The hardest restaurant reservations in NYC

From West Village Italian to Lower East Side omakase counters.

The hardest reservations in New York are hard for the same reason: a small number of covers, released on a schedule almost nobody knows, and claimed within seconds. Drop times are scattered across the calendar. Some rooms open 30 days out at 10 AM, others release a rolling window at 9 AM, and a few only ever surface as late cancellations. Every restaurant below is one of those tables, and AutoRes tracks each one's schedule and books the instant inventory appears.