Renaissance Event Hall

I second a previous reviewer named Allen. I believe we attended the same wedding reception. Although I didn’t know the times of the salads, I did know that my entrée didn’t come out until 11pm. The fish was very overcooked and no one at my table finished it. The beef was very chewy and bland. The Cornish hen was delicious which was my order. They forgot a seat at my table and we seemed to have been forgotten because we were on the balcony. I didn’t stay for the cake/​desserts so I can’t say anything about those. But I did see the macarons and lava cakes on my way out. At that point, it was 11:30. My family and I didn’t want to wait so we left early.
It’s really hard to like this place because I had such a bad experience here. It shouldn’t take 2 hours to get food to the table even for so many people. I glanced at my phone shortly after the tortellini and it was 9pm. I didn’t get my entrée until 11 and by that time, most of the people downstairs had finished their food or just stopped eating because I assume most of the Asian adults ordered the fish which was inedible.
I feel upset for the bride and groom because they didn’t want their guests to feel this way on their special day. By the way, the DJ and staff got their food way before any of the guests. That says something. By the time the food got to my table, everything was cold.
So beware if you want to have a wedding reception here.

Recently got married and held our reception here. Although the exterior is nothing fancy, especially with the construction going on next door, don’t let it fool you! The interior is beautiful! I agree that they do charge you for everything, but in the end, it is still a very good price for a wedding in New York City. I will say that communication was a bit off – we had a couple of miscommunications through email/​phone and delays in meetings – but luckily I was a calm bride and in the end everything came together perfectly! Jessica made sure we were taken care of day of and I can honestly say that I had a great, stress-​free time on my wedding day. If you do choose to do your wedding here, I would suggest taking pictures on the piers in Long Island City– amazing views and a short convenient ride to the venue :)

I recently attended a wedding at the Renaissance and I have to it say that the food at this venue takes the prize for the worst food I have ever had at a wedding. But more about that later… We arrived a little late to the reception since the bride and groom rented two double decker buses to take some of the guests and we hit some traffic. The wedding started at 7 and we arrived at 7:35. We started lining up for the cocktail hour and then we heard everyone needed to sit down to order their dinner. When dud cocktail hour become cocktail 45 minutes? I was able to grab a puff pastry which looked good but was filled with a lump of blue cheese covered with a few strands of caramelized onions. I was so hungry I ate it despite the bad combo. I was able to get a few slices of beef before they shut it down with a full line of people that hadn’t eaten anything all night yet! They took the remaining pieces of beef back to the kitchen ratcheting than feeding these poor guests. No exceptions and no questions asked. Why couldn’t you just feed this group since you saved on the 80 people from eating during cocktail hour the last 35 minutes!!! Where did all that food go? Probably to feed the employees or saved for the next day’s event! I wouldn’t be surprised.
Well we had a nice salad by 815, tortellini in cream sauce about 9:00 and then dinner wasn’t served until 10:30. What the f@$k? You rusted us to order the food to keep to a schedule and you serve dinner an hour and a half before the function is over! Well the mahi mahi was the most overlooked piece of fish! Not only my son’s piece but every piece we saw around us. It had a spicy rub and mango salsa that tasted bad. Looks like no one even tasted this before it went out. It was not edible and my son will eat most anything. I had the skirt steak that must have been the fattiest piece of beef I’ve had. The saving grace was the chimichurri sauce that masked the fatty steak. Finally the third choice was the Cornish game hens. Which were good. Ironically my nieces and nephews had chicken fingers and fries which I saw the parents stealing and eating because they were the best thing from their menu!
I gave to say the ache was delicious and desserts tasty. Especially the macarons so compliments to the bakers.
I would say that if you come to this place leave as soon as you can because the management really doesn’t know how run a catering hall. The rule of the customer comes first was not followed and taste everything you serve was also not followed. These are two inherent rules for any catering business. Evidently, Renaissance falls short on numerous counts!

