager what happened and he didn’t really make an effort to make it right. He said, «We treat all our customers the same. REALLY? Ummm not tonight.» I told him what occurred and said that they need to be mindful of how they treat people. These guys at the bar were your standard conference geeks and consultant nomads. I treated this person with respect and she gave me her backside to kiss. Which is why for the first time in history tipped nothing! I made a point to explain to the manager why. They probably will not care and even have a good laugh. Its just sad all around! Everyone else at the bar was a lighter hue than me. I never like to go there but draw your own conclusion…

Not my favourite place but for a late night bite while travelling and when there isn’t much else open for late night on a tues I’ll take it. staying in the hotel only aggravates the problem. This could be a great spot of bartenders paid attention. Food mediocre at best. skip if you can.

I went here one afternoon, there were a total of 5 other people there so I sat down at a table. I waited about 5 minutes, made eye contact with the bartender and no one came over. I waited about another 5 minutes, still nothing. After about 20 minutes of no one coming over, not even seeing if I wanted to order, which I did, I gathered my things and left. Won’t be back…

Price vs quantity not great for breakfast or dinner. Wait staff friendly but forgetful. Food does taste very good but left wanting more. Cocktails was more ice than drink… Giving 3 stars for food taste, service, quantity and price very much sub-​par… Plenty other choices in NY.

So for a hotel breakfast place, this was a big disappointment.
Loved my stay at the Westin, which makes it all the sadder to ding this place, but this place shows what poor service can do for an experience.
The waiter took forever to take my order. Though she made an emphasis on my drink order (coffee).
And then i waited. And waited some more. It’s morning and for $ 6 coffee, I was looking forward to it. Or at least some water.
I didn’t get it.
My eggs with bacon did come out. I waited a bit more and then asked another staff person to bring over some coffee and water.
Only when I was nearly done, did my original waitress pop over with a carafe only to discover that I had it. No apologies.
As for the food itself, the eggs were not over medium as requested, but fried. And the potatoes were a disappointment. (Who doesn’t love bacon, though.)
But for $ 25, I expect a little something more. Particularly after being crammed in with other tables basically next to you.
If you’re at the hotel, go outside and get breakfast. It’ll be cheaper and better.

We enjoyed a Saturday brunch at The LCL. The brunch selection was nice — the food was very good. My rating came down for the price. The brunch was very expensive — even for New York standards. The service was great and the food was very good — but you pay for it with the price.

I don’t expect much from hotel bars, but I was blown away by the professionalism and drink options.
The boyfriend ordered a dark and stormy, and hearing that they did indeed have ginger beer in stock, I ordered a ginger beer and found out that they brewed their own. The LCL’s ginger beer is one of the best I’ve ever had. You can really taste the ginger in it and it’s sweet, but not too sweet. They also stock a professionally brewed ginger beer, but the house-​brewed beer won me over so completely that I didn’t bother trying the other one.
The waitresses and hostess were so friendly and willing to talk shop with us about their beers. I’m so used to the stereotypical rushed bar staff so it was refreshing to be in such a relaxed environment.
We only stopped by for a quick drink with friends, but I definitely want to come back for a lengthier visit and more ginger beers!

Stopped by for a drink with friends and this place was convenient to those who were just stopping and staying at the Westin Grand Central.
The bar is dark, a lot of smaller chairs and big bar to support those who wanted to just sit and grab a drink, watch the game. $ 7 – 11 dollar brews on-​tap and in the bottle, and more expensive half bottles on the menu, too. Didn’t try the finger food, but the wait staff was attentive and quick with the drinks, nothing complicated or crazy here for them to deal with, so I think they were just relieved at dealing with straightforward orders. Will have to try other things the next time I pop in here, but for what we did, which was just grab a drink and catch up to chat, it worked just fine.

Sehr überteuerte hotelbar mit einer nicht so grossen auswahl an cocktails mit teilweise verbesserungswürdigem service und bahnhofshallen lautstärke.
Frühstücksbagel und coffee to go sind aber eine gute preislich angemessene variante um in den tag zu starten.

I work in the neighborhood and have given this bar several opportunities to win me over as a regular. Regrettably, it has failed to do so. In fact, I have concluded after careful evaluation, that the finger food is acceptable, the service amateurish and the bartenders thoroughly unqualified to support the top end drink pricing. At nearly $ 20/​cocktail, one would expect exceptional mixology in fine glass wear. Instead, you’ll get sloppy drink preparation in commercial glasses more akin to Señor Frogs than that of a high end Manhattan hotel bar.
Nevertheless, all of the foregoing would have been forgiven had the bartenders provided a generous pour. But, the drinks were so weak that I had déjà vu to my Shirley Temple days. The physical facility is attractive and this venue has potential given it’s fresh renovation and superb midtown location. But, a skilled manager needs to take control, educate and train properly so that customers don’t get treated like transient fools. If the European one time tourist is all they are after, then they will do fine. But if LCL is targeting the local executive who is looking for an after work spot to unwind and entertain, LCL has a lot of work to do. So, until they pick up their game, avoid.

