The main dining room of Tao Uptown is located in an old building that was originally a 19th century stable for the Vanderbilt family, and then later a balconied movie theater, so the space features huge soaring ceilings. Across from the hostess area is a lounge that contains a bar as well as small, low table groupings. Although both my spouse and I noticed the pagers, they did not set off any warning bells that perhaps Tao might not be our type of venue. The greeting area (with no fewer than four somewhat scantily clad hostesses) also includes a table piled high with beepers/pagers (the type of device that chain restaurants provide waiting diners to indicate when they should return to the podium to be seated). In the winter, the property adds a canopy/vestibule enclosure to protect diners from the harsh weather. (Another NYC “branch” of the Tao chain is located in on 9th Avenue in Chelsea at the Maritime Hotel, and two other Tao venues exists in Las Vegas.) A coat check is available upon entry to the restaurant. Tao Uptown is located on East 58th Street (between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue) in the Midtown East/Theatre District of Manhattan. Tao is open Monday through Saturday for lunch, Sunday for brunch, and daily for dinner. We booked a table using the Open Table reservation system, and the hostess seated us immediately upon arrival despite the crowded restaurant. We checked our Open Table app to find nearby restaurants with availability, and Tao seemed to fit our needs – it had a table available, it was located nearby, and we were familiar with the restaurant name. We had planned to eat farther uptown at a restaurant where we had a gift card, but we realized en route to that restaurant that we did not have the card with us, so we made an alternate plan. My spouse and I dined for lunch at Tao Uptown on a Saturday afternoon in late December 2014.
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