The Toughest Reservation in Austin

We are fortunate to live and dine in a city like Austin with its abundance of excellent restaurants. But imagine living in LA, San Francisco, Chicago or New York where reservations in a hot, new restaurant or an old favorite can be almost impossible to obtain!

Take Rao’s in NYC for example. Unless you are a regular, a friend of owner Frankie Pellegrino (he also is a regular on the Soprano’s) or an A-list celeb, getting in to Rao’s can take literally months. Or consider per se, Thomas Keller’s intimate NYC bistro: same story. Or how about Nobu in Los Angeles? How does six months in advance sound?

So what are the toughest fine-dining reservations to get in Austin? Well, the truth is you can get a table just about anywhere on Sun-Thursday evenings even without a reservation (if you don’t mind a short wait). Friday and Saturday night are different stories however. For popular upscale downtown eateries like Eddie V’s, the Roaring Fork, Kenichi, La Traviata, Truluck’s, Flemming’s, III Forks, McCormick & Schmick’s, The Driskill Grill and PF Chang’s, these nights can be difficult. But they will at least take reservations. The secret: book early. A random phone call to Eddie V’s on Tuesday revealed over 40% of tables already booked for the weekend. And on a football weekend, well, you can throw those numbers out the window.

Or, ask if dining at the bar is available. Several of the above mentioned spots will seat you and feed you at the bar, thus minimizing what could be a 1-2 hour wait without a reservation.

Robert Scalise, the concierge at the Driskill Hotel says the most difficult restaurants for him to book for hotel guests are Vespaio and Uchi. This is because of their limited reservations policy and their designation as “in” restaurants. Another tough ticket on most nights is the sixth street location of Z-Tejas.

So when you really need a table at a nice restaurant on a weekend night and you don’t have a reservation, what do you do? An often overlooked gem is the Café at the Four Seasons in the Four Seasons Hotel. Still another is the incomparable Aquarelle on West behind Opal Divine’s. Or try the excellent Ranch 616 downtown. You can sometimes get a table there. Or try going Thai. Thai Tara and Thai Passion almost always have room. Also try the Thistle Café across from oh so hot Belmont on W. 6th.

Here’s what NOT to do. Don’t call and say you had a reservation and then act all blustery when the hostess says she can’t find it. That almost never works. Don’t say you are a friend of the owner or have friends in high places. Again, really lame. Don’t blame the host or hostess who gives you the bad news. Not their fault.

Just be flexible and remain open to different times out of the preferred 7-9pm window. Most Austin restaurants will do their very best to work you in eventually (eventually being the operative word).

And however bad it is on a weekend night here, remember, it’s 100 times worse in NYC or LA.