How to book a restaurant that’s impossible to get into

The internet giveth, and it taketh away. Never before has the world been easier for travellers to access – every hotel, every attraction, and every restaurant is at your fingertips. Book a room from 10,000 kilometres away. Secure a ticket without setting foot in a venue.

But it taketh away because you, of course, are not the only one with this power. Every budding tourist can make these bookings, and when something becomes popular, when word of its value spreads, the bookings go wild.

Get online and get online fast.Credit: illustration: Greg Straight

That is never truer than in the case of restaurants, particularly those buoyed by the fanfare of 50 Best inclusions and Michelin stars. Tables are booked out in seconds; entire months’ worth of reservations can be gobbled up between entrée and mains.

So how do you get into these places?

The first option is just to work the system and play by the rules. Have your travel plans in place well in advance, research the booking rules for the restaurant you want to visit (when its reservations open for the date you want to dine, how its reservation system works), and then ensure you’re online at the right time with your finger poised.

Have friends and fellow diners do the same thing to increase your chances of success. Should more than one of you secure a table, it’s usually easy to either forfeit the extra booking, or find someone else to accept it.

If that doesn’t work, most in-demand restaurants will have a waiting list system. This is where it will pay to have flexible travel plans. If you can put yourself on the waiting list for, say, every day for a month, you increase your chances of success dramatically.

If a restaurant doesn’t have a waiting list system on its website, pick up the phone and call to register your interest. Reservations are frequently cancelled last-minute in this age of COVID-19 – the restaurant will want to fill that space.

Next option: book a tour through a company with the right connections, which will get you a seat at that coveted table. This is a more expensive way to do things of course, because said company will charge a premium for the access it provides. But if you really want to visit, this could be your only option.

There are food-focused tour companies throughout the world who offer premium restaurant visits as part of their services. Simply google the name of the restaurant you want to visit, along with the word “tour”, and any available options should pop up.

Finally, if all else fails, you can always visit a similar, though less famous restaurant doing the same sort of food in the same area. You might not be able to get into, say, Sushi Saito in Tokyo, but there are hundreds of high-end sushi restaurants in the city doing amazing cuisine. You might miss out on Asador Etxebarri in the Basque Country, but why not try up-and-comer Restaurante Laia instead?

There’s a good chance you will get a booking.