To use Resy, create a free account, save a payment method, then search by date, party size, and time to see which tables are open. When a slot shows as available, you book it instantly. For hard restaurants, the key is to know the exact release time, be ready the moment a new date opens, and stay flexible on time and party size.
Resy is a free reservation platform owned by American Express that many hard-to-book restaurants use in New York and, increasingly, San Francisco. Most restaurants release tables on a rolling window, where a new date opens at the far edge of the calendar each day. Each restaurant sets its own release time, so the schedule is specific to the place you want.
There is no single Resy-wide opening time. Each restaurant sets its own release time for new dates, and while early morning is common, plenty of places release at midday or another hour. Because guessing a universal time will cost you the table, always check the exact release time for the specific restaurant you are trying to book.
Yes, Resy Notify works as a built-in waitlist. You request an alert for one restaurant, date, and party size, and Resy notifies you if a matching table opens. Its limits are that it only covers Resy, not OpenTable, Tock, or SevenRooms, and it watches a single date and size at a time rather than a flexible range.
Yes, Resy is free to browse and book with, and holding a standard reservation costs nothing. Some restaurants attach a deposit or sell certain seats as prepaid tickets, but that is set by the restaurant rather than by Resy. Creating an account and using Resy Notify are both free as well.
At the toughest restaurants, far more people want the release than there are seats, so the calendar can empty within seconds of a new date opening. Missing the drop is the normal outcome, not a failure. The most reliable path afterward is catching a cancellation, which is where most last-minute tables come from.
After a release sells out, watch for cancellations, since guests who booked earlier often drop their reservations in the last day or two before a date. Resy Notify can alert you for one Resy slot, and a tool like SnagRes can watch Resy, OpenTable, Tock, and SevenRooms at once and message you when any table opens.
Resy is a free reservation platform owned by American Express, and it hosts many of the hardest tables in New York along with a growing list of restaurants in San Francisco. You search by date, party size, and time, see which slots are open, and book instantly when one is available. Holding a standard table costs nothing, though some restaurants attach a deposit or a prepaid ticket to specific seats.
Most Resy restaurants run on a rolling booking window. Each day a new date becomes bookable at the far edge of the calendar, and every restaurant sets its own release time for that fresh date. Some open new dates early in the morning, others at midday or another fixed hour, so the schedule is specific to each place. The night you want does not sit open forever, because it appears at one moment and empties from there.
There is no single Resy-wide opening time. Release timing is set by each restaurant, not by the platform, so a table opens when that specific restaurant chooses to drop its next date. Early morning is a common choice, but plenty of places release at midday or at another hour entirely. The only reliable way to know is to check the restaurant you actually want, since guessing a universal time will cost you the table.
Because the window rolls forward one day at a time, there is a single moment at each release when a brand-new date first appears. For the most popular restaurants, prime weekend tables can be claimed within seconds of that moment, which is why knowing the exact time matters more than almost anything else you do.
At the toughest restaurants, far more people want the release than there are seats. When a fresh date drops, a wall of diners hits it at the same instant, and the calendar empties faster than most people can tap through party size and time. Refreshing a minute after the release usually means refreshing an empty calendar, which is the normal experience rather than a sign that you did something wrong.
Tables for two are the most contested, since they suit the largest share of diners. Loosening up on party size, on the day of the week, and on the exact hour widens the pool of slots you can actually reach when demand is at its heaviest.
The booking itself is fast, so preparation is what separates a landed table from a missed one. Set up your account and save a card before the release, then be ready the moment the window opens with your details already chosen. Speed and flexibility do the rest, and the steps below run in the order that matters most.
Learn the specific restaurant's exact release time and window first, since Resy sets no universal opening hour.
Create your Resy account and save a payment method in advance, so nothing slows you down at checkout.
Decide your date, party size, and a range of acceptable times before the release, not during it.
Be ready and refreshing at the exact moment the new date opens, because prime slots go within seconds.
Stay flexible on time and party size, and remember that tables for two are the most contested.
If the release passes without a table, switch your effort to watching for cancellations instead.
Resy Notify is the platform's built-in waitlist. You request an alert for a specific restaurant, date, and party size, and Resy emails or notifies you if a matching table opens up. It is genuinely useful, and it costs nothing, so it is worth setting for any Resy restaurant you are chasing. The catch is how far its reach actually extends.
Notify has two real limits. It covers only Resy, so it cannot see tables that open on OpenTable, Tock, or SevenRooms, and it watches one date and party size at a time rather than a flexible range. If your plans can flex across several nights or across platforms, a single Notify request will miss openings that fall outside the exact slot you asked it to watch.
Once the release is gone, most bookable tables come from cancellations. People who reserved a month earlier change plans, shrink their party, or give up a deposit, and for a short window that freed seat is bookable by whoever sees it first. These openings do not follow a clock, because they surface at random hours, and they cluster in the last day or two before a date. That timing is why watching consistently beats a single well-timed refresh, since the seat that opens at an odd hour is invisible unless something is checking for it.
SnagRes complements Resy by watching all four major platforms at once, which means Resy, OpenTable, Tock, and SevenRooms, and emailing or texting you when any of them opens a table. It never books for you, so you complete the reservation yourself in Resy. That covers the two gaps Resy Notify leaves, since it spans every platform and can watch a flexible range instead of one fixed slot.
Resy releases tables on a rolling calendar, each at its own set time. Learn how Resy works, how to book a hard table, and whether Notify helps.
How Resy works, when its rolling releases open, how to book a hard table, whether Resy Notify helps, and where last-minute tables come from.
Keep reading: Resy vs OpenTable vs Tock vs SevenRooms · A Resy Notify alternative · How far in advance can you book?