Hungry for a hard-to-get reservation? Well, you'd better start paying up. A slew of new apps and Web sites have launched that help you get prime tables at sought-after times at the city's most buzzed-about restaurants (and some less buzzy ones) — for an added fee, of course.
"Customers want anything they can think of at their fingertips, and that certainly includes great restaurants," says Ben Leventhal, who co-founded the reservation-getting app Resy. "Just like Uber, we're selling time."
On a recent Monday, The Post tried to score hot tables with his and other new services for the following weekend with mixed results. Have a look.
Ratings key
One fork: Better off on your own
Two forks: Beats calling the restaurant yourself
Three forks: Like having a well-connected friend
Four forks: Like being an A-list celebrity
Resy
The dish: Launched in June by social media entrepreneur and early Uber investor Gary Vaynerchuk, 39, and eater.com founder Ben Leventhal, 35, this mobile app for iPhone and Android has partnerships with 75 city restaurants. You pick a date and party size, and the app gives you all available options. Reservations cost $2 to $50 per person, depending on how hot of a commodity they are.
An octopus dish from Claudette.Photo: Gabi Porter
The taste test: The best offerings included a $16 res at perennially charming, though not new, Italian spot Frankies 570 at 7:30 (they don't accept reservations, so this was a coup) and trendy new Mediterranean spot Claudette at 8 p.m. for $26 (the best the restaurant could do when we called was 6:30 or 10 p.m). But some of the Resy tables at notable new spots, like Bar Bolonat, hailed as one of the year's tastiest openings, weren't any better than what we could book on our own.
The review: It's great for last-minute reservations, has a good number of NYC hot spots, and the team behind it lends it some added legitimacy. But often, you can score the same reservations on your own.
Rating: 2 forks
Shout
The dish: Two Columbia grads, Zachariah Reitano and Henri Stern, both 23, launched this iPhone-only app in June: It's essentially the Craigslist of reservation apps. People do everything from sell their coveted dining spots to offer to wait in line and put your name on the wait list. Also, you can search by the restaurant name, rather than just a particular day and time. Prices range from $7 to upward of $50 for a reservation.
Restaurateur Danny MeyerPhoto: Getty Images
The taste test: Shout had a res at Marta, Danny Meyer's acclaimed new pizza place, at 9 p.m.for $35 — when we called the restaurant they said they were fully reserved. The app also had Buddakan at 7:30 p.m. for $20 — when we called, the restaurant only had 6 or 10:45 p.m. At other spots, like Uncle Boons and Lavo, we could get just as good of reservations on our own.
The review: While it's more controversial than some of the other services, since the restaurants aren't partners and people are essentially scalping their reservations, Shout has some impressive offerings. On some days, we've seen nearly-impossible-to-get reservations at Per Se and the bar at Sushi Nakazawa.
Rating: 3 forks
Zurvu
The dish: This site, launched last February by David Levin, 43, a former marketing honcho, charges $5 per person to score a res at one of more than 66 restaurants partnered with the company. As with Resy, you pick a date and party size, and Zurvu lists available restaurants as well as those you can be placed on a wait list for.
A revamped egg roll at Fung Tu.Photo: Zandy Mangold
The taste test: Zurvu had a table for two at acclaimed new Mexican restaurant Cosme at 8 p.m. for $10 (according to Cosme's own Web site they were totally booked for the night). It also had a 7:15 p.m. for $10 at Tuome, a critically lauded, Asian-influenced American spot from an Eleven Madison Park alum — but when we called, we were told we could get in at 8 p.m. on our own. And at some places, like upscale Chinese eatery Fung Tu, we could get better reservations just by calling the restaurant.
The review: The wait list feature is annoying: Most restaurants offer to put you on their waitlist anyway. But, the price is right -— important when you're already paying to eat out — and there's a ton of solid restaurants on their roster.
Rating: 2 forks
Killer Rezzy
The dish: Sasha A. Tcherevkoff, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, launched this Web site in March. It works in cooperation with seven restaurants — though Tcherevkoff wouldn't say which specific eateries those are — and also offers up "rogue" reservations where members sell reservations. With the latter, you have to check-in under the other person's name.
A trio of dishes at Gato.Photo: Brian Zak
The taste test: The most intriguing options included Harlem hot spot Red Rooster at 8 p.m. for $25 (when we called the restaurant, nothing was available until 10:30 p.m.) and Bobby Flay's new Gato at 8:30 p.m. for $25 (when we called the restaurant they said they were "overbooked" until 11 p.m.). There was also a table at Brooklyn classic (and always hard to get into) Peter Luger Steakhouse for four people at 8 p.m. for $25; when we called the restaurant, we were put on hold for 10 minutes and told they were all booked until 10:45 p.m. But offerings can be limited and inconsistent. Another time, we looked for a table for two on the upcoming Friday at 8 p.m., and the only reservation available was Keens Steakhouse at 8:30 p.m. for $25.
The review: Right now, Killer Rezzy has too few restaurants and too few available nights to be truly appealing. But we would totally use it for Peter Luger's, which seems to be up there with some regularity.
Rating: 1 fork
And this new app puts happy hour in your pocket…
Who has the time to get to happy hour? Late nights at the office or just hectic daily life mean New Yorkers often miss out on those brief afternoon windows of discounted booze at bars.
Not any more: Happy hours have gone digital. The new app Happy puts happy hour on your own terms.
Users go to participating bars at just about any time of day (though some bars have stricter limitations) and cue up the app; it starts a 60-minute countdown to drink up that bar's specific deals.
Watering holes in the East Village, Lower East Side, Williamsburg and Fort Greene are already using Happy; more are being added soon. Find it in the iTunes and Google Play app stores; happyanyhour.com
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