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A meal at Le Cirque is the perfect capstone to your day spent seeing the sights of New York. Located on the east side in Midtown, this New York restaurant is mere steps from some of the city’s best shopping, attractions and hotels. Spend your afternoon at Bloomingdales, stop by Dylan’s Candy Bar for a sugary snack and get dressed up for dinner at a slew of nearby hotels — all conveniently located quite close to Le Cirque. The exact address for the restaurant is at 1 Beacon Court, also known as 151 E. 58th St., between Third and Lexington avenues. But all you have to do is look for the Bloomberg Building — Le Cirque is located inside.

Given the New York restaurant’s location inside the Bloomberg Building, it’s simple to park at Le Cirque, as long as you’re willing to pay. This Midtown New York restaurant offers parking at a garage across the street for $20, but if you pull into the courtyard in front of Le Cirque’s entrance, you can valet for $35. If your preference is to park on the street, be forewarned that Midtown can be a difficult place to locate street parking in New York. Many spaces are restricted so you may have to drive around for a bit.

Important to remember when making your reservation at Le Cirque — this New York restaurant is open six days a week and closed on Sunday. Open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday, lunch is served from 11:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., while dinner is served from 5:30 to 11 p.m. On Saturday, Le Cirque is only open for dinner from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Every Sunday, Le Cirque is closed, something to note if you’re only in the city for the weekend and are looking to experience the restaurant.

If you book a reservation for lunch or dinner at Le Cirque and your plans change, you should alert the restaurant as soon as possible. Reservations go quickly at this New York restaurant so chances are there is a waiting list filled with people coveting your spot. If you made your reservation online through Le Cirque’s website or through Open Table, you can cancel online, too. But if you called to book your lunch or dinner reservation, you will need to phone the restaurant again to let them know that your plans have changed. There is no penalty for canceling your reservation at Le Cirque.

After your reservation at Le Cirque is confirmed, there are several things you should know about the restaurant before you visit:

1. Its history. The most important thing to note about the New York restaurant is its history. Le Cirque’s owner Sirio Maccioni first opened its doors in 1974, making it a much-celebrated and long-term part of New York’s restaurant scene.

2. It’s worldwide. You should also know that Le Cirque now has several locations around the world in Las Vegas, the Dominican Republic, New Delhi and on the Holland America Cruise Line.

3. The people-watching. If you score a reservation at Le Cirque, you should expect great people-watching during your visit. Celebs, ranging from Kirk Douglas to Sophia Loren, have all been in to dine. The proof? Their photos are displayed on the restaurant’s walls, all taken during their individual visits.

4. The over-the-top décor. The circus-inspired interior is in tune with the restaurant’s namesake. In fact, the main dining room is even modeled after a big top, with bright colors to match.

5. It’s fine dining. Although you may be under the big top, Le Cirque is known for its elegant fine dining and decadent French-Italian cuisine.

The price of a meal at Le Cirque depends on which meal you order and which section of the restaurant you are seated in. If you are in for lunch in the main dining room, a three-course prix fixe menu is available for $45. This includes an appetizer, an entrée and a dessert. Of course, ordering the prix fixe menu is optional—at Le Cirque, you’re always welcome to dine a la carte. The lunch appetizers range in price from $18-49; the lunch entrées are priced between $35-65. If you’re in for dinner in the main dining room, expect a similar price range. Dinner appetizers ordered a la carte go for $21-47, while the entrées cost $39-69. A seasonal prix fixe menu is offered in the main dining room for $92, and a seasonal five-course chef’s tasting menu is available for $125.

If you’re eager to try Le Cirque, but it’s a little bit beyond your budget, our recommendation is to dine in the café for a bit more casual fare. Slightly less stuffy than the main dining room, we found the café to be just as full as the main dining room on the Saturday night we were there. If you’re at the café for lunch, a two-course prix fixe menu is available for $28. If you pay $10 more, it will include dessert. If you order a la carte off the lunch menu in this New York restaurant’s café, expect a price range of $12-60 for appetizers and $16-65 for your main course. A prix fixe dinner option is also available at the café. For $35, you get two courses, but if you pay $10 extra, you can add dessert. Whether you’re in for lunch or dinner in the café, you will order off the same menu for both.

While the restaurant first opened in New York in 1974, Le Cirque has changed its location in New York three times. Since 2006, this New York restaurant has been in its current location, in the Bloomberg Building in Midtown Manhattan, occupying 16,000 square feet of space that’s been brought to life by interior designer Adam Tihany and architect Costas Kondylis. Together, Tihany and Kondylis have created a lavish and celebratory space filled with color, elegance and some of that old New York charm. The French translation of Le Cirque means circus, and that’s exactly what you’ll find inside the doors of the restaurant. Expect reds, yellows, oranges and golds—all eye-catching and vibrant colors that make Le Cirque come alive. Look to the ceiling in the main dining room to get a sense of the ‘big top’ light shade, an homage to the restaurant’s theme. Also, take note of the fresh floral displays and the wall mirrors set up to reflect every possible view. In Le Cirque’s casual dining café next to the bar, you’ll find a similar look, but one that draws attention to the restaurant’s history in New York. Large candid black and white photos of restaurant owner Sirio Maccioni—pictured over the years with a variety of celebrity guests—are on display for all to see. Also on display: candid snapshots of Le Cirque’s celebrity guests, ranging from Kirk Douglas to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, all inside the restaurant to dine at various times. Another signature design element in the café? The glass bar connected to a kaleidoscope wine tower, a gorgeous architectural piece that steals all the attention in the room. The interior design at Le Cirque is ostentatious and extravagant, the perfect tribute to it’s namesake and an impressive show to see.

If you’re making a reservation for lunch or dinner at Le Cirque, take note — tables go very fast at this Midtown hotspot inside the Bloomberg Building. In the main dining room, Le Cirque has 40 tables, while there are just 32 seats available in the café, where the New York restaurant serves more casual fare. If you decide to come early for your reservation, or want to try your luck waiting for a table to open up, there are 12 seats at the all-glass bar where you can relax and people watch while you wait. Your best plan is to make reservations early. With only 40 tables in the main dining room, it can be tough to secure a spot.

The service at Le Cirque is professional and well practiced. If you’re in for lunch or dinner, expect a formal experience that has been fine-tuned over time. We tried Le Cirque for dinner on a Saturday night, and the service was good, but a bit spotty at the start. Not one, but two different servers visited our table to take our drink order, a clear miscommunication about who was meant to oversee our table. Once that confusion was straightened out, our dining experience was back on course. We were delighted at our server’s clear recommendations for the best dishes to order off the menu that night. We followed his advice and were very pleased with our selections. In between each dish, our server checked back in with us frequently to make sure we had everything we needed. It wasn’t until after we received our dessert that service got a bit disjointed again. We waited more than 20 minutes for our check to come after we finished dessert, a clear testament to how busy the restaurant can get on a Saturday night. Overall, we were pleased with our experience, and very satisfied by the meal. The atmosphere at Le Cirque lives up to everything you hear—it’s like stepping into a different era, one that’s celebratory and intimate at the same time.