On the New York restaurant landscape, one thing that’s for sure: there will always be a handful of restaurants where getting a table is about as likely as the Olive Garden in Times Square getting a Michelin star. These hard-to-get reservations are always changing too.
Some New Yorkers are all in, treating the reservation game like it’s a death sport for social media self-affirmation. Whether you want to partake in this Big Apple culinary contest or you actually want to, say, try the food at a buzzy restaurant, it can be frustrating. With that in mind, here are the hardest tables to nab in New York right now, along with some advice on how to actually get your foot in the door or where to go when you just finally have given up.
If You Want to Go to 4 Charles Prime Rib…
There are just 32 seats at this diminutive, quasi-sub-terrestrial meat mecca. And since it first fired up the grill in 2016, it has not gotten any easier to get in the door. Reservations are released at 9 a.m., 21 days in advance. But it’s not that simple. The restaurant has essentially made it nearly impossible for ordinary people to eat there.
For starters, the system gives preferences to guests who have already eaten there, and yes, they have a list. Secondly, like all restaurants on Resy, further preference is given to those with an American Express Platinum Card since AmEx owns Resy, one of the most popular online restaurant reservation platforms in the United States.
The other option is to get in line. Monday to Thursday, 4 Charles opens at 4 p.m. and the staff starts culling line queuers’ information at 3:45 p.m., taking cell phone numbers. The restaurant serves lunch starting at noon on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and yes, the lines start well before opening…