By Yoji Yamaguchi, ZAGAT.com staff editor
Follow these golden rules of reserving to increase your odds of getting a foot in the door – and a fork in your mouth
"Beg, lie, cheat or sell your soul to the devil" – to hear our surveyors tell it, there are no lengths that desperate diners won't go to in order to land a table at a hard-to-get-into restaurant. And the restaurants themselves have seen all the ploys.
per se
At per se, Thomas Keller's famously difficult-to-book 15-table venue in Manhattan's Time Warner Center, at least one would-be customer sent money in the mail, apparently convinced that bribery was the surest route to a reservation.
Another gambit: dropping the name of a well-connected – if imaginary – friend. One hapless diner phoned Grace, a Los Angeles foodie fave, claiming to be a close buddy of chef Neal Fraser – too bad he was speaking to Amy Knoll Fraser (aka Mrs. Neal Fraser).
And then there's the shameless 'grant-me-my-final-wish' ruse. "We get a lot of people who say they're dying and want to have their last meal" here, says chef Gary Danko, whose eponymous restaurant is one of San Francisco's toughest tickets.
Nobu
photo: Steven Freeman
Rao's
photo: Johnny Miller
Frustrations associated with reserving are a common refrain among Zagat surveyors nationwide, but perhaps nowhere more so than in New York, where diners speak of "torture" and "anguish" when describing the process of trying to book at places like Nobu ("set your alarm for 30 days ahead and hold multiple phones on auto-dial") or the notoriously inaccessible Rao's ("befriend a regular" or "fuhgeddaboudit").
Actually, getting into Rao's just got a whole lot easier – all you have to do is call the reservations line (702-731-RAOS). Of course, we're talking about the new Las Vegas branch, slated to open in December in Caesars Palace, not the East Harlem institution presided over by the aptly nicknamed Frankie 'No' Pellegrino.
Short of sacrificing your firstborn, what can you do to score a seat at a hot spot? Follow these golden rules of reserving to increase your odds of getting a foot in the door – and a fork in your mouth:
Plan ahead. It's a no-brainer but it bears repeating: calling weeks in advance is your best shot at getting a table. At places like per se and Gary Danko, two months in advance is the norm.
Or try last-minute. Nobu GM Richie Notar suggests showing up when the doors open to check for cancellations that night – you might get lucky. And don't forget to ask about dining at the sushi bar (or the regular bar in any restaurant).
Be flexible. If dinner is impossible, consider lunch, which is often more accessible yet gives you the same been-there-done-that bragging rights.
Work the waiting list. Some places with waiting lists recommend that you call back periodically to see if an earlier date has opened up, while others prefer that you don't, so ask the reservationist. Either way, give them your mobile or pager number instead of your office or home phone number so you'll be reachable in case there's a last-minute opening.
Give thanks. If a reservationist is especially helpful, a thank-you note is not only gracious, it may help the right person remember you the next time you call.
Reconfirm. Once you've succeeded in landing a reservation, call the day before (or whenever the restaurant specifies) to reconfirm or risk losing it.