Our waitress surprised us with two free desserts: the piña colada cake and malted chocolate pie.
The cake was incredibly sweet, and we initially didn’t realize it had any pineapple, but the whipped cream was, unsurprisingly, fantastic. Jordan said the chocolate pie was the only dish that tasted exactly as it looked. An Oreo crust is rarely a bad thing, but we agreed we wouldn’t order it again.
For $145, we were sufficiently underwhelmed by the food. Then again, everyone else around us seemed pretty pleased, and the service is efficient without feeling rushed.
As a Wall Street go-to, Tommy Bahama presents a funny inverse. Many firms are setting up outposts in the south, namely in Texas, but the beachy restaurant is trying to bring southern, Floridian charm to 45th Street. And it is, at times, easy to forget that you’re in the middle of Manhattan while sitting in the palm-filled dining room, until you look out the window, or at the guys in Charles Tyrwhitt vests sitting next to you.
The noise level and layout are conducive to a genuinely productive, laid-back business meal, and it’s an easy escape from Manhattan’s chaos. Provided you like the food, we see how it could become an unlikely power lunch staple.
The price is comparable to that of a steakhouse dinner, but it’s nothing the corporate card can’t handle, right?
