Sat 3 Oct
Five New York rooms you can sit in tonight.
Five rooms where a Saturday seat needs no app: two take walk-ins only, and the mariscos kitchen on Myrtle Avenue pours to eleven. The old Spanish room on Charles Street asks only that one of you arrives early to talk to the staff.
We never hold, resell or book a table. Availability moves minute to minute, so go early rather than late.
Revelie Luncheonette
SoHo
An all-day American luncheonette on Prince Street, one of the last no-reservation rooms in a neighborhood of books and waitlists — tuna melts, pancakes and egg creams at 8pm, booths and a counter and zero ceremony. Saturday dinner in SoHo the way the neighborhood forgot how to do it.
The way in
walk in only — no reservations are taken at any hour, first come first served, from morning coffee through the 10pm close
Why we say so
Their own site states "Walk-in only," with Saturday hours of 11am to 10pm on the same page.
Mariscos El Submarino
Clinton Hill
A Nayarit-style mariscos room on a Myrtle Avenue corner — aguachile that hums, cocteles stacked in high glasses, whole fried fish for the middle of the table, all lime and chile and noise. Brooklyn's liveliest answer to a Saturday that has no plan.
The way in
walk in only — the room takes no bookings at all, first come first served, to eleven on Friday and Saturday nights
Why we say so
Their own site states "Walk-ins Only," with dinner listed "Friday and Saturday 11 am - 11 pm" for the 507 Myrtle Avenue room on the same page.
The Fly
Bed-Stuy
The Hart's and Cervo's family's chicken-and-wine bar on Classon Avenue — rotisserie bird with all the fixings, Slovenian skin-contact by the glass, a U-shaped bar that fills like a party. From April through October the patio is the room, and it has never taken a booking in its life.
The way in
walk in — the outdoor seats are always first come first serve, and the room mostly saves its tables and bar for walk-ins; only parties of 8 to 20 can book indoors
Why we say so
Their own site states the seats are "always first come first serve for walk in only" and that they "mostly save room for walk ins at our tables and bar," open Friday and Saturday until midnight.
Sevilla Restaurant & Bar
West Village
A Spanish dining room on Charles Street since 1936 — paella and seafood pots, tuxedoed servers, brown leather booths that have outlived every trend the Village ever had. A genuinely old room for a Saturday night, and the wait is usually short.
The way in
walk in — no reservation required, and the room itself suggests one member of your party arrive thirty minutes early to arrange seating with the staff
Why we say so
Their own site states "No reservation required, we have ample seating available," with Friday and Saturday hours of 1pm to 10pm on the same page.
Raoul's
SoHo
The 1977 SoHo bistro that never cooled down — steak frites, snails, and the burger au poivre that New York lines up for. The play is the bar: twelve seats, first come first served, and the burger is a bar-only dish, so the door is the whole game.
The way in
walk in and ask for the bar — the bar is seated first come first served at all times, and it is the only place dinner service serves the burger au poivre
Why we say so
Their own site states "We serve 12 burgers at the bar during dinner service. The bar is seated on a first come, first served basis at all times," with the bar opening at 5pm daily on the same page; dinner tables book through Resy, but the bar needs no plan.
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.