230 Fifth Rooftop Bar Review – NYC’s Best Rooftop Bar

Last Updated on 28th June 2025

This post about 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar review contains affiliate links, plus mentions of gifted experiences.

I’ve been lucky enough to visit so many of New York City’s rooftop bars, including Magic Hour, Mr. Purple, Vintage Green, The Fleur Room, Vue 180, Bar 54, and so many more, but one of my all-time favourite rooftop bars in NYC is 230 Fifth.

At the time of updating this review of 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar, I’ve been lucky enough to visit it three times and each visit just gets better and better!

From the food to the cocktails to the staff to the sensational views of the Empire State Building, 230 Fifth really is one of the best rooftops in New York City and it’s also one of the only rooftops that welcomes under 21s (apart from after 7 PM on Friday and Saturday nights)!

My review of 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar includes everything you need to know about visiting!

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Looking to visit more rooftop bars in NYC? Check out my guides below!

• Vintage Green Rooftop Bar
• Azul on the Rooftop
• Glass Ceiling Rooftop
• The Fleur Room NYC
• Magic Hour Rooftop Bar
• Vue 180 Rooftop Bar
• Mr. Purple Rooftop Bar
• Somewhere Nowhere NYC
• Berry Park Rooftop Bar Review
• Elsie Rooftop Bar New York
• Bar 54 NYC Review
• Sandbar Rooftop Bar

230 Fifth Rooftop garden bar and restaurant

As the name suggests, 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar is located on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, just a couple of blocks from the Flatiron Building, Madison Square Park, and the Empire State Building.

As you can see from the picture above (and many subsequent pictures throughout this guide), the location of 230 Fifth means that it’s one of the best rooftop clubs in New York City that offers remarkable views of the iconic Empire State Building.

If you’re looking for a fun and special rooftop in the city that serves awesome food and drink, boasts astonishing views of the city skyline, and allows kids in at certain times, look no further than 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar!

• Address: 230 Fifth, 1150 Broadway, New York, NY 10001.
• Menus: https://230-fifth.com/menus/.
• Reservations: https://230-fifth.com/reservations/.

The views from 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar NYC

From the 20th floor of 230 Fifth, you can see incredible vistas of the Empire State Building, Summit One Vanderbilt, and even all the way Downtown to the One World Trade Center!

The view of the Empire State Building from 230 Fifth is truly exquisite, especially on a clear day. It feels so close that you could almost reach out and touch it and I couldn’t help but just stare at it for minutes on end; it’s so surreal and so beautiful that it almost feels like a green screen!

Read more: NYC In A Day – 1 Day New York Itinerary For First-Time Visitors

230 Fifth Rooftop Bar menu

I often find the food menus at many rooftop bars in Manhattan NYC a little boring; they usually offer the same “light bites and snacks”, and while 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar does offer similar dishes to many other bars in the city, I always find their portion sizes to be absolutely huge and well worth the money!

Of course, the menu is ever-changing, so some of the dishes that I’m recommending now might not be available in a few months’ time, but I wanted to share some of the dishes I’ve enjoyed at 230 5th to give you an insight into the kind of food you can expect!

The penne alla vodka pasta is definitely my favourite dish at 230 Fifth, and the substantial portion of fish and chips is always a go-to for us as well; it makes for a great sharing dish! The sliders and chicken caesar salad are also dishes that I’d highly recommend if you’re visiting 230 Fifth for brunch.

The best cocktails at 230 5th NYC

The bars at 230 Fifth are incredibly well-stocked, with so many beverages to choose from, including plenty of delightful cocktails. The frozen strawberry margarita is one of my personal favourites, but I’ve also tried the 230 sparkling candy (another one of my favourites!), the pink lemonade, raspberry mojito, frozen rose, frozen mango margarita, and regular frozen margarita, and they are all absolutely delicious!

Read more: 50+ Best Places To Eat In New York City – NYC Best Restaurants

Christmas Day at 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar NYC

***Please note that 230 Fifth is offering a Christmas Dinner Buffet in 2024, NOT bottomless brunch***

The first time I visited 230 Rooftop Bar was in December 2021 when Matt and I enjoyed an incredible bottomless brunch at the rooftop on Christmas Day.

The Christmas Day menu at 230 Fifth changes every year; sometimes they offer a bottomless brunch menu (like the one we had in 2021), and sometimes they serve a Christmas Dinner buffet (like in 2024 – more on that below).

For our Christmas Day bottomless brunch at 230 Fifth in 2021, we were seated inside their huge dining area/event space on the 20th floor, but we were also able to head outside to the enormous outdoor patio to enjoy the spectacular views.

It was arguably one of the best bottomless brunches I’ve ever had (and I’ve been lucky enough to try a lot of bottomless brunch menus in my hometown of York and in the neighbouring city of Leeds , including Slug and Lettuce, Mans Market and Manahatta).

Usually with bottomless brunch menus, especially on special occasions such as Christmas Day, the choices can be pretty limited, but I didn’t find that to be the case at 230 Fifth at all. I would have happily eaten pretty much everything on the brunch menu, which made it quite difficult to choose just one dish!

The Christmas Day bottomless brunch at 230 Fifth seemed to run effortlessly as there were so many waiters and waitresses (and I could not be more grateful to them for giving up their Christmas Day to look after us; they were honestly all incredible) who all knew what they were doing and were so attentive to every single guest. A special shout-out in particular to our server, Alex, who made our experience so awesome!

