From New York to Los Angeles, These Are the Most Coveted Restaurant Reservations in the Country

Even if you can't snag a table online, we have some tips that might help.

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Published on December 6, 2024

The OpenTable and RESY logos on a phone in a photo composite with an interior or a restaurant. — Photo:
Food & Wine / Getty Images / OpenTable / RESY

Want to dine at one of the buzziest restaurants in a major city? You’re going to have to strategize how to acquire that coveted seat.

While the rise of reservation apps like Resy and OpenTable once made booking a meal seem so easy, planning to dig into a plate of spicy fusilli at Los Angeles hotspot Jon and Vinny’s or slice into a steak at New York City’s 4 Charles Prime Rib has become a complicated game of careful planning, setting alarms for midnight, and mysterious algorithmic luck. But if the elusive nature of a desirable restaurant reservation excites you, we can officially reveal which places are the most difficult to get into in the United States.

As any restaurant enthusiast knows, the establishments that everyone is dying to try aren’t always the ones with the best food. They’re often overhyped by content creators — or favored by Taylor Swift, whose visits bring flocks of people in the days following, like at The Corner Store in New York City — crowded, expensive, and may have a 90-minute time limit for enjoying the table.

In spite of these limiting factors, the quality you’ll find at quite a few of these impossible-to-sit-at restaurants ensures they remain on our radar. Many serve truly incredible dishes (we’re never not in need of Via Carota’s cacio e pepe), and are legendary among gourmands, locals, and travelers alike, uniting us in our appreciation of a sought-after meal that lives up to expectations.

What makes a restaurant so difficult to get into?

As a core part of contemporary food culture, especially in urban spaces, popular restaurants have a grasp on both our tastebuds and minds. A meal sometimes feels more exciting when we finally unfold a napkin across our lap and dig into the elusive dishes at a hotspot, simply because it was so hard to get a seat to begin with.

Frustrated with your inability to get into Horses in Los Angeles, Carbone Miami, or Raf’s in Manhattan? That’s because they’re some of the most difficult reservations to secure, according to new data. Resy and OpenTable shared insights with Food & Wine on which reservations are the most challenging to secure. Based on restaurants that have all tables booked up, and the number of waitlist notifications set by users, this information reveals which restaurants in five cities across America have nailed the art of attracting diners.

“An ‘it’ restaurant has thought so much about every detail — how to blend in the personal influences and backgrounds that make [it] unique, the way you’re greeted when you walk in and the hospitality toward every guest, the lighting levels, the design of every room…, even the font on the menu, the glassware, music, and on and on — that the dining experience feels transportive,” explained Pablo Rivero, CEO of Resy and vice president of American Express Global Dining in a statement to Food and Wine. It’s this careful curation of design, ambiance, and every detail, in addition to the incredible food, that makes everyone want to eat at these establishments.

Rivero also noted that “Resy’s most in-demand restaurants of the last decade have all done this, in their own ways and styles, with understated precision. ‘It’ is what makes dining out so much fun.”

How can you book a hot seat?

“I love seeing the combination of new openings like [Washington D.C.’s] Moon Rabbit next to places like [Chicago’s] Girl and the Goat, which has been a hot table for years now. The diversity of cuisines on this list is also great to see,” said Debby Soo, CEO of OpenTable.

She believes that word of mouth and social media are powerful tools for restaurants to leverage for filling tables. “The minute people start talking about a restaurant, whether it is because it’s an anticipated opening from an established group, a newly awarded chef, a surprising new concept, or because it has hit the radar of people of influence, that’s when we start to see the demand really pick up,” Soo added.

OpenTable and Resy shared the most coveted seats in five cities, which are extremely difficult to nab reservations for online. But many of these locations do offer walk-in dining at the bar or outdoors, so check a restaurant's details online to see if there's a chance that you can sidle into a seat solo by simply strolling in. To help secure a spot, Soo recommends booking a table on off-peak days of the week like Mondays and Tuesdays, or at off-peak times, like an early bird dinner, to help score hard-to-get tables.

Keeping tabs on when restaurants open up their reservations can also help you book a spot, or at least get on the waitlist early. For example, Monteverde Restaurant & Pastificio in Chicago releases reservations 30 days in advance at midnight each day — setting an alarm for a few minutes before then will ensure you’re at the ready as soon as tables open. Adding an alert for parties of various sizes may also increase your odds. Try requesting tables for differing parties of two, four, or six people, and then invite guests accordingly after you have a reservation.

Booking larger parties — typically for eight people or more — may also allow you to correspond directly with the restaurant’s team and secure a table for a fun group dinner, bypassing the digital reservation system entirely. (Although this option can be pricier, as large parties may be required to purchase set menus or spend a minimum amount.)

If you're still having trouble getting the reservation you want the most, there are a few other tricks you can try. Individuals who hold an American Express Platinum card can use its concierge benefit to book tables — this may help you snag more difficult seats at restaurants that use Resy, which is also owned by American Express. There are Reddit threads for exchanging reservations around the world, and depending on the city, you might be able to find a thread focused on your specific location. But sometimes the best technique is to go old school — show up early, see if you can put your name down, then grab a drink nearby and be prepared to wait for a while.

Ready to vie for a table? Here are the most challenging reservations to get in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Washington D.C., according to data from OpenTable and Resy.