Getting a Reservation, Tipping and How to Order in a New York City Restaurant
Reservations are always a good idea in New York, and a necessity for popular restaurants. Call or get online reservations far ahead for any special meal you don’t want to miss. Most top places start taking reservations 30 days in advance; for the uber-popular joints you’ll need to log onto their reservation service right after midnight on that day to score a meal.
Some other strategies include involving your credit card company’s concierge service (some partner with NYC restos); going with a larger group (reservations for 4 or 6 are often easier to snag than those for 2); or going online at 10am or noon the day you want to dine to check for openings, as that’s when general managers tend to post changes, according to a recent New York Times article on snagging reservations.
OpenTable.com or Resy.com are the two sites that book tables at the majority of the city’s restaurants. If you can’t get a reservation for the restaurant you wish to go to through Resy, it does allow you to get on the waitlist for it. To make sure you actually get off the waitlist, download the Resy app, so that it can ping you if a table opens up (email notifications take longer, meaning the reservation will likely be gone by the time you try to nab it). Alas, getting reservations at hot places has become a sport among finance bros, some of whom use AI generated apps (costing $65 to $100 a month) to snag them before others do.
But if you didn’t reserve well ahead, don’t despair. Often, early or late hours—between 5 and 6pm or after 9:30pm—are available, especially on weeknights. And most restaurants have bar seating, for which one needs no reservation. Or go for lunch, which is usually much easier to book without advance notice. If you’re staying at a hotel with a concierge, don’t be afraid to use him or her—a well-connected concierge can often get you into hot spots.
Tipping
Tipping is easy in New York. The way to do it: Double the 8.75% sales tax and voilà, happy waitstaff. Don’t forget to tip: Waiters make less than minimum wage and are taxed on what the government expects them to make in tips. So when you stiff the waiter, he not only loses that extra bit of income, he still has to pay taxes on it. Also, leave $2 per item, no matter how small, for the checkroom attendant. You don’t need to tip the host who escorts you to your table.
How to Order at a NYC restaurant
The dividing line between appetizers and entrees has been purposefully blurred in Gotham, meaning it can be really hard to tell just how much food you’re actually ordering. At many places, the size of the portions for what are supposedly appetizers and one-person entrees has expanded, along with their prices. Adding to the confusion is the sad fact that waiters will often advise patrons to order more food than they actually need. The best strategy is to under-order. For a couple, that might mean two appetizers and a split entree. You can always order more if you’re still hungry.