No Reservations (App)

Here’s how to get a table without the fuss.

Our OTH group chat was BUSY on Sunday after The Wall Street Journal declared that Reservation Apps Have Made Getting Into a Restaurant a Nightmare. This isn’t the first time our team has talked about how difficult/annoying/confounding eating out in New York has become.

A few weeks ago, one of our readers emailed us in response to this Real Simple piece we shared (as well as this essay we ran a while back) on the gradual death of the walk-in. “I really hate the idea of planning a dinner with friends four weeks ahead of time,” he wrote, “and would love an OTH piece recommending places that prioritize walk-ins.” (He also shared his own pro tip 🫡: “I’ve been loving Stars on 12th Street, which is walk-in-only; and the staff there helped us get in to Penny for more substantive food afterward, letting us know when space at the window had opened up.”)

John shared his take, too: “I don’t think anyone in restaurants would say technology as it relates to getting reservations and customer acquisition is inherently negative. But I will say there’s a good amount of technology fatigue we’re all feeling across the board. And because the various platforms have been purchasing exclusivity and also doing things behind the scenes that restrict inventory for guests, it’s caused more friction instead of less.”

And so, to everyone in our community here who still lives for the spontaneity of just grabbing dinner on a whim, we asked writer Eliza Dumais to call in some insider tips for getting a table the old-fashioned way. But first…

Newsy Things This Week:

1. Danny Meyer, unfiltered — Matt Rodbard, the editor of TASTE, wrote a great review of Danny Meyer’s upcoming book, What Could Possibly Go Right? (out 9/29), for his newsletter Food Time. In the memoir/business leadership how-to, Meyer is apparently as open about his misgivings as he is his successes, from keeping Tabla open longer than it should have been to his failed fresh juice collab with Equinox. Adding this to our reading pile stat.

2. The best of the newest — FOUND NY shared the FOUND 45, its inaugural list of favorite restaurants in New York City, which only considers spots that have opened within the past six months. We spotted some of our favorites: Kabawa, Borgo (where Christene had her best walk-in meal in FOREVER), and Theodora.

3. A nifty DIY idea for only the most-special meals —

4. Secret sauce 🤫 — Chef Flynn McGarry shared in this week’s Market Report that Anthony Ha (of Ha’s Dac Biet) added some bottles of Mr. Fish Sauce, a naturally fermented, aged one-year concoction made with the legendary Son Fish Sauce, to the shelves at Gem Home (181 Mott Street). Our intel says it’s only available there and at Marlow & Daughters.

5. Good vintage — Eric Asimov at The New York Times put together an A+ list of wines that taste good in this late-summer heat. (Erin’s been serving this Pouilly-Fuissé on repeat.)

What We’re Buying This Week:

1. This tasty upcycled button-up from Schloss Clothing. Four ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s. ***OTH readers can get $25 off their purchase now through September 3 with the code onthehouse.

***Reminder: Exclusive discounts will be a regular part of the OTH Paid Membership tier (alongside IRL tastings, stylish merch, and more), launching in September.

2. We’re deep in building out a huge kitchen gadgets guide (coming 🔜) with recs from people we admire, and we’re surprised (or maybe not) by how many times a Very Good Mandolin has appeared at the top of a list.

3. Everyone’s talking about how unexpected and really fun the Target x Rosie Assoulin collab turned out, but these striped kitchen towels are the collection’s sleeper hit. (Just $20 for four!)

4. Sweetgreen has teamed up with Fishwife on a limited-edition niçoise salad, launching August 11, which has us thinking about ways we can enjoy some of Fishwife’s newly restocked items, like smoked salmon with sweet and spicy Zhong or mussels with basil pesto, at home. (PS: For a quickie fried fish cake for lunch, we tried this recipe, and it was pretty glorious (and fast).

5. A stylish wine bag that looks better — and is easier to carry — than a cooler.

See you next time. — Team OTH

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We are living in the grim chokehold of the reservation economy: AI assistants are scooping prime slots on reservation platforms; space for walk-ins shrinks by the day; and three-hour wait times are no longer an anomaly.