As well as unlimited bottles of prosecco with bottomless brunch, we were also provided with a jug of orange juice so that we could make bellinis and mimosas, but if you’d prefer not to drink, or you just want to take a little break from all the fizz, you can also enjoy unlimited coffee!

For our dishes, we each wanted something relatively light as we were eating at 12.30 PM on Christmas Day, and we’d actually planned to cook our own small Christmas Dinner in our apartment later that evening as well.

I went for the fish and chips as it was dubbed as a ‘small starter’ and Matt opted for the chicken Caesar salad thinking that it would be super light. As I’m sure you can already tell from the pictures above, these dishes were far from small and light; the portion sizes were absolutely enormous that as soon as they were placed in front of us, we knew that there was no chance we’d be cooking our own dinner later that evening (and we certainly weren’t complaining about it!).

Thankfully, both dishes were delicious and I couldn’t get over just how much food there was; definitely well worth the money, especially considering we were supplied with unlimited bottles of prosecco as well!

I think we managed to polish off at least four bottles of prosecco and we made a good dent in a fifth bottle before our 90 minutes was up!

We paid $45 each for Christmas Day bottomless brunch at 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar in 2021 (plus a tax of $7.99 and a compulsory gratuity fee of 20% – $18), making our total $115.99 for both of us for food and unlimited drinks on Christmas Day. It might seem a little steep, especially once you add the taxes and gratuities, but I really think that it was worth every single penny.

You’ll pay at least that for most observation decks in New York City to see the Empire State Building and skyline, so when you consider that food and unlimited fizz is thrown into the mix at 230 Fifth, it’s actually quite a steal!

Christmas Dinner buffet at 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar

In the last few years, 230 Fifth have offered a Christmas Dinner buffet instead of the bottomless brunch offer that we enjoyed in 2021, and even though I haven’t personally experienced the buffet for myself (yet!), I have heard great things about it in my New York Facebook Group!

The Christmas Day buffet in 2024 costs $70 for adults and $35 for children and will be available from 2 PM to 9 PM on Christmas Day only. On the menu, you’ll find festive highlights such as roast turkey with gravy, prime rib, chicken parmesan, a pasta station and all the festive trimmings. Note that drinks are not included in the price of the buffet, but they can be purchased separately once you’re there.

I would definitely recommend making a reservation online in advance as it does get booked up super quickly as the festive season gets under way.

See the full menu, details about the Christmas Dinner Buffet, and make a reservation on the 230 Fifth website.

Read more: Festive Things To Do On Christmas Day In New York City

How to get there

230 Fifth is located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, on the corner of 27th Street so it’s only 7 blocks from the Empire State Building which is why you truly get the most amazing, uninterrupted views of the iconic New York skyscraper.

It’s super easy to walk to if you’re already in Midtown, but there are several subway stations close by too that you can take advantage of if you’re travelling from a bit further away.

You can take the R & W trains to 28th Street and Broadway, the number 6 to 28th Street and Park Avenue and the 1 train to 28th Street and Seventh Avenue. Of course, you can also take a taxi which will drop you right outside the venue.

Read more: 111 Bucket List Things To Do In New York City

Opening times

Yet another awesome thing that makes 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar stand out from its rooftop competitors is that it’s open all year round. That’s right; you can enjoy those stunning views and heavenly food and drinks literally every single day of the year!

230 Fifth is open daily as follows:

• Monday – Wednesday: 2 PM – 1 AM
• Thursday: 2 PM – 2 AM
• Friday:  2 PM – 3 AM
• Saturday: 11.30 AM – 4 AM
• Sunday: 11.30 AM – 2 AM
• Happy Hour (Monday to Friday): 2 PM – 5 PM
• Brunch (Saturday and Sunday): 11.30 AM – 4 PM

While it’s certainly not required as the bar welcomes and encourages walk-ins, if you plan on attending as a larger group, I’d highly recommend making a reservation so that you can guarantee a table either indoors or outside on the rooftop.

It’s also advised that you book in advance if you want to enjoy brunch at 230 Fifth as they only offer their brunch menu on Saturdays and Sundays, so making a reservation is ideal if you want to avoid disappointment.

FAQs – 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar review

Below, I’ve included some of the most frequently asked questions about visiting 230 Fifth to help you plan your trip!

Is there a dress code at 230 Fifth?

There is no strict dress code that you have to adhere to at 230 Fifth and they claim that you can “wear what you love!”, but no gym clothes or sweatpants are permitted!

Can children visit 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar?

Children are permitted to visit 230 Fifth, providing that they leave before 7 PM on Friday and Saturday nights and that they’re accompanied by their parents/guardian.

Please that you are required to bring a valid ID to 230 Fifth. Children are not required to present ID when visiting with their parents, but all ages are required to present a valid ID if visiting after 7 PM.

Do you have to pre-book to visit the rooftop bar?

Reservations are not required to visit 230 Fifth, as they accept and welcome walk-ins. However, you can make a reservation if you want to book a particular experience or if you want to guarantee seating for a certain number of guests.

You can book directly online on the 230 Fifth Rooftop website.

Is there a cover charge at the rooftop bar?

A cover charge of $15 per person is implemented at 230 Fifth after 8 PM on Friday and Saturday nights. All other times are free to enter.

Conclusion – 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar review

I already can’t wait to return to the city and revisit 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar in NYC as it was one of the most enjoyable parts of our Christmas month in New York and I’m already pining for those magical views again!

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Pin for later – 230 Fifth Rooftop Bar review

Is 230 Fifth NYC Rooftop Bar on your list of places to visit in New York? What are your favourite rooftop bars in the city? Let me know in the comments or in my New York Facebook Group!