One is a restaurant that only looks like a private club. The other is a private club you can check into for the night. Crane Club and The Twenty Two show where Manhattan’s club scene is heading, and how to get a taste of it without an application.

Crane Club and The Twenty Two at a glance

Crane Club The Twenty Two
Location 85 Tenth Avenue at 16th Street, Chelsea 16 East 16th Street, near Union Square
Opened Late 2024 February 2025
What it is A public restaurant from Tao Group Hospitality A London members club with a 76-room hotel and public cafe
Building A 1913 Nabisco factory The 1891 Margaret Louisa Home
Who runs it Chef Melissa Rodriguez with Tao Group Navid Mirtorabi and Jamie Reuben, with partner Michael Chetrit
Cost to get in A reservation Reported $1,000 initiation and $1,800 a year, or a hotel room
Best for The club feeling, open to anyone Trying club life before you commit

For most of New York history, a “club” meant a door you could not open. Then, in the last few years, the word started showing up everywhere: on restaurants, on gyms, on hotels. Two of the newest arrivals in Manhattan use the word in completely different ways, and together they say a lot about where the city’s social scene is going.

Crane Club, in Chelsea, has “Club” in its name and no members at all. The Twenty Two, near Union Square, is a real members club that will happily rent you a room for the night.

One borrows the mood of exclusivity. The other lends it out. Both are betting that New Yorkers want the feeling of a private club more than they want the paperwork.

What is Crane Club?

Crane Club is a restaurant, not a private club. It was opened by chef Melissa Rodriguez and Tao Group Hospitality inside the 85 Tenth building, a former Nabisco factory built in 1913 in Chelsea, according to Hospitality Design. Anyone can book a table.

What makes it feel like a club is the room. A double-height dining room with curved archways, red velvet drapes from floor to ceiling, curved booths, and a separate bar room with a 12-seat red marble bar. The Michelin Guide lists it as a steakhouse and praises its pastas and desserts, according to Michelin.

The chef is the real credential. Rodriguez earned two Michelin stars and a four-star review from The New York Times at the late Del Posto, according to Tao Group. The Infatuation called Crane Club the “responsible choice” in Tao’s family of party restaurants, in a review that praised its three kinds of table bread.

Why would a restaurant call itself a club?

A restaurant calls itself a club because the word now sells a feeling: privacy, glamour and the sense that you are somewhere special. Crane Club gets those benefits without the costs of running a real membership, such as committees, waitlists and the risk of turning away good customers.

It is a clever piece of branding. Think of it like a hotel that calls its bar a “library.” Nobody expects to borrow a book. They just want to feel smart while they drink. At Crane Club, you get to feel like a member without ever filling out an application. Our story on the developers behind the club boom explains why so many new buildings in Manhattan are betting on that feeling.

What is The Twenty Two?

The Twenty Two is a London private members club and hotel that opened its New York location in February 2025 at 16 East 16th Street, near Union Square. The original opened in April 2022 on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair, and the New York house is nearly twice as big, at about 80,000 square feet, according to Travelling for Business.

It occupies the Margaret Louisa Home, a building founded in 1891 by the socialite Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard as a residence for working women. Today it holds a 76-room hotel, which the Michelin Guide has awarded one Michelin Key, a second-floor members club, a gym, and Cafe Zaffri, an all-day restaurant on the ground floor that is open to the public, according to the Michelin Guide.

How much does The Twenty Two cost?

Membership at The Twenty Two New York was reported at $1,800 a year with a $1,000 initiation fee, according to Hotels Above Par. That makes it one of the more affordable members clubs in Manhattan. It still filled up quickly. Galerie reported a waitlist soon after it opened.

There is also a back door, and it is completely legitimate. Anyone can book a room at the hotel, and overnight guests get access to members-only spaces during their stay, according to Afar. It is the only serious club in Manhattan where a credit card and a free weekend get you a look inside.

Are Crane Club and The Twenty Two a threat to the older clubs?

They are a threat in the friendliest possible way. The older clubs, like Casa Cipriani, sell exclusivity. Crane Club and The Twenty Two sell access to the feeling of exclusivity, at a lower price and with less waiting. For a younger New Yorker who is not ready to spend years on a waitlist, that is an attractive offer.

It also changes how people try clubs. Book dinner at Crane Club, spend a night at The Twenty Two, and you will learn more about whether club life suits you than any application could tell you. Think of them as the test drive before you buy the car. Our full story on Casa Cipriani shows what the established competition looks like.

The club feeling, open to everyone

The best thing about this new wave is that it makes the good parts of club life easier to reach. A beautiful room, a great meal and a sense of occasion are no longer only for people who know a member. You can book them on a Tuesday.

The part you still cannot book is the part that matters most: the people. A club becomes a club when you start running into friends there. Crane Club and The Twenty Two can give you the room. What happens next is up to you. For how they compare with the rest of the field, see our ranking of the best private clubs in NYC, and for the bigger picture, our guide to the velvet rope wars.

Frequently asked questions

Is Crane Club a private club?
No. Crane Club is a public restaurant in Chelsea run by Tao Group Hospitality and chef Melissa Rodriguez. Anyone can make a reservation. The name and the red velvet interior borrow the feeling of a private club, but there is no membership.

Can you stay at The Twenty Two without being a member?
Yes. The Twenty Two New York is also a hotel, and anyone can book one of its rooms. Overnight guests get access to members-only spaces during their stay, and Cafe Zaffri on the ground floor is open to the public.

Where is The Twenty Two in London?
The original Twenty Two is on Grosvenor Square in London’s Mayfair neighborhood and opened in April 2022. The club is named after its London address. The New York house, its second location, opened in February 2025.

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