Crystal Tea Room At Wanamaker

I recently attended an organization’s luncheon at the Crystal Tea Room and I was excited to check out the venue. Since it was my first time, I didn’t realize that I could enter on Penn street and avoid Macy’s altogether (that’s my tip). After checking in, a group of us navigated the elevators. There were ample elevators so people didn’t have to wait long traveling up; however, attempting to leave was a different story. The room was very elegant in my opinion, standard banquet set up but the food was lacking. The chicken and mashed potatoes were very dry; the mashed potatoes were lumpy and had a hard dry texture. The standout of all things was their iced tea, which was very good. The service was also just ok. Many of the servers were very young and one dripped water on me in his attempt to serve another guest. Thankfully it was only water and cold at that. Overall, an ok time.

I cannot find the words to express how much my husband and I loved our wedding at the Crystal Tea Room. Words truly not express our joy. It’s a family affair over there and they make you feel like you’re one of them. Trish, who we worked with, when I tell you she knew absolutely everything I mean EVERYTHING. Her prompt time with emails and calls was unbelievable! I mean it, it felt like I hadn’t even pressed send and there was a response in my inbox. All the little fires that might have been going on backstage, I never know about, Trish handled everything like a champ! Never looking overwhelmed or stressed once. Miguel, ohhhhh baby how we can’t say enough how we adored him! His attention to detail was amazing, and his fun loving, happy go lucky charm was exactly want we needed on our big day. The room itself — my goodness the room– it commands attention, if the movie sets of The Great Gatsby and Titanic had a baby it would be this immense ballroom. Elegance and class, timeless and breathtaking. James Cameron would be jealous! Just when you think it’s too good to be true, it gets better. The food, everywhere you look there is something for everyone, hats off again to Trish for making sure we picked the right verity of food for our guests. She didn’t «yes ma’am» me which I can never thank her enough for. She listened to my opinion, and my husbands and gave suggestions from her experience. Which let me tell you, take her advice! She knows best and her experience is priceless. So glad we did. Delicious and scrumptious is an understatement. From the cocktail hour, to the reception, and into the after party everything was decadent and divine. Our guests raved about the cocktail hour and all the selection. Not only was it tasty but the presentation was nothing less than eye candy. Dinner made everyone feel like a celebrity at a five star restaurant. Did I mention a room of desserts? Yes, a room! It brought out the kid in everyone, but in case you forgot your age there were chocolate shot glasses filled with after dinner liquors to remind you that this is a grownup party after all. The after party food, a true testimony to Philly. Wings, cheese steaks and a tower of Philadelphia pretzels just to name a few, which all helped out guests get their second wind for the night to go on. This place is beautiful, but it’s the people that work there that make it so incredible. They care so much about you and your loved ones. Speaking of people, my husband and I LOVED Chris, a wonderful server dedicated just to us. We never needed to look for a drink or anything else for that matter. He kept our glasses full and smiles on our faces, he even made sure we ate which was so sweet, and very necessary! It was the best day of our life. It set the bar high for all those who attended our wedding and became a place my husband and I will always cherish and never forget. Thank you Crystal Tea Room!

Don’t Have an Indian Wedding Here.
My fiancé and I checked out the Crystal Tea Room as a possible wedding venue. It’s well-​located and large with a pretty atrium just outside the ballroom that gives you the feel of being out-​of-​doors even though it’s indoors. So we were thinking about having our cocktail hour in the atrium and our reception inside the ballroom.
We put down a deposit, but from the moment they met us, it felt like they were trying to get rid of us. We showed up for a catering tasting, having talked by phone through a whole tentative menu with the director, but then the tasting itself was just two courses (salad and entrée w/​sides) plus tasting pours of the wine options (and they charge for that — $ 275 for 6 people — no other place we had a deposit on charged for a tasting). Our only feedback to her was that we had been led to believe the tasting would include more than it did, and that the food was too salty. They said they had over-​seasoned it «because we are Indian,» and we tried to explain that while Indians definitely like more black pepper and other seasonings, that doesn’t mean we like salt dumped on our food.
The vibe we got is that they’re not really interested in Indian wedding business. They kept making comments like «your people’s weddings are a lot more complicated,» and they initiated returning our deposit. It was weird because our wedding is on a Sunday, which is usually a day that venues will bend over backwards to get your business.
I do not recommend this venue to anyone having an Indian wedding.

