For those looking to dine out in New York, securing a reservation has become increasingly difficult. Over the past three years, getting a seat at the city’s most sought-after tables has gone from challenging to nearly impossible for many food enthusiasts.
“There are some restaurants that people simply can’t get into,” Joel Montaniel, CEO of the bookings platform Sevenrooms, told Bloomberg. “Restaurateurs themselves admit they don’t have any special tips to help people secure a reservation.”
The competition for dinner reservations has become so intense that the New York state legislature recently voted to ban third-party booking sites like Appointment Trader, where users were reselling their reservations for $200 or more, similar to scalping tickets for concerts or sporting events.
Melissa Fleischut, President and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, hailed the legislation as a “major victory for the hospitality industry,” claiming it would reduce competition for reservations and protect restaurants from costly cancellations.
Despite these legislative changes, the reality is that the desire for exciting, trendy, and luxurious dining experiences still far exceeds their availability.
“Post-COVID, everything is booked up. Every plane, every restaurant, every hotel is full,” says travel advisor Jaclyn Sienna India. “So how do you navigate getting people into already booked-up restaurants, hotels, yachts, and experiences?”
India, who runs the concierge and travel planning service Sienna Charles, has specialized in securing exclusive reservations for the ultra-wealthy for 16 years. Her clientele includes high-profile figures like George W. Bush and Mariah Carey.
Despite her experience and connections, India notes that access to the most popular restaurants (or hotels or yachts) depends largely on understanding customer desires and building relationships with the establishments.
“People have really moved away from fine dining. We rarely have clients wanting to sit through a tasting menu,” she explains. “In the last three years, the shift has been towards trendy restaurants where it’s more about the experience and the bragging rights of having secured a reservation, rather than just the food.”
For those interested in claiming their own bragging rights (and willing to persist in securing a reservation), here are the New York restaurant tables that are the hardest to get, according to Sienna Charles.