Anyone know of a secondary market to trade French Laundry reservations? We sadly were unable to get a reservation when the May availability came out today (truly shocking how quickly they go). Any advice on where we can look to buy one? Failing that, any recommendations for other high end / fine dining restaurants in Napa?
If you like caviar, try Keller’s pop-up Champange and caviar place in Yountville for pre- or post dinner. Not cheap, but very good.
2 Likes
might be able to connect with someone here:
1 Like
Sorry to hear that. I tried for over 20 minutes but finally managed to snag a reservation for two for Memorial Day weekend of all dates. I seriously thought I was locked out too.
That’s incredible! Reservations were sold out for the entire time we’re going to be in Napa within 30 seconds of the reservations going live. Both my wife and I were trying and no luck.
Thanks for the tip!
Actually, I think I learned better this time by trying last month as practice. I think (not sure) they stagger the release of the reservations. My first time I thought they were completely sold out in 30 seconds too. I found that if you “Book now” it’ll give you whatever is available at that moment. If it isn’t something you want (table for 4 or 6 instead of 2, wrong date, all sold out at this moment, etc…) all you have to do is click the Tock page for the French Laundry right behind the reservation window, hit F5 on your keyboard to refresh and click Book Now again. Over and over. I must’ve done this 100+ times. F5-click-F5-click-F5-click, etc… The first bazillion times I got either somebody else has already taken this time or none available. Stuck with it and right at the 20 minute mark in a two top popped up and I managed to secure it.
btw a few suggestions. Be sure and sign up for the wait list. Also keep checking. I found dates pop up a few days after as people cancelled when they realized they had conflicts (I’m guessing). Also check with your concierge for your credit card company. I can’t recall which cards but some card companies have access to some reservations there. Good luck!
also btw his Ad Hoc place is good if you like fried chicken.
1 Like
Sincerely appreciate the advice! I called both Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire, but both told me no dice on assistance. We went to Ad Hoc last time we were out there, and while it was awesome, it’s obviously much different experience than FL. I hope you have a wonderful time there!
There is also a FB group “French Laundry Reservations” that you can join. I didn’t have luck with it, but if you’re flexible you might. People post reservations they can’t make or need to switch for other days/times. Worth a try.
Not in Napa but get a car… SingleThread Farm. 3 star Michelin, probably most comparable to TFL. I haven’t been but this was going to be our other option.
Single Thread is not very much like the French Laundry, though FWIW I prefer it. I humbly submit that the best choice is Harbor House Inn
2 Likes
I took a look at this one, but its almost a 3 hour drive from Napa. While I’m sure it’s delicious, that is quite a hike.
La Toque in the city of Napa.
curious/real question (no disrespect meant)
but with 30 seconds… how come u weren’t able to click a time? assume you were mashing refreshing right at the start?
I think Hayato books out in about 5 seconds… which is literally faster than i click to a month/date/time… it’s nutso…
Also, the 20 mins part - I think depending how long they hold the reso in cart before check out… that might be why at 20 mins things opened up. Like u mash refresh, click on a time… but then realize that’s not good…
u just let it expire in cart, and at 20 mins mark, it re-releases out … just a thought.
No disrespect taken at all. We are in Napa for 3 nights - I was focused on one day, my wife on a second, and a friend of ours assisting with the third. For me, I clicked dining room, then clicked a time, and then I kept getting a message on the top that said “Someone else has booked this time” or something like that. So then I pivoted to the outdoor reservations, and by the time I got to that, everything was gone. Same situation with my wife and my friend. Next time I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for the 20 minute idea, though I kept trying for quite a bit of time, and things would popup, but then you get the red banner error message. Frustrating experience, but it is what it is.
I was going to suggest this but SingleThread is temporarily (hopefully) closed due to a fire.
The French Laundry uses Tock for their reservations and I believe iirc that their default in the cart is 15 minutes max. I didn’t come close to that long. 
10 min for TFL FWIW
1 Like
Duly noted. I thought it said 15 but I can certainly believe 10. I definitely give it a chance to timeout!