Everything was wonderful until the day before the wedding.
I had planned on bringing in champagne bottles as wedding favors and we had about 12 boxes to drop off along with a 6 foot signing board and other boards and frames. They were prepping for an event that evening and not once did any staff offer to help. Mind you, we were only given a short time frame for dropping off our stuff and in turn, I wasn’t able to get my nails done for my wedding.

Then, on the day of, from the minute I stepped into the hall, I was hounded for money from a pack of hyenas. My fiancé and I had paid them in full a few days before the wedding. Turns out, they had calculated more people than I had told them from my place cards. There was a back and forth about how 10 people were not accounted for. I knew they were. As a bride, there is nowhere im supposed to keep an extra $ 700 they were asking of me and they kept on hounding me in front of my Bridal Party. I finally had to tell them to back off and handle it with my parents. My parents were nice enough to contact someone to bring them $ from home and until this person didn’t come, Renaissance refused to let anyone proceed to the reception after cocktail hour until they were paid. Then, once my wedding coordinator argued with them, they refused to start dinner until they were paid. A good hour of my reception was wasted over $ 700. What happened after the back and forth? 10 people ended up not coming.
I paid an extra $ 100 to get four 9×13 pans of leftover food. After the party was finished and all the guests were gone I went downstairs to the bathroom and saw ALL staff taking multiple aluminum pans of food home with them. Staff had already eaten prior to the event starting. Guess the extra $ 700 went towards feeding staff and their families.
Overall, if I could do it over again, I’d have my event elsewhere. If it werent for my Day of Coordinator, don’t know what would have happened. Save yourself a headache.

I prefer NO STARS but that’s not an option.
This is a long review so here is a quick recap:
— Establishment would rather have the police show up while an event is ending rather than handle a situation themselves.
— Establishment asked a guest to look under the table herself rather than have staff assist.
— Establishment suggested that the hosts take responsibility for the stolen property.
— Establishment was not properly secure and not all security cameras were functioning correctly.
— Establishment openly violates fire codes by blocking fire exits with tables putting the safety of their guests, staff, and emergency personnel in jeopardy.
I do not recommend this venue for any event from corporate to personal. Any successful venue strives on their reputation, and reputation is built on how they execute under the best circumstances and worst circumstances.
I was a guest at an event and while I was enjoying the party (which was a private function for close family and friends) I left my bag at my table while I was dancing. For anyone who has been to a private function before knows that this is what most women do, they leave their purses on the table/​seat while they are dancing/​mingling with other guests.
My husband and I were leaving the party when I went into my bag and noticed my phone was missing. I asked the maitre d’/manager of the party if he could have someone help me look around in case it fell out or if it was turned in since the staff had already began clearing the tables. He flatly replied, «No. Did you look?» I told him yes but would like some help since the lighting is low, and in the instance it may have been turned in I would like him to check with the staff. He proceeded to refuse to help me look. The phone wasn’t located and all calls to it went unanswered and then went to voicemail (meaning it was turned off) which raised my suspicions. I asked the maitre d’ if we could have a look at the security cameras and he said, «No, call the police.» Keep in mind, the event was wrapping up. There were still plenty of guests saying their goodbyes, the hosts were still there, etc. and the maitre d’ wanted us to call the police. We asked a few more times for him to cooperate and he refused. At this point we also realized cash, health insurance card, and credit card were missing.
We felt we had no choice but to call the police and when they arrived we found out surprisingly (or not) the camera over our table wasn’t functioning properly. I was told it wasn’t functioning properly because they normally don’t put a table in that corner because it’s a fire exit– therefore they admitted to blocking a fire exit with a table which is UNLAWFUL and a fire hazard. There are many caveats that led me to believe that my phone was stolen from my purse by a staff member but I didn’t outright accuse any of them. I asked the maitre d’ if he can assemble them all in one area and ask about the phone — I didn’t ask him to search them or accuse them, just ask if they saw the phone– he refused. I felt as though this was being completely mishandled so I asked if I can speak to the owner to see if she could instruct him on how to handle this. The maitre d’ refused to call the owner.
Over the next few days the maitre d’ flipped the story from what the cops wrote down on the report and what he finally related to the owner. When I spoke with the owner she refused to be of any help either. I have numerous emails back and forth with her in which she basically absolved any responsibility and even had the audacity to ask me to go after the event hosts and have them take responsibility. It got to the point where all I wanted was to be reimbursed for the missing phone. The owner would rather put her reputation on the line then do good business and appease a guest.
I speak as someone who has hosted and planned many events for work and my personal life. I have never seen a venue managed the way this venue is managed. The upper management is unprofessional. The way in which they acted towards me spoke volumes as to how they manage their business. There are many other venues in the area that I would consider over this venue.

