The Highlight Room is your next must-visit rooftop bar

Bringing delicious and refreshing drinks with a breathtaking view

Rooftop season has arrived in New York City, and there’s no better way to beat the summer heat than hanging out with your friends, drinks in hand, and taking in the gorgeous views of Manhattan. One rooftop lounge we’ve fallen in love with is The Highlight Room, part of Tao Hospitality Group. Located on the border of Lower Manhattan and the Bowery, The Highlight Room brings coastal elegance to the concrete jungle. The venue itself is designed like a Tulum beach bar, but it also has a sophisticated elegance that makes this bar feel upscale and chic while still being a place to kick back and relax.

And while we were there, we had the chance to check out some of the drink and food options on their menu. To start, we opted for the Golden Hour Spritz, which is a perfect summer cocktail to grab. The drink is made with Veuve Ambal, Botanical Grapefruit Rose, Chambord, Peach Boba, and topped with gold leaf. This drink was visually stunning and Instagram-worthy with the golden hue and shimmering gold leaf in the drink. Each sip was so refreshing and bursting with sweet and fruity notes from the grapefruit, peach boba, and the addition of Chambord. And although it is a spritz drink, this drink packs enough punch to keep the party going. We also loved the herbal and botanical notes that give this drink some dimension and break up the fruity and sweet flavors of this drink. We highly recommend this drink to start your night at Highlight Room.

We also tried the NSFW cocktail made with Absolut vodka, Volcan tequila, mango, passion fruit, lime, Rooibos tea, and Red Bull Tropical. The combination of vodka, tequila, and Red Bull initially intrigued us and made us think that this would be a cocktail of the Four Loko variety. And when we tried this drink, we couldn’t have been more wrong. The first sip of this drink brings a beautiful mango flavor where the sweetness is accentuated by notes of passion fruit. This sweetness was beautifully balanced by the addition of Rooibos tea where there were hints of herbs and freshness in the drink. And as you probably noticed, the mix of vodka and tequila in this drink gives it a bit more of an alcoholic edge. But, that being said, a mango cocktail in the summer is something no sane New Yorker would ever complain about. For those who love a good tropical-flavored drink, we recommend this one.

For food, The Highlight Room offers a few small plates for snacking, of which we opted for the Bavarian Soft Pretzel and the Coconut S’Mores Bar for a salty yet sweet sensation. The Bavarian Pretzel was huge and came with a whole grain mustard sauce and a cheddar cheese sauce. This pretzel was crispy on the outside, but very soft and chewy on the inside. Personally, the whole grain mustard sauce was calling to me as I like a little spice with a pretzel, but the cheddar cheese sauce held its own and provided a wonderful flavorful coating for the pretzel bites we dunked into.

The Coconut S’Mores Bar is a foodie’s dream. This dish comes with a graham cracker crust on the bottom, a chocolate ganache in the middle, and a coconut mousse. The combination of the coconut mousse and chocolate ganache was divine and tasted like a high-end Almond Joy. The graham cracker crust was flaky and buttery, which added a beautiful decadence to the dish. But what kept us coming back was how they perfectly captured the essence of coconut in this dish. Bits of coconut flakes popped out and it was so delicious to have this tropical treat in every bite.

Overall, The Highlight Room convinced us as one of the best rooftops in New York. The drinks are all bright, refreshing, tasty and boozy. The ambiance brings a chic and sophisticated atmosphere. And the food is tasty and pairs well with any cocktail. If you are looking for a new rooftop bar where the atmosphere is impeccable and the drinks flow, we can only recommend The Highlight Room.