Makes sense but I would point out that the benefits are for a frequent restaurant goer and not necessarily for a serious food person as you state. I think a lot of serious food people that don’t eat out that often could care less.
many restaurants are on both Resy and OT.
NYers rightfully believe we are the center of the universe and Resy is a local startup - so the affection is reasonable. But in other markets, OT is much larger and more important for discovery. If you have excess capacity, you need to be on every possible platform.
currently owned by that scrappy mom’n’pop Amex.
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Leopards eatin’ faces. Who could possibly have known??
Multiple platforms - or switching platforms - winds up being confusing. Case in point, the other day I made a reservation at Raf’s (thanks for the rec, yaacov). If you go to Raf’s website to make a reservation, it links to Opentable where there are no reservations available at any time. I then randomly checked Resy and that is where they clearly make their reservations available, and booked one. Probably more of an issue on the restaurant’s side in terms of management, but still kind of strange.
Can’t make that leap for sure. These platforms don’t natively talk to each other so it’s manual. On another day the result could be the opposite. So try both. Like using uber and Lyft to see which ride is cheaper - it depends.
Also there’s this: About — Bookie
I like raf’s.
I prefer Resy over Opentable, but I can see the appeal, especially if you have Visa instead of Amex. What confuses me is when they use Sevenrooms or Yelp.
I visit the US and NYC once or twice a year,. I have become completely fed up with some NYC restaurants, their reservation policies and the reservation platforms they use. Its got to the point where I am just not interested in trying to get a reservation at whatever is currently the hot ticket in town, or being told that the way get a spot is to get in line and try to get seated at a time of day I don’t want to eat. I would much rather eat at a restaurant where the food is good, even if not amazing, at the time I want to eat, and where I can get a reservation on line on two or three weeks notice.
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potentially moot with their sale to DD, but 7R has / had probably the best table management and CRM stack. For really smart operators that didn’t want to be part of the collective soup of OT and Resy, it’s a very good option - or was.
Here’s the thing. There are PLENTY of restaurants in nyc with AMAZING food that aren’t “hot”. that’s the secret.
A good place to look is extremely well-reviewed restaurants from 2 years ago. 1/4 may still be hot. 1/4 may have dropped off in quality/value or closed. but the other half? bingo!
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i agree with this except it’s just far too easy to get caught up in the hype of the newest thing
i try for a balance of brand new and tried and true
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Need help- will have time for quick dinner- Monday night- as I deal with family estate issue. Staying in midtown but running between UES and court on Chambers. Challenge- many of the Berserker darlings I would want to try are not open Monday. I realize, yeah, there’s a million places, but everything I pull up is closed Monday.
Had a v good meal at Chambers last month and would go back, but want something else. Won’t have time to go to Brooklyn and stand in lines.
Any thoughts? Wine not essential-byob wouldn’t hurt- a good list would be welcome.
No tasting menus.
As Yaccov just said, doesn’t need to be shiny- just good food…and open Monday.
East side-midtown- plus.
Penny’s
Cervo’s
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Thanks, Barry- right on.
Two of my absolute favorites. Penny is more expensive but also more elevated food. Penny has an outstanding wine list. Cervo’s, not so much, but their cocktails are great and the wines are good enough. I need to get back to both places ASAP.
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I would add Tolo as a good option.
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I would not rule out Brooklyn. Four Horsemen is 10 minutes further than the Lower East Side.
Atoboy - food is still excellent and it is closer to midtown
Claud
Naro - the closest to midtown and like Atoboy the food is
great and the wine list is very good. I think this is underrated because of the location
Penny
The Modern Bar Room - two recent meals have been very good and satisfies the Midtown location. Wine list is good but not what it once was
Tolo - Great suggestion from Nikita
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Really want to do 4H- Started there in my mind- will see how the day goes. Claud was on my list as well.
Thanks, all.
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midtown to Chambers is longer than Midtown to Four Horsemen
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Another idea came to mind. I really like the Bar at Eleven Madison, lots of fun wines on the list and you can order a la carte or do a five course tasting menu that is very light.
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