My fiancée and I were initially planning to have our wedding here later this year, but unfortunately we had to cancel our reservation due to a serious issue with the food.
We liked the customer service, as the representatives were very professional. We put down our deposit to reserve the date, and thought everything was good to go.
We then scheduled a semiprivate tasting event because their regular tasting event didn’t feature many of the menu items we wanted on our menu. Mind you, a semiprivate tasting event is when the food is supposed to be at its best. Unfortunately, shortly after we left the venue, my fiancée had 13 hours of running to the toilet repeatedly. Neither myself, nor any of the other guests reported any issues, but as far as we’re concerned, one person (my fiancée) going through 13 hours of you-​know-​what is more than enough reason to cancel.
The venue declined our request to have our $ 1,000 security deposit returned. We signed a contract indicating that the security deposit is nonrefundable, but under the circumstances, it’s really sad to see that they didn’t do the right thing and refund us anyway.
Good luck to you, and I hope the food sanitation procedures improve by the time you read this.

This venue is beautiful and has really great food. I was here for a wedding last June and had no idea this place existed! It’s small, and is not in the greatest location, but I believe the area should improve in a few years, which should draw in more customers.

Checked out a wedding experience event here. As others have mentioned, it’s definitely a random location for a «formal» venue with car service shops and 99c stores neighbors.
Inside, I really couldn’t see a wedding experience despite the mock wedding set up. Even if you capped guests to 50 people, with the servers/​photographers bands it’s going to be tight. The bar is a bottleneck. They also set up a projection screen so that it’s directly above guest tables– ie, the people sitting below can’t see.
It looked like the dance floor and carpet ratio was fixed so you couldn’t flip the layout. The projector was definitely fixed on a pole.
The horsdoeuvres were ok. Did not stay for the buffet dinner. Small venue that might suffice for a sweet 16 or something but I wouldn’t consider for an occasion as special as a wedding.

Our last stop on the Venue tour was the Renaissance Astoria. Fiancé completely fell in love with the place based on the photos. It reminds me of a nice restaurant in Tuscany — pale marble floors, dark wood panels, a large bar, modern textured rock wall, uplighting, red carpet, detailed iron grating. Its a gorgeous space and definitely newer than many of the others we visited. In addition, they can accomodate the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception.
The blessing and the curse of the Renaissance is the layout. The first floor opens from the door to the bar area. Then the floor drops out in the center and the sides form a mezzanine balcony over a central atrium. Its gorgeous — but logistically inflexible. With a wedding as large as ours, we would have to seat a third of the guests in the mezzanine, away from the dance floor and the rest of the guests. Cocktail hour would also have to span both levels, and they would open two bars to accomodate the traffic. We also had th option of letting cocktail hour spill over into the sidewalk, but the neighborhood isn’t really nice enough where I think that would look nice.
The menu sounded tasty and can include wedding cake and open bar. There were four options that we could make changes to and gave us just enough flexibility without being overwhelming. However, it only offered eight hor deouvres, where I had seen 10 – 12 in other venues. The price point was true to the range that I had researched. Do note that the ceremony fee is a bit high, but probably fair considering what you’d pay for Manhattan.
I would totally recommend the Renaissance to weddings for under 150 guests. The communication isn’t stellar (we had a few email mishaps), but I think day of would be gorgeous.

