Rolfs

Rolf's is a German restaurant located in Gramercy Park. The restaurant offers a unique holiday dining experience all year long.Rolf's menu specialities are from the Southern German region or Bavarian cuisine. You will enjoy specialties that consist of Wiener Schnitzel, Sauerbraten, Potato, Pancakes, apple strudel and more.I was not ready to end the Christmas holiday nostalgia. What better place to enjoy an extended Merry holiday weekend, than Rolf's.Rolf's feature a wide selection of imported German Beers on tap such as Hofbrau lager, Radeberger, Weihenstephaner Weissbeer and Dunkel Dark. They have a full bar that features a wide variety of high end bourbons, whiskey and scotches from around the world. I tried the Christmas Smoothie cocktail, featuring Merrys vanilla cinnamon and a splash of Goldschlager, or the Rolf's Holiday Martini, made with Merry's Irish Cream Liqueur, vodka and Meletti Choccolato Liqueur.The staff were absolutely wonderful, service was nice. Very pleased, and will visit again.

Upon making a reservation three months in advance (for Christmas week), I was well aware that Rolf's is a tourist trap. The man on the phone informed me that every guest is required to order an entree ($38+) to sit in the dining room. I agreed, and three months later, we arrived on time for our reservation. Despite being on time, we waited 30 minutes for a table, huddled in the crowded bar area. The bar is standing only, and cocktails are $30 each. If you MUST come here, I recommend this experience over dinner. You can still get your photos, observe the decor, and emerge relatively unscathed. The decor is truly something to see. Tens of thousands of Christmas lights and ornaments, and hundreds of vintage dolls are packed into the small German restaurant. The food was terrible, and terribly expensive. Canned green beans, canned gravy, flavorless doughy pancakes, watery broth, no seasoning on anything. The only enjoyable aspect of the meal was the Gluhwein, which was nicely spiced and not overly sweet. We spent over $200, and left hungry. I am never one to complain about service, but the staff here are incredibly rude. They shouted at my sister and I for standing up next to our table to take a photo, and were generally cold, irritable, and rushing tables out. Quite ironic to be rushed after waiting 30 minutes to be seated. To add insult to injury, they charge an automatic 20% service fee, and then suggest an additional 20%+ gratuity on top of that.

Overpriced Germany "diner food" with a vibe.Rolfs' busiest season is around Christmas time. There is always a line of people outside waiting to enter through its tiny doors into a winter wonderland of magical bright lights. And these lights stay like that all year round. Don't come here when it's around the holidays, you won't be able to get in without a reservation. This restaurant is partly so popular probably due to its recent years of social media influences. Popular TikTockers and Instagrams brought them tons of tourists and some locals alike. The food is not that impressive as it tastes like American diner foods - potato pancakes are hash browns like, but at avg $20-$25 for appetizers. And burgers and fries entrees at $30+. The food is average and it is priced unreasonably. Most people are there to experience the lights. The music was nice. At some point, I really thought I was in an Italian restaurant. PS: their bathroom is cold and dark. Honestly, some part of me thinks that their decorations may be inspired by the popular Indian restaurants near 6th and 2nd. But that might be an insult to the owner and the Germany population... But that's how I feel when we were served mostly by Indian waiters (they were amazing!!). My family ordered beers and mixed drinks, and a pear alcoholic beverage (forgot the name of it) but it tastes like two shots of fireballs. It burns from throat down to your the bottom of your stomach. It was so strong. Other places don't make it like that. A lot of the food may be German based but it is very Americanized. From the potatoes salad (cold and served with half slices of pickles) to the burgers and fries to hammered chicken slices. It's nothing impressive. This may be a place to come once but probably not again afterwards.