C’est cher, il gèle à l’intérieur (merci la clim) et l’ambiance est glacée (comme la température). J’ai pris du cidre… 12 $ le verre. Oui 12 $! J’avais à peine 12cl.
Si vous passez devant le LCL, fuyez pauvres fous!

Now, you might not know this, and you certainly don’t care, but i’m a lover of all late 80s — early 90s food fads, including the shrimp cocktail, zigzagging strawberry sauce over a slice of cheesecake, and in this case, the Cobb Salad.
I’m also all too familiar with hotel three-​meal restaurants, from their sleepy corporate menus to their mediocre-​city transplant managers.
The verdict after three lunches at the LCL bar & Kitchen is that the restaurant serves good food, including a delectable Cobb Salad, with generally inconsistent and inoffensive service. The front of house staff is nimble enough to ensure that three ice cubes are consistently placed in each water glass, but they’ll never refill your water. And still, after three visits, I’ve never seen a front-​of-​house manager keeping an eye on anything at all.
But whatever. Give me my no-​surprises cappuccino, my depressingly ‘manhattan lounge’ style cafeteria, a bomb-​ass cobb salad and a water with three ice cubes in it that will never get refilled, and I’ll acknowledge that life could be worse.

During my stay at The Westin Grand Central, I ate at The LCL («The Local’) twice. Once was for a media tasting when I had the opportunity to sample a variety of bites from the menu, chat with the chef and learn more about the pro-​local and sustainable choices behind the menu.
Although I was not the biggest fan of the pizza, I thought the deviled eggs were a real treat and mussels, delicious. The chef seemed to have taken a real pride in the burger, but regretfully no one in our party ordered that. (So if you’re reading this, maybe you could tell me how that is?)
The best kept secret (or rather, discovery) during this dining session was the skirt steak. At the time, I felt like I had missed out so I made sure to return the next night for dinner to see for myself.
When I arrived, I was seated promptly in the chic, cozy lounge area to dine. I had plenty of space to post up with my laptop, enjoy the surroundings and not feel like a complete loser since it looked as though many of the folks dining at that time were other business travelers. I ordered a Cab Sav from their wine list (loved that the wines are labeled (S) Sustainable, (O) Organic, (B) Biodynamic, (L) Local) and the Skirt Steak with a side of steamed veggies.
I’m going to have to co-​sign on the Skirt Steak. It was cooked to perfect succulence and had great flavor. Paired with the wine, I was a happy camper.
Additionally, the lounge has a pretty decent vibe at night. It doesn’t seem to yet really draw a crowd from outside the hotel, but it definitely has potential. The DJ was awesome, the atmosphere laid back and the cocktails are tasty.

I think I have a serious problem with hotel bars & lounges! Between the Grand Hyatt, Waldorf Astoria (where we had out H.S. senior prom too!) Ace, Shelburne, POD 39, Alex, and now the newly-​renovated & re-​branded Westin, there are SO MANY nice hotels near me, each seemingly trying to outdo one-​another when it comes to their bars, lounges, and restaurants.
Before I kick off this review, yes, I recognize that generally you’ll likely overpay and receive lesser food/​drink than you’d get at a locals-​only hole in the wall in the Village, but there’s something to be said about the over-​the-​top décor, interesting food and drink menus, and diverse crowds that tend to grace these venues.
…Now on to the newly-​opened LCL: Bar & Kitchen. After making a right turn in the Westin hotel lobby, you basically enter the LCL in the middle of the room. You’ll notice an expansive, yet cozy space comprised of high-​top stools and tables to your right (with floor-​to-​ceiling windows overlooking 42^nd street), with more formal standard/​dining-​height tables in the dimly-​lit back area to your left. A DJ booth in the middle splits the space, and there’s a clear «pathway» devoid of tables & chairs so you can cut a straight route from the LCL entry right to the bar counter if you’re thirsty!
I came here recently with some friends for happy hour, and we sat at one of the bar tables in front, ordered up a couple of Manhattans, split a grilled cheese, and struck up some convo with a couple visiting from Boston. Drinks were strong and just sweet enough, and the sourdough grilled cheese, with applewood-​smoked bacon, tomatoes, and a side of crispy fries was well worth the $ 10 price tag. Although it melts nicely, I wished they used another cheese besides American though. We saw some desserts come out, and they looked good as well. If it wasn’t for the dinner I was soon going to, I’d have probably ordered up something else here!
Music was very slick — loungy beats with smooth transitions at a perfect 5−7pm volume to allow for conversation… I agree 100% with Preston C. TVs are baked behind the mirrors above the back bar area so you wound’t see them when they’re turned off — similar to what some hotels do in the bathrooms now. They had four different TVs/​streams going, so you could easily keep tabs on news, sports, etc.
The LCL is a nice change of pace if you’re looking for something chic and are a fan of people watching/​mingling with some out-​of-​towners — I’ll be back.