By 1933, the Siberian émigré Alexander Maeef was running the Russian Tea Room and was the main personality associated with the restaurant for the next fifteen years.

[8] The Russian Tea Room was long advertised as "just six minutes and 23 seconds from Lincoln Center and slightly to the left of Carnegie Hall" because of its proximity to both venues.

[15] However, Stewart-Gordon refused several offers to acquire her building, so Macklowe withdrew his bid for the Carnegie Hall Tower site in 1983.

[20] His company LeRoy Adventures and Vornado Realty Trust, operated by Steven Roth, each obtained a 50 percent stake in the Russian Tea Room.

[28] Rumors circulated that LeRoy's declining health, impending divorce, and lack of funding had caused the restaurant's renovation to be delayed.

[3][30] LeRoy indicated that the average customer would spend $45 on a meal; the cheapest items cost $20, and the Russian Tea Room did not enforce a formal dress code.

[21][35] LeRoy claimed that Canelle's work had declined after The New York Times wrote a negative review of the restaurant.

[44][45] The USGA acquired the building in November 2002, bidding $16 million;[38][46] the sale included all of the restaurant's furnishings, artwork, tableware, and decorations.

[47] A critic for The New York Times wrote: "Nothing could have brought it back to vigorous life, but the idea that the old place could become a golf museum is shocking.

[54] The decor remained largely unchanged from LeRoy's renovation, although the Tiffany glass ceiling was removed,[54] and the seats were replaced.

[28] After the restaurant reopened in 1999, the first floor was designed in a similar manner to the original, with stag-head and firebird motifs; an ice sculpture was placed in the center.

[31] The fourth story also contained a 3D model of troops in Moscow's Red Square,[3][32] Many of these decorations were salvaged from Maxwell's Plum, also operated by LeRoy.

[54][55] A 1938 article in Vogue magazine cited the Tea Room as selling "authentic blinis, with caviar, melted butter, and sour cream, but only if you are wise enough to order ahead".

[62] By 2006, the restaurant's menu included borscht, as well as blinchiki with goat cheese, duck confit, and wild mushrooms.

[63] The Los Angeles Times wrote in 1983 that "As a lunch room it services the Manhattan headquarters of the major studios.

[48] British comedian Rowan Atkinson married makeup artist Sunetra Sastry at the Tea Room in February 1990.

[59][80] Bryan Miller of The New York Times said in 1992 that "beneath all the hype there is little substance", saying that the restaurant suffered from "inattentive and unprofessional" service despite being highly patronized.

"[82] Architecturally, it was more positively acclaimed; the Tea Room received the Award for Outstanding Restaurant Design from the James Beard Foundation in 2001.

[83] When the Tea Room reopened in 2006, several reviews noted that waitstaff often took their time delivering food and failed to respond to customers' repeated requests.

[84] A writer for the Columbus Dispatch said, "The lore (think boldfaced names and movie cameos) and decor are the reasons most people will come, but the food can be a draw as well" unless one was a vegetarian or was looking for the Tea Room's staple dishes.