Tue 13 Oct
Five New York rooms you can sit in tonight.
Two new rooms tonight and three return guests, every line re-read at each room’s own site this afternoon. A Stulman tavern that sets its bar seats and sidewalk tables aside for whoever walks in joins a first-avenue American room with a five-to-six pour, the mezzanine café-bar that has no booking book at all, the Delancey soba counter, and the Red Hook smokehouse — and none of the five asks for a card or a login.
We never hold, resell or book a table. Availability moves minute to minute, so go early rather than late.
Fairfax
West Village
The birds-burgers-and-booze tavern at 234 West 4th from the Stulman crew behind half the Village’s corner rooms — a cheeseburger at the bar, a bird from the rotisserie, and a sidewalk line of tables watching the Village go by. The reservation book is on OpenTable for the dining room, but the bar seats and a handful of tables are walled off for the door, and when a queue forms they take a name and text you the wait.
The way in
walk in — bar seats and a few indoor and sidewalk tables are set aside for walk-ins, and Tuesday dinner runs 5pm to 11pm; if there’s a queue they take a name and cell number and text the estimate
Why we say so
Their own page opens with “Walk-in's are always welcome”, then sets out the seat itself: “We set aside bar seats and few indoor and sidewalk tables for walk-ins. If there’s ever a queue, our team will always take a name and cell number, estimate the wait, and keep you up-to-date,” with Tuesday hours of “Breakfast: 9:30am-11:30am Lunch: 11:30am-3pm Snack Menu: 3pm-5pm Dinner: 5pm-11pm” — re-read at their site today. The “few” and “Walk-in's” spellings are theirs.
Westville Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The first-avenue branch of the neighborhood-American family — market sides, grilled fish, the zucchini fries people order twice, and a four-to-six happy hour of eight-dollar cocktails and half-price appetizers for the early crowd. Nine rooms across the city, and this one keeps its doors open to anyone who climbs the block off the 6.
The way in
walk in — walk-ins are always welcome and tonight the doors run 11:30am to 10pm; happy hour pours 4 to 6
Why we say so
Their own page pairs its booking note — “Book a table at Westville Upper East Side online or call us directly” — with the line “Walk-ins are always welcome”, and hours of “Mon – Fri 11:30 AM – 10 PM” — re-read at their site today.
Bar Torino
Hudson Yards
An Italian café and bar hiding in plain sight on the mezzanine of the 50 Hudson Yards tower — cornettos and quiche through the morning, an evening menu through the office exodus, and a Hudson Boulevard entrance most of the neighborhood walks past without looking up. The weekday hours are the point: a room built for whoever is already inside the building, not for a booking book.
The way in
walk in — no reservations are needed; the room is first come, first served, and on weekdays the doors run 8am to 9pm
Why we say so
Their own page states "No reservations needed...Bar Torino is first come, first served," with hours of "Monday – Friday 8am to 9p" — re-read at their site today. The room sits on the mezzanine of 50 Hudson Yards; their page says to enter through the West lobby off Hudson Blvd East.
Cocoron
Lower East Side
The little soba house on Delancey Street where noodles are cut fresh and the broths do the talking — hot duck soba, cold dipping soba, a counter seat and a warm bowl sixteen steps from the door. It is the walk-in sibling of a noodle group whose other rooms are reservation-only, and it intends to stay that way.
The way in
walk in — no reservations are accepted at cocoron; the counter seats whoever arrives, and today it runs 12pm to 3:10pm and 5pm to 10:30pm with last order at 10:00
Why we say so
Their own site states "No reservations are accepted at cocoron" on their contact page, and their location page prints "12:00pm - 3:10pm / 5:00pm - 10:30pm (L.O. 10:00pm) / Open everyday" for the 16 Delancey room — re-read at both pages today.
Hometown Bar-B-Que
Red Hook
The Red Hook smokehouse by the water — brisket by the pound, Korean-engineered pork belly tacos, picnic tables under string lights and the smell of oak for blocks. A counter that answers to nobody’s booking app, only to the pull of the day’s brisket.
The way in
walk in — the counter runs first come, first served until the day’s smoked offerings sell out, and on Tuesday it runs noon to 9pm
Why we say so
Their own site states "we offer walk-up service to our counter on a first-come, first-served basis—until we sell out of that day’s specially cooked offerings," with hours "Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Noon – 9pm" — re-read at their site today.
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.