NYE REVIEW
I came here for New Year’s Eve. We got the executive lounge VIP ticket (~250 including taxes and whatnot)…worth it. Your own table with party favors (hats, etc), 2 bottles of ketal one, champagne, PLENTY OF SPACE! You can go to any other room but other tickets can’t come into your room. Every time I go out for NYE it’s a cluster because there’s so many people and I can never get drinks at open bar. Well this is OPEN BAR and plenty of bars for you to get drinks at!!! It’s an older crowd in here considering the price is steep. It’s a classy place. There’s a buffet with excellent steak and other food (pasta, cheese, veggies). There’s also a body art station where you can get free removable tattoos. They had a silent auction– if you are intoxicated– stay the f**k away from here. My friend ended up buying a LeSean McCoy signed helmet…600 dollars. Yeah you don’t want to wake up to the new year with that.
Con: Expensive compared to most NYE places
Pros: Buffet
Open Bars (literally around every corner. you will ALWAYS have a drink in your hand) — ends at 1am
Two kettle one vodka bottles
Champagne
ROOM– no need to be sweating
Private Seating Area
Act sloppy but look classy
Coat check– I just kept my jacket in our seating area

Went here for NYE because me and my husband wanted to do something different for once. Purchased the VIP access. One good thing having the VIP access was that we had first dibs on tables and the food. Carving stations were good, pastas and buffet were meh. I soley purchased the VIP because they exaggerated the fact it was «top shelf» mind you they had no cognac what so ever. They had Jameson, captain and all that stuff with general admission area. Music in VIP was good, and the band was ok in general area. Falsely advertised the balloon drop. Thinking it would be a bunch of balloons dropping on you which it wasn’t. We enjoyed ourselves for the most part but left soon after midnight to go somewhere else where we had better drinks. If I was to go again id save myself money and get the general admission

I’ve been here now for a few events. They are always a good time. Crystal Tea Room staff is always on top of things and the events are always clean and under control (despite the large number of people drinking, eating, and generating trash at all of the events I’ve been at.
The décor is perfect for your late 80s wedding reception – dark wood paneling, columns, mirrors, lots of chandeliers, dark dark dark. I’m sure that it’s kitsch is part of its charm. The Wanamaker/Macy’s building is one of my favorite classics in Philly but slight updating to the Crystal Tea Room wouldn’t hurt anyone.

We we’re at the Pasquarini wedding at The Crystal Tea room on Saturday Night, this wedding was probably one of the best weddings, hands down that I have attended so I felt the need to give them a review and 5 star. The cocktail hour was extravagant, enough food for dinner! My husband and I both had the steak which was cooked perfectly and even toped a steak that I recently had at capital grill which is hard to do! The bartenders were very pleasant and professional– they were very impressive and remembered my drinks after just coming to the bar 2 times! Overall it was a great experience and I look forward to hopefully celebrating more weddings at this location.
I believe the NYE party gives them lower ratings then they should have, It’s an event that my daughter has gone too and it is put on by some outside promoter in Philly i believe. Anyway Thanks Crystal Tea Room for a great night :)

Nice venue and very spacious! I will say that it is absolutely ridiculous getting up to the crystal tea room from the garage there are no signs that point you in the right direction and to be honest they should have had security directing ppl instead of them all being in the one section by the elevators dicking around! The bathrooms were small for the size of the venue our they should have more but the staff kept it clean, I really appreciate that because no one likes a gross bathroom, yuck!, I think they need to reinforce the floor because when I was on the dancefloor it was like moving from all the ppl dancing that made me nervous so I moved to the outskirts of the dance floor just to be safe.

Not bad, but definite room for improvement. I went for NYE this year. The size of the room was great, plenty of room for the masses of people attending. I thought the dance floor was too small for the size of the room.
The décor was pleasant, but a bit too old world cheese for my taste.
I ate (perhaps foolishly) before coming. The food looked really good, and there was a roast pig. Drinks were okay, depending on which bartender I went to. Some did not seem to know what they were doing and messed up drinks as simple as whiskey and club soda.
Nico L. is correct, the men’s room was a flooded, gross, smelly mess long before midnight. I think this best speaks to the inadequate size of the bathroom for the size of the venue.
It is a bit strange that you have to walk through the Macy’s to get the the elevator to go up to the tea room, we almost got lost without someone pointing us to the correct location. As we were leaving, someone had tripped the security alarm in the department store so we were forced to listen to deafening noise while we waited in line to get our coats.
I am not sure how much of this is the location’s fault, but some of these issues are potential nuisances when the entrance to the event hall is through a department store. I have enjoyed other event rooms in Philly more.

