JPMorgan Chase’s board of directors gathered late last year at Morgan’s, an English pub on the 13th floor of the bank’s ritzy new skyscraper.
When a tray of Guinnesses was served, the people overseeing America’s biggest bank noticed a familiar face floating on the foam: Jamie Dimon’s.
A JPMorgan executive had told the bar’s staff to use a high-tech printer near the taps to put Dimon’s likeness on the heads of the stouts, hoping the boss and his friends might appreciate the joke.
Dimon, who turns 70 next month, thought the prank was amusing. But he banned his mug from appearing on Morgan’s pints, worried it would suggest the bar in the $3 billion headquarters he helped build was some kind of vanity project.
Now, the bartenders stamp beers with images of the Park Avenue building or seasonal icons like a pumpkin.
The foam fiasco was just one of the first hiccups since JPMorgan opened a bar inside a Manhattan office building.
Dimon was personally involved in the design of Morgan’s, where he toasted the building’s opening last year with lead architect Norman Foster, the man behind London’s Gherkin.
“We’re quite happy we did it,” Dimon said in January when asked about the building. “We got Morgan’s Pub, Guinness beer.”
But running a bar is a professional challenge that even this famed CEO and his team are still figuring out.
Staff are flocking to Morgan’s for lunches and happy hours, and people outside the mothership have had to work their connections to try to snag a table. Investment bankers regularly invite prominent clients there to win new business while wowing them with views of the Empire State Building. Dimon even drops by to greet some of the guests.
It’s quite a scene—if you can get in.
There are about 10,000 people who work in the building and 55 seats inside Morgan’s. Worker bees looking to unwind with a pint don’t often get beyond the glass doors, which sometimes offer a view of empty tables booked by no-show bankers while the main bar is packed. Some young employees are now making reservations at the gastropub in the sky weeks in advance.
“It can be a near impossible quest to get in,” one banker said.
For some, the Morgan’s experience is emblematic of modern life on Wall Street, where once legendary perks seem to be fading.
JPMorgan made a huge bet that the vibe of its shiny new headquarters—and bar—will help restore some glamour to finance at a time when tech and other industries are dangling big incentives.
Morgan’s presents itself as a slice of England in the middle of Manhattan, hawking fish and chips ($23) and shepherd’s pie ($21) alongside caramelized onion dip ($13) and a cheeseburger ($18).
The bank and noted Anglophile Dimon like to point to their English roots, even throwing a birthday party for King Charles III last year.
But Morgan’s isn’t your average local. The bar is only open to reservations for corporate employees who work at one of the bank’s locations in Midtown Manhattan.
There’s a strict moratorium on day-drinking, though it was unevenly enforced early on—even the CEO and Foster enjoyed a prelunch Guinness there. Several mocktails have been added to the lunch menu, including a vodka-less Morgan’s Mule ($10).
High demand has prompted the bank to rethink the overall setup. Reservations are no longer required for the bar or tables—but to get a table you’ll still likely need one. Leaders hope the new policy will encourage anyone to drop by after work.
The operations team has discussed installing tall glass-paned doors that could spin open into the food-court-style seating and expand the effective square footage. Tables have been set up outside, too.
Lack of space at headquarters is a recurring complaint. While the building is the tallest occupied office building in Manhattan, the average height of floors is around 16 feet. That means not as much square footage as you might imagine.
Some managing directors, the highest rank for a nonexecutive, now share small offices, a downgrade from their previous digs on Madison Avenue. Overall, JPMorgan has embraced an open-office floor plan for its banking teams, in line with Dimon’s view that bosses should be sitting with rank-and-file staff.
Then there are some new creaks. Wind speeds are higher up in the sky, and investment bankers are often distracted by whistling gales that blow against the tower. Sometimes, the bronze casing of the building rattles against the glass windows.
Those distractions have irked young bankers nearly as much as the loss of prized perks that were cut off last year.
JPMorgan tightened enforcement of rules on reimbursing cab rides after 9 p.m., requiring bankers to choose the cheapest option. Some 20-somethings were charging the bank for black-car rides from the office to their nearby apartments.
They are still able to charge the bank for dinner if they’re working late, but only if they are physically present in the office. The days of ordering DoorDash to one’s apartment on JPMorgan’s dime, once the norm, are officially over.
Being in Midtown on the later side has its perks: Captivating sunsets. Many parts of the tower offer views of the Hudson Highlands. That includes the gym ($60 a month for junior employees, $125 a month for the bosses), where Peloton bikes look straight onto Central Park and the George Washington Bridge.
“Everybody wants to come to this building, and everybody who does has a transcendental experience,” David Arena, the bank’s head of real estate, said last year.
Write to Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com