Wed 16 Sep
Five New York rooms you can sit in tonight.
Three of tonight's five keep most or all of their seats for the door, and two more take walk-ins alongside the book. Two of the rooms serve a full dinner at the bar, which on a Wednesday is the better seat anyway.
We never hold, resell or book a table. Availability moves minute to minute, so go early rather than late.
Via Carota
West Village
A green-shuttered osteria on Grove Street that somehow still feels like a secret at 9pm, all worn wood, marble and candlelight. Order the svizzerina and the insalata verde and let the night go long.
walk in — no book needed for two, and they serve without pause from 11am
Their own site states "Walk-ins always welcome." and lists hours "Lunedì al Giovedì • 11:00am—11:00pm", which covers tonight.
Raoul's
SoHo
A 1975 French bistro with red banquettes, a tin ceiling and a bar where the burger au poivre actually lives. Sit at the bar with two martinis and you have the best seat in the room.
walk in and take bar seats — first come, first served from 5pm
Their site: "The bar is seated on a first come, first served basis at all times", open 7 days for dinner with the bar at 5pm and kitchen at 5:15pm; the burger au poivre is bar-only, 12 a night.
Wildair
Lower East Side
A small, loud-in-a-good-way Orchard Street room built around natural wine and whatever is best that week. Share the beef tartare, let them pour something cloudy, stay for one more.
walk in — walk-ins welcome alongside the OpenTable book
Their reservations page states "WALK-INS WELCOME, RESERVATIONS THROUGH OPENTABLE" with hours "Tuesdays – Saturdays 5:30pm to 10:00pm" — tonight included.
Ops
Bushwick
Heavy red curtains, a wood oven and sourdough pizza that tastes like someone's life work. Tell them what you like and the natural wine keeps arriving until one of them is yours.
walk in — no reservations, put your name in at the door from 5pm
Their own site lists Bushwick hours "Sunday through Thursday 5pm — 10pm"; the walk-in-only, no-reservations policy comes from The Infatuation's walk-in-only guide, which leads with Ops (secondary source — their site states hours but not the policy).
Fiaschetteria Pistoia
West Village
A tiny Tuscan room on Christopher Street where the pastas are handmade and the wine arrives in a basket of bottles for you to pick from. It feels like a trattoria near Lucca that happens to be twenty steps from the subway.
walk in — first come, first serve when the doors open at 5pm
Their own site marks the Christopher Street location "114 Christopher Street … T. +1 (646) 609-2911 (FIRST COME FIRST SERVE)" and their site's own posts repeat "Doors open 5:00 pm first come first serve" for Fiaschetteria West.
None of these work tonight? Tell us what does — $12.
Your party, your neighborhood, your hour. One person researches tonight and sends three to five rooms with the way in, under 10 minutes.
We loaded every one of these pages ourselves before writing this. Check their hours again before you put your coat on.
That’s tonight. Coat, keys, go.