Many have warned that the death of culinary spontaneity is upon us.

While the plight of the walk-in is very real — you can hardly stroll into Wild Cherry or Bong on a whim (Friday night = never) — there are still a few tried-and-true ways to circumvent the irksome barriers between you and [insert your Unrequited New York Restaurant here]. Best of all: Even though it never hurts, you don’t need to have friends in high places (ie: someone on the inside you can text for a seat on a whim). Instead, here’s our Go-To Game Plan for when we need/want a table without all the nonsense (ie: BOTS 🤖).

1. Plan your dining adventure for off days/hours.

Seems simple, but honestly, dropping in either right as a restaurant is opening or once the dinner rush has subsided is likely the #1 way you’ll snag the table of your choice outside the usual (maddening) app guardrails. Even though 8 p.m. on a Saturday is still reservation gold, many of us have been gravitating to earlier spots anyway (and really, who isn’t hungry at 5:30 p.m.??). PLUS: We have it on good authority that the fringe reservations (ie: very early or very late) see the most last-minute cancellations. So don’t sleep on those Resy waitlists!

Coveted bar seats @ Minetta Tavern.

2. Roll the dice at the bar.

If you’re not in a rush, most busy restaurants will happily encourage you to wait at the bar for a table or a few stools to open up. And, as fellow New Yorkers, we know this is where the magic usually happens. Chance encounters, overheard unfiltered conversations, old-school flirting…the bar wait will always deliver a generous helping of good vibes if you’re in the headspace for it.

PLUS: There are countless places across the city where it’s entirely permissible to stand and have a martini (even if all bar seats are filled) while you wait. I’ve earned seats via the standing-and-drinking method countless times at The Odeon, Raoul’s, The Commerce Inn, and Minetta Tavern.

3. Drop by before the first seating.

Lining up outside a great restaurant pre-opening can feel embarrassingly over-eager, but hear me out! In most cases, there won’t actually be a line at this time. And being the very first to greet whoever is opening is your easiest entry point. If the spot in question opens at 5:30 p.m. and has a ton of 7 p.m. reservations, they might offer you a table for the next hour and a half. Perhaps not the lengthy meal you were hoping for, but a seat’s a seat. When the bar is reserved for walk-ins, this is obviously the move (early bird gets the stool, etc.).

Moreover, if there’s a) a table open later in the evening, b) a possibility of cancellation, or c) something else planned to bide the time, leaving your name with the host right out the gate will make you a primary candidate for access. (In an interview with Resy, Dimitrios Michalopoulos of Bemelmans Bar supports this tip: “Make a reservation for Dowling’s at The Carlyle, where you can enjoy a full meal, and put your name on the [Bemelmans] waitlist when you arrive. By the time you’re done with dinner, you can likely head to the bar.”)

Recently, I popped into Zig Zag, the brand-new Prospect Heights oyster bar from the team behind Hart’s (for the time being, they only take reservations for large parties). Moments after opening, there was already a line present, and most seats were filled. I left my number with the hostess, read a book at a bar around the corner, and within the hour, I was elbow-deep in a seafood tower, drinking a very cold martini.

The team at Roman’s, aka the people who will make you feel like a Regular.

4. Become a Regular.

In the restaurant universe, relationships matter — for access and for pure and simple human joy. If you love a spot that you can only squeeze into at 5 p.m. or perhaps at lunchtime, keep going back anyway. Be warm/kind to the host, introduce yourself, learn their name, and develop a rapport (plus, showing your enthusiasm to just be there — without any expectations — will likely get you a table quicker). Banter with your bartender (without usurping their time!), remembering details they share. Folks on the inside sincerely enjoy their regulars and know how critical they are to keeping business thriving. That, and you’ll be entering a long line of New York Lifers who can count their Regular status on one hand. Because nothing says I’ve Made It Here quite like having a place where you know the staff, notice when the menu changes or a dish is served differently, and the dining room feels like home.