This place is a complete SCAM, both for tourists and locals. The experience was AWFUL due to the rude behavior of the staff.I went with a group of friends (there were five of us), and we sat at the bar. We ordered three beers and two special Christmas cocktails. At the end, when I handed over my card to close the tab, the server returned it with only the receipt, but no detailed bill.I politely asked for the bill to verify the amount charged, as I wanted to confirm whether the tip was included and to check the prices. Instead of addressing my request, the server told me I just had to "trust him" because, according to him, the beers were $17 each, and the cocktails were $21. However, after doing the math, the numbers didn't add up to the total charged.After insisting multiple times, I had to be more firm for them to provide the bill. When the server finally handed me a document after about 10 minutes, I noticed that the invoice number didn't match the one on the receipt I had been given. To me, it seemed like they created a new invoice to match the prices they charged in the end, which is highly suspicious and unprofessional.The experience was completely unpleasant. As beautiful as the decorations may be, they don't make up for the poor service or the issues with billing transparency. I DO NOT recommend this place AT ALL!

I used to frequent this place 10 years ago before social media turned it into a seemingly unattainable reservation and extremely hard bar to grab a drink at due to the hype around their Christmas decor. As others have noted, getting a reservation here is near impossible, which is fine since the food is nothing to write home about, you're here for the ambiance. Drinks will set you back $30 a pop no matter what you order (a beer might be slightly cheaper, but I'm talking slightly), so might as well partake in one of the seasonal concoctions they have, sip slowly and enjoy.The Christmas decorations here really are better than anywhere else you'll find in the city as far as Christmas bars go, so if you really want to take this all in my recommendation would be to come here on a weekday during the day if you can swing it.On my last visit here I showed up around 1:30 pm on a Monday (on the first Monday in December) and while there was a bit of a bar crowd it was manageable. They've done away with their bar stools so its standing room only, which I assume is to help with turnover to move the line that forms to get into this place along as much as possible. Bartenders and staff are still as nice as I remember them to be, which is shocking considering the sheer volume of people they serve around this time of year.Pro tip: Their decor goes up in fall and stays up through spring, so if you really want to see it without the crowds, come in late January or early November.

Rolfs is one of those places that just brings you instant joy. The Christmas decorations are over the top and somewhat obnoxious, but that's the whole point.If you're in the city before the Christmas tree goes up, but still are longing to have a festive experience I would stop by Rolfs.

Loved the beautiful lights and decor of this restaurant but had higher hopes for the food which we found to be average and overpriced. The service was OK, although we ordered iced tea which came with no ice. It was apparently hot water and a tea bag in a glass and they added ice to it which promptly melted. They'd be better off stating they don't serve iced tea as it really didn't work the way they offered it to us. We enjoyed the pretty lights but probably wouldn't have reason to dine here again.

Note: The negative reviews are true! If I could give zero stars, I would. After waiting two months for a reservation, this turned out to be, without a doubt, the worst dining experience I've ever had in my entire adult life.Let's start with the service. Our waiter was the most unbearable I've ever encountered. He acted as though we should feel privileged just to dine there, as if we owed him something. Truly appalling.Now, I will give credit where it's due--the restaurant was beautifully decorated for Christmas. The festive ambiance was charming and set the holiday mood. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end. The food being brought to other tables looked downright unappetizing--like some kind of breaded carcass, completely unappealing.To make matters worse, they have a ridiculous "policy" where you're required to order either one entrée or two appetizers. Essentially, you're forced to spend money on mediocre food, whether you want to or not.Bottom line: prepare to pay a premium for food that doesn't deliver. It's clear this place relies on its extravagant decor to distract from the subpar quality of its menu.This place is an absolute disaster. The staff is rude, the policies are unclear, and the experience is not worth the hype. Save yourself the trouble and dine somewhere that actually values its customers--no amount of Christmas decorations is worth enduring this nightmare.

This is more of a spot for the decor and photos than the food.My friend's dishes weren't bad, but everything was pretty pricey. The holiday-themed cocktails were decent, though, and more reasonably priced. They also forgot our appetizers, which didn't help.I ordered the roasted pork loin for $38, but the meat was so dry it was almost inedible. Most of the menu is in the same price range, with entrées averaging over $40.I did try the salmon, and that was pretty good. But unless you're okay with spending $43 on mashed potatoes, two bratwursts, and some cabbage, you're better off grabbing a drink at the bar and enjoying the atmosphere for the photos.

They ran out of Rye bread just now on a quiet night. That's sacrilegious for a German place.