I literally just joined to write a review about this place. and thats not a good thing.
So I was there last night ¹²⁄₁₆ for your typical holiday party and things were good until. the catering staff started bussing the tables. Usually when you go out, they will take the dishes away from the table but HERE they rest the dirty dish tub on top of your clean table linen and place your dirty glasses into the tub in the presence of the guests! I was astonished but that wasn’t the worst part.
Dessert time– slices of red velvet cake were placed on a large platter and the server dropped it off and said «Serve yourselves».excuse me… last time i checked we paid you to do that.(thats what i thought. not said lol)
There was one piece of cake sitting on my table for a good 45 mins.stale. and while he server collected the dirty dishes (with the dirty tub rested on the table again.) another guest at another table states she never had cake. he took that stale piece of cake from our table and gave it to her. Only god knows if someone sneezed or nipped at that piece. I sat from afar watching this lady eat this cake.smh.
Overall, I have to say I wouldn’t have my future wedding or any events at this place. BUT thats just me.

Very nice venue for a wedding I attended here recently. The only thing I think it needs are some more decorations against the back wall. Maybe some tall branches or some kind of foliage.
Food was excellent, Meat was slightly overcooked but everything else in buffet was cooked perfectly and tasty and staff was very generous with portions.
Staircase, balcony, piano player, and open air dining all very nice touches.
I highly recommend to book here an event within the next year or two before the venue gets beat up. It is a catering hall in Astoria and you know the way those places end up looking after a while.

So after Astoria World Manor, I stopped in here for a drink. I thought Astoria World Manor was nice, this place takes the cake!
Hats off to the owners of this wonderfully run establishment I wish you the best of luck!
Cheers!!!
Arben

Just 3 months old, Renaissance Steakhouse is a real gem in this area. A really beautiful restaurant/​banquet hall used for private events (weddings, etc) on the weekends as far as I can tell. There is a nice balcony overlooking the dancefloor or you can sit in front or outside the restaurant also. They are very new and are still working out some kinks but the food is excellent and the atmosphere matches. I’ve eaten here twice and been really impressed with the food thus far. It is cooked perfectly and decently priced. Clearly they have a talented chef. The menu is usually small and changes each time I go, but I like that, it shows me what is fresh and it is good to change things up. It’s not a typical steakhouse, they offer far more than just steak and seem to be heavy on the fish. That said, the steak is excellent. I’ve had the Filet Minion and the sirloin (blackened on our request) and they were both excellent, tasty, cooked perfectly, and lean.
The Filet Minion was really out of this word. It was a filet, wrapped in bacon, topped with cheese (Roquefort perhaps, maybe blue I forget), fried onions and onion rings. Overkill for sure, but fantastic flavors and textures. The crispy onions and the soft caramelized onions are a great contrast, really work with the meat, cheese and bacon. Yea this is a meal you shouldn’t order more than say once a year, which may not be a problem, as it was not on the menu the 2^nd time I visited Renaissance.
For appetizers I’ve had a salad, which was huge and very tasty. The calamari in tempura batter was extremely tender calamari, not chewy at all. Perfectly fried in a great tomato sauce. Not a large appetizer and a bit steep for $ 11, but excellently cooked and very tasty. My fiancé loved her Shrimp stuffed with crab with a lobster sauce. Great flavors, cooked well. The only problem is that it did not come with a side dish, yet the other entrees came with a side dish. The last time I ate there I had the baby lamb chops. Not a large portion but cooked and seasoned well, served with spinach. Good dish.
Overall the service is a bit slow, but they are very nice and the food is just excellent. The prices are decent, better than many steak houses in NYC. Highly recommended for a great meal, but only if your not in a rush, this is dining. They also have a nice bar, and show movies on Tuesday nights.

We had our wedding here, and really enjoyed the whole night. The food was great and the staff was very accommodating. The only negative might be the location. Outside there really isn’t much to look at, but inside the décor is awesome. Alot better than the other catering halls in the area.