Peek Inside Rolf's German Restaurant, New York City's Most Festive Bar

Rolf's German Restaurant is a Gramercy bar that really gets into the holiday season. Every year in early autumn, Rolf's crams over 100,000 lights, 15,000 ornaments, thousands of icicles, and about 800 dolls into their small space.

Restaurant manager Suhal Uddin told Business Insider that hanging the decorations costs the restaurant between $60,000 and $65,000 each year.

With lines around the block, getting into Rolf's during the holidays is pretty tough, so here are a bunch of photos so you can check it out wherever you are.

Bartender's at Rolf's - Manhattan, NYC | Thanks to Eater.com for featuring my pic!

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Rolf's is famous for their Christmas decorations — Bartender's at Rolf's - Manhattan, NYC | Thanks to Eater.com for featuring my pic! ny.eater.com/archives/2011/12/brooklyn_community_boards_n... Rolf's is famous for their Christmas decorations

Rolf's is rather unassuming from the outside.

The Christmas decorations usually start going up during the last week of September.

Over the following six weeks, six men work overnight, five nights a week, to complete the ornate decorating process.

By November 1, it's complete. At Rolf's, the holiday season begins well before Thanksgiving.

Uddin said that the decorating tradition was carried over from the restaurant's previous owner. It gets more elaborate each year.

According to Uddin, there are an estimated 100,000 lights strung up throughout the restaurant.

About 15,000 ornaments are hung from the ceiling.

In addition to that, there are thousands of icicles.

Once you notice the dolls, you can't help but begin spotting them everywhere.

According to Uddin, Rolf's replaces every ornament that's broken or damaged. "The decorations cost us between $60,000 and $65,000 every year," he told Business Insider.

Special Christmas-themed cocktails, including spiced eggnog and mulled wine, are served throughout the season.

The restaurant becomes extremely busy starting the second and third weekends of December. Uddin told us that the line to get in sometimes wraps around the corner.

Tourists flock from all over the world to see Rolf's. "We get a couple hundred international calls for reservations every year," Uddin said. "We can't accommodate everyone, but we try our best."

Luckily, they keep their decorations up until April, so that anyone who couldn't make it for Christmas still has the chance to experience it in the spring.

After that, all of the decorations are packed up and sent to a storage room in Brooklyn, where they sit until the next Christmas season.

via BI

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Rolf's German Restaurant

281 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10010
rolfsnyc.com
(212) 477-4750
View on Yelp.com

Matt Coneybeare

Editor in Chief

Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.

Posts by Matt Coneybeare

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