Jackets preferred for gentlemen after 17:00. Verified against the St. Regis site, 2026.
King Cole Bar sits inside the St. Regis on 55th Street, anchored by Maxfield Parrish's 1906 mural of Old King Cole and his two attendants — a painting commissioned for the original Knickerbocker Hotel and moved here in 1932. The mural is the headline; the second draw is the drink. In 1934, head bartender Fernand Petiot rebuilt a vodka-and-tomato cocktail he had served at Harry's New York Bar in Paris and renamed it the Red Snapper to suit the hotel's clientele. The New York Times has called it 'the most famous Bloody Mary in America.'
It is the right room for a slow Saturday lunch, an out-of-town parent who deserves the full Midtown set piece, or anyone who wants to understand why hotel bars used to matter. It is the wrong room for cheap drinks or a noisy night. The Infatuation's New York hotel bar guide frames the experience as 'expensive, formal, and worth doing once.'
A small, low-lit space with a hand-carved walnut bar facing the mural. Eater New York's hotel bar coverage describes the room as 'closer to a private club than a cocktail lounge,' and the description holds: leather banquettes, marble-topped low tables, and a piano in the corner that runs nightly from 18:00. The dress code is loose but enforced; the St. Regis still asks gentlemen to consider a jacket after 17:00.
Order the Red Snapper ($32) — vodka, tomato juice, lemon, salt, pepper, cayenne, Worcestershire, and a 90-year house spice blend. Order it once and decide whether the price holds. The room also pours a tight list of stirred classics ($26 to $30) and a small champagne selection. Regulars on the New York City subreddit consistently recommend skipping the seasonal menu and ordering a Martini, Old Fashioned, or the Red Snapper itself; the bartenders here are not paid to invent. Bar snacks — deviled eggs, smoked salmon, the King Cole Burger — run $18 to $36.
An older Midtown crowd at lunch and tea; finance and tourism overlap at the bar from 18:00 onward. Time Out New York's hotel bar guide notes the room peaks between 19:00 and 21:00 on weekdays and resets after 22:00 when piano service closes. Saturday lunch is the easiest seat; Friday after 18:00 is the hardest.
St. Regis New York official site; The New York Times bar archive; The Infatuation; Eater New York; Time Out New York; r/AskNYC; Google Maps reviews (n=900+).