Becoming a regular at a New York restaurant is an art. To earn the experience of walking into one’s preferred establishment and being greeted by name, seated immediately, and offered “the usual” is a trophy that very few have the tact, savvy, and dedication to win.
There is no one path to this coveted prize. Consider the SoHo resident who routinely brings ice-cold bottles of water to the host stand at Balthazar in search of preferential treatment, the start-up founder who sends late-night pizzas to the staff at Tribeca hotspot the Blond every few weeks, or the keto-dieter who ascended to first-name basis with a Union Square farmers' market vendor by buying “illegal” raw milk under the table. Every regular has their own process, but a few time-honored rules of thumb emerge: Visit at least once a week. Order consistently. Leave a healthy tip, of course.
These days, the dominance of apps like Resy threatens to snuff out regular culture. Reservations have become a cottage industry, with enterprising college students selling coveted tables for thousands of dollars on a burgeoning secondary market. But fear not—you can still bypass the host stand the old-fashioned way. Below, five New Yorkers dish on the rituals and relics of the regular lifestyle.