The staff who you get to talk to is very helpful, however a lot of riff raff gets in. I was here for NYE and there were dozens of people simply looking for a fight.
The bathroom was clean until about 10 PM. A toilet overflowed and they ran out of paper towels in the men’s room.
The liquor was watered down, not the bartender’s fault. However, the manager’s always seemed to look down their nose at people.
Taking the elevator up is a bit of a nuisance as well. Beautiful location though

Over the past few years, I’ve been to a handful of events at the Crystal Tea Room including a few Taste of Philly’s, a few Savors and the Bear Affair. The ballroom lends itself really well for different tables, if it is set up right. Over the years I’ve seen several different set ups and it really depends on the event organizer to make or break the space logistically.
The décor of the Crystal Team Room is that of a classic style ballroom. There’s nothing modern or funky about it. The room is large and filled with different shades of browns and neutral tones. There is wood trim and mirroring on the wall. The walls have little ledges which make perfect resting spots for food and drink.
Long lines at the coat check are probably unavoidable and I’ve always run into a decent wait time during the colder weather months that require a checked jacket.
At the most recent Taste of Philly, I was able to take advantage of the courtyard couches outside of the ballroom as a place to sit down and take a breather from standing and eating.
I’ve never been here for a wedding or formal event although I’m sure that would be nice too. A few years back when my husband and I were looking for a wedding venue, the Crystal Tea Room was surprisingly within a «reasonable for Philly» price range. We ultimately didn’t check out the venue because we’d already been to so many events there and the memories had already been made. It’s probably worth checking out though.

I am solely reviewing the staff at The Crystal Tea Room on this review. I attended a luncheon yesterday by non profit Tech Impact and I (along with several others) was beside myself at the staff’s ignorance to the people who were speaking at event. Instead of waiting for the event to be over the staff was roaming around on the floor collecting glasses, silverware, plates, etc which eco’d throughout the space as they stacked plates and glasses. You think it was the world record showcase of who could pick up the most drinking glasses in one hand & make the most noise.
I asked our waiter (sarcastically trying to drive point) «Do you guys have any event immediately following this or do guy have somewhere to be» and he didn’t get it and said no. On his second round of speeeeed clean up «Please stop. I am not sure if you are hard of hearing but there is a person right up there (behind you look) on the stage speaking into the microphone. He speaking to us and you are making it very difficult for us to hear him & pretty disruptive»… He left the table but 1 minute later her returned and started making that CLING CLING noise.
After the event I spoke to one of the host to voice my concern & she said «Waitstaff?» Yes apparently they complain about them every year and every year they are more disruptive then the last.
For an event space that is in the heart of the city, well known & quite expensive you think they would spend some money on customer care.

RUDE!!! Terrible customer service
Was attending event there and called to ask walking directions from the Market East train station, closeby but needed exact street names/​directions) I called the number and asked how do i get there from the market east train station. The woman answering said I dont know where the station is. I said (surprised) well it is around the «corner» (surprised she was clueless as it is about 3 blocks away but i was unsure of exact st name and how to get there walking from the station). Her reply was «then walk around the corner»
Real nice promotor for facility!
If it wasnt a benefit event I would have stayed home.

Rating this for the NYE bash: NOT worth the price. Save your money; you could get the same thing for way cheaper at almost any other venue on New Years in Philly. I was looking for something classy and sophisticated, where my friends and I could get all dressed up, have good food and drinks and dance all night in a nice venue. For that I was willing to pay steeper prices. My friends and I were debating on Piazza at Schmidt but we thought this would be a much more upscale event, so we didn’t mind paying the higher price… until we got there!
We paid $ 115/​ticket at the «early bird rate» to eat garbage food, standing up mind you, because they didn’t even have enough tables-​are you kidding me!!! The band was TERRIBLE! They were so off beat and off pitch that on some songs I actually had to think about the lyrics in order to figure out what they were playing! Their breaks when a DJ took over were the only times when there was good dancing music.
If I wanted to spend NYE stalking a table, so that I could eat lousy food (I mean come on– a white pasta, a red pasta, a chunk of roast beef, and some sandwiches-​you can’t do better than that for $ 115/​head?) and listening to a sub par cover band, I would have gone to a craphole in the NorthEast-​at least I wouldn’t have spent so much!
I have one positive comment, which is the only reason I’m giving this event 2 stars: they did give you your money’s worth with the alcohol. Thank God because I really needed something to mellow out my irritation! There were enough bars that there was never a long line, and the bartenders (and I use that term loosely since they couldn’t do much more than stir a shot into a soda) did pour heavy. So in that aspect, they did a good job. Nonetheless, I will NOT be returning next year…
Is it just me, or does it seem like every venue in Philly that hosts a NYE event has this attitude of, «We’re going to sell out anyway because it’s NYE, so why bother to make it nice?»? Next year I think I will try the Spirit of Philadelphia NYE cruise and see if that’s any better…

