Fri 18 Sep
Five New York rooms you can sit in tonight.
Friday is the hardest night to walk into, so these five lean the other way: one stops taking bookings entirely on Fridays, and the other four keep most or all of their seats for the door.
We never hold, resell or book a table. Availability moves minute to minute, so go early rather than late.
Ruby's
Nolita
An Australian cafe-room on Mulberry Street since 2002, all bright windows and easy pastas, with a Bronte burger people cross the bridge for. Brekkie at nine, dinner at ten, no ceremony in between.
walk in — no reservations taken on Friday, first come, first served all day
Their own site: "We do not take reservations on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. We seat guests on a first-come, first-served basis." Open 9am to 11pm daily, tonight included.
I Sodi
West Village
Rita Sodi's Tuscan dining room at Bleecker and Grove, a James Beard winner where the lasagna verde and the cacio e pepe have their own reputations. A flagstone garden sits off Grove Street.
walk in — walk-ins always welcome at the bar and the garden
Their own site: "Walk-ins always welcome", with dinner served nightly "in the dining room, at the bar, and in the flagstone garden off Grove Street."
Thai Diner
Nolita
A big, rattan-lined Thai-American room on Mott Street with counter stools, disco fries and a lobster omelette worth the trip. It hums from morning until late without changing its mood.
walk in — mostly a walk-in room, a few tables booked ahead
Their Resy listing, which they write themselves: "We are primarily a walk-in based restaurant with limited reservations taken up to one week in advance." Their own site lists Thursday and Friday hours 8:30am to 11:30pm.
Buvette
West Village
Jody Williams' cramped Franco-Italian café on a leafy block of Grove Street — croque madame, steak tartare, coq au vin at a marble bar the size of a hallway. Squeezing in is the point.
walk in — open for walk-ins daily, from morning to midnight
"Buvette is open for walk-ins daily. Limited reservations are offered online 14 days in advance," per their own Resy listing; their site lists hours "Tous les Jours - 8am to 12am / Serving All Day."
The Fly
Bed-Stuy
A chicken-and-wine bar from the Hart's team on Classon Avenue — whole rotisserie birds, a big U-shaped bar and a patio that holds on through October. It turns a Friday into a long table.
walk in — tables and bar mostly saved for walk-ins from 5:30pm
Their own site: they "mostly save room for walk ins at our tables and bar," and the same page lists Friday and Saturday until midnight, opening every night at 5:30pm.
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.