While you may have to deal with lengthy wait times in the beginning, eventually, they’ll appreciate your persistence, and you’ll earn VIP status (ie: premium seat selection, preferred walk-in prestige, or a special direct reservation line, which exists at places like Balthazar) via the good old-fashioned method of kindness. I have dined at Roman’s in Fort Greene more times than I care to share, and the more often I go, the more lovely my rapport with the staff becomes and the more eager they are to help me out. Especially when I need/want a table I can’t easily get.

5. Party of one…or four…or more.

It goes without saying that dining as a party of one is an excellent way to secure a free bar seat. When seating pairs, there’s often the occasional in-between seat just waiting for an eager solo diner to appear. In that vein, if you’re walking in or putting your name down, two is typically the most popular (and therefore difficult) number to seat (Kathryn Maier has a great anecdote about this in her newsletter Good Taste about her twosome getting a table at Tatiana by combining parties with a couple in line behind them).

What’s more, a number of places will take special reservations or book tables for large parties (typically more than six) via a separate email address. Which is to say, if you’re willing to plan ahead, dining with a large group may give you more direct access to a restaurant you’re dying to get into. And to take that ethos to the logical extreme, if you’re down to properly ball out, the vast majority of restaurants offer private dining rooms, which are booked separately from standard reservations. If you wanna go big (and you wanna get in), the PDR might be a fun, sneaky route.

6. Money still talks.

In Michael Cecchi-Azzolina’s memoir from 2022, the veteran maître d’ says tipping still goes far: “If a guest comes in, gives their name, and hands you a hundred-dollar bill, are you not going to give them a great table? One hundred dollars is the gold standard and will get you pretty much anything you want.” While palming cash on arrival certainly works, real pros actually do it upon leaving, turning a simple transaction into a lasting relationship and securing better attention and access down the line.

Dean’s

7. Make your next booking on the way out.

After dining with a friend at Cervo’s, stop at the door on your way out to make your next reservation. Odds are, they’ll make it happen with ease. Passing by Bistrot Ha’s on your way to the train? Drop in and ask when they next have a table available. In both cases, it’s likely that all availability isn’t showing up on Resy or OpenTable. I’ve had great fortune making repeat reservations at Dean’s, the new British-style pub from the team behind the adjacent King, where Michael, the GM, is always generous re: locking in a future table.

OTH Recs: Spots with great walk-in potential

Corima, Chinatown

This Michelin-starred Mexican spot just off of Dimes Square serves wildly delicious plates (get the sourdough tortilla) alongside an extensive list of mezcals and an impressive roster of natural wines. While the weekends are busy, and the back is reserved for tasting menu seating, the lengthy front bar is rarely full on weeknights and is exclusively available for walk-ins.

Sailor, Fort Greene

For a neighborhood restaurant, Sailor is almost always packed. And while you won’t often see tables available on Resy, the bar is actually the premier seating option (in my humble opinion). If you go and leave your name with the hostess, odds are you won’t have to wait long for a couple of stools.

Keens Steakhouse, Midtown

You may have to wait for a table (or a seat at all) at Keen’s, but fortunately, the full bar room is available for walk-ins. The bar itself is first come, first served with a ledge along the opposite wall for reservation-less folks still looking for a steak and a martini (yes, you can order food there). And if there are no seats available, enjoy the standing room until one of the (many) stools becomes free.

The Odeon, Tribeca

The Odeon has been open 45 years, and still, its some 30 round tables (outdoor seating not included) are relentlessly full. The entire menu is, however, available at the bar — which is first come, first served. À la standing room laws, you’re welcome to hover wherever you like with a drink in hand while you await a seat. And given that the place is open continuously starting at 11:00 am, you should have no trouble securing a seat if you arrive before 5:00 pm.

Le French Diner, Lower East Side

Critics have called this one “your favorite chef’s favorite restaurant.” The walk-in-only spot on Orchard has about ten bar seats and three tables, but the food is excellent, and the wine is even better. Stop by at 5:30 p.m. when they open for a seat (it’s worth it).