Was here for their New Year’s Eve party. Great looking space in an amazing building. There was some confusion in the beginning of the night on what lines to stand in to enter (most venues seems to ignore this process). But once we got in, we had a great time. There were plenty of bar areas to order a drink from. The bartenders were good even with the huge crowd. The mixed drinks were pretty strong and they actually had some decent spirits for being an open bar. The food was good (and useful with all that drinking) and plentiful. Though there was a huge crowd I never felt like I was cramped for space or anything like that (and I usually do in large crowds, AHHH PEOPLE). We actually picked out a nice table (there were a ton of tables) and were able to dance near it instead of on the crowded dance floor.

I’ve been to the Crystal Tea Room for law school formals and a few other events like last night’s Taste of Philadelphia. My impression is «eh.»
Nice, yes. Stuffy, yes. Outdated, yes. My impression of the Crystal Tea Room always begins when you have to enter-​instead of entering with crystal chandeliers or so, you walk through an area with a view of… Macy’s. Odd. The actual room has crystal chandeliers but carpet that has seen better days.
I would expect for a venue that is this expensive that it could be updated.

My daughter’s wedding reception was truly the way she dreamed it. The Finlely staff is helpful and happy and provided really amazing food, service, and atmosphere. Our guests were delighted and impressed by the elaborate cocktail hour buffets in the beautiful atrium and the dinner was delicious; tender tasty tenderloin cooked perfectly and decent crab cakes with great salad and sides. The dessert buffet was also generous and delicious, and the wedding cake was the best I have ever eaten.
I cannot say enough good things about Miguel and his crew. They brought us food and drink and cued the speeches and even walked the gifts and flowers back to the hotel.
You absolutely can’t go wrong by booking this venue for such an important event.

I was at a wedding here recently. The space, décor, the cocktail hour (s) in the Atrium were breathtaking and elegant.
Now for the food:
Apps-​Over sodium’d everything, from the sodium laced lamb chops, scallops wrapped in bacon, spring rolls, pasta stations and by nature the antipasto tables. The shrimp were overcooked, the crab legs had no flavor.
Dinner-​my fillet was tough, my date’s fillet was tender, the crab cakes were loaded with salt, once again, the damn salt. The potatoes were salty also. Snap peas were fine.
Desert Room-​wonderfully presented, the chocolate fountain with dipping items, cakes, strawberries were terrific. The other pastries and cookies were a little soggy, not fresh, or they sat out in the humidity too long. I would say 50% of this room was very good.
Service-​the service was efficient and timely except every time we went to the dance floor, our drinks were cleared from the table, whether it was a half empty beer, scotch, decaf coffee, cappuccino.
Overall, not bad for a wedding with 300 people, but not the best.

Yesterday I attended PhillyMag’s Philly Cooks event at the Crystal Tea Room. I was a guest judge, which was especially fun since I was able to hobnob with some very interesting Philadelphians in the Judges’ Lounge. I won’t lie, I almost felt like a child who had somehow snuck her way into a seat at the adult’s table — and I loved every minute of it!
During the judging, staff members quickly reset our place settings after every single course, and there were many. They did it with a smile and some humor. Afterwards, the event opened to ticket holders, and a flood of the young and hot took over the grand room. Particularly swanky was the Blackfish lounge, which was separate from the rest of the party.
Stations were arranged in such a way that traffic could flow pretty easily through the corridors. There were plenty of trash cans, high top tables, and stations for used glasses around the floor, which is always a good thing. «DJ Chef» Marc Weiss spun bumpin’ tunes as he simultaneously cooked up some delicious-​looking eats.
This was one fun party that I was glad to be a part of. I look forward to returning for another schmancy soirée!

We attended a wedding reception at the Crystal Tea Room in the Wannamaker Building. It was lovely and one of the nicest weddings we have ever attended.
We started with cocktails and h’orderves in the atrium. It was a nice way to start a party – glass ceiling, lots of light, a fountain, and plants all around. Then we were moved into the Crystal Tea Room for dinner (see picture). I had no complaints about the food – everything was good and came out promptly. Attached to the CTR was a cigar room and chocolate room. Wedding cake, along with other cakes, pies and sweets were spread about in the chocolate room. Guests helped themselves to the desserts.
My only complaint? When our table got up to take a picture, waitstaff cleared our full drinks from the table.