Looking to book some restaurants for a trip in December, but wondering if anyone can recommend a site or source for reservation policies, short of calling each restaurant individually. I am trying to find out when reservations open for each restaurant (some are 1 month, some are 4 weeks, some are 8 weeks, etc.) Does Zagats have this info? I didn't see it on citysearch or fodors. Any other suggestions?

Also, does anyone have experience with opentable.com? Do they have the same availability as calling a restaurant directly?

Thank you!

Hi Kim, I have used opentable.com with much success. I must admit I was a little skeptical the first few times I used it, so I did telephone the restaurant to confirm after reserving via the internet. Everything was a promised.

UP!

How many restaurants are you trying to book? Calling directly isn't that big a deal, is it? Most of the places I've reserved at (Babbo, Union Square, Patria, Le Bernardin, Nobu come to mind) have a month lead time, to the day, as in call early that morning. Most places in NYC you'll be just fine calling a couple weeks ahead of time.

But if you find a service that does it for you, more power to you!

I've found no listing for reservation policies and Open Table doesn't book for most of the restaurants I frequent. One service I have used is restaurantrow.com, now they charge $5 for a reservation but they have gotten me reservations that I would not be able to obtain on my own.

I guess I am just trying to cover my bases because I do not have it narrowed down to just the 3 or 4 restaraunts that i want to reserve. I disci\overed (by accident) for instance that Il Mulino (I think that is the correct place) has an 8 week lead time, but I think Gramercy Tavern is 4 weeks, and you mentioned some that were 1 month. i just don't want to miss out on one because i didn't realize that the reservations had opened!

oops, that was One if by land, not Il Mulino.

Thanks Mike, i will check that out.

Check with the restaurants themselves. You don't want to miss the reservations day because someone here got it wrong, do you?