Friends Only: live availability and table alerts
Usually bookable. 60% of the 30-day booking window was open at the last check. SnagRes has recorded 4,419 open time slots at Friends Only across 5,580 calendar checks. Of those openings, 43% were before 6:00 PM and 57% fell in prime time, 7:00 to 8:30 PM.
- Holds for
- At Friends Only, a table for two stays bookable about 4.6 days once it appears; a table for four, about 2.1 days.
- Best odds
- Thursdays are the easiest night at Friends Only: 100% of them had a table open at the last check, against 74% on Fridays.
- Source
- SnagRes rechecks Friends Only on Tock throughout the day. Last checked October 22, 2026.
Good news: Friends Only is usually within reach. About 60% of the next 30 days was open for two when we last looked, so shifting the night or the time is normally all it takes. It books on Tock in Nob Hill, San Francisco.
Planning ahead? When tables are released, how hard it is and the best way in are all in our guide to Friends Only reservations.
Booking statistics last measured 2026-10-22. How we measure this.
How hard is it to get a table at Friends Only?
57% of the open slots recorded at Friends Only fall between 7:00 and 8:30 PM, out of 4,419 observed, so prime time genuinely does surface here.
The times we see open run from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM, and the single slot that opens most often is 8:30 PM.
We have never once seen a Sunday or a Monday or a Tuesday come open, which usually means Friends Only is closed then rather than simply full.
Thursdays are the softest night on this calendar, open 100% of the times we checked, against 74% on Fridays. Moving your plan by one weekday is often worth more than moving it by a month.
A party of two is measurably easier here: 60% of the window was bookable at that size against 50% at the other.
Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Share of the 30-day window open, party of 2 | 60% |
| Share of the 30-day window open, party of 4 | 50% |
| Open slots falling between 7:00 and 8:30 PM | 57% |
| Time that opens most often | 8:30 PM |
| Range of times seen open | 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM |
| Easiest night | Thursday (100% open) |
| Hardest night | Friday (74% open) |
| Never observed open | Sunday, Monday, Tuesday |
| Booking platform | Tock |
| Open time slots observed | 4,419 |
Availability figures are measured from our own checks of Friends Only (4,419 open time slots, 5,580 date checks). No official release time has been confirmed for Friends Only yet, so the timing notes here are inferred from when tables have actually appeared.
Which night is easiest to book at Friends Only?
Thursdays had a table for two open most often at Friends Only: 100% of our checks, against 0% on Sundays.
| Night | Open |
|---|---|
| Sunday | 0% |
| Monday | 0% |
| Tuesday | 0% |
| Wednesday | 95% |
| Thursday | 100% |
| Friday | 74% |
| Saturday | 94% |
Across 4 nights measured at Friends Only, Thursday holds longest at about 3.9 days. A night that holds longer is a night you can still book after the release has passed; a short one means the table is gone before most people look.
| Night | Stays bookable | Times observed |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | about 3.4 days | 14 |
| Thursday | about 3.9 days | 16 |
| Friday | about 3.4 days | 12 |
| Saturday | about 2.5 days | 16 |
What should you know before booking Friends Only?
- It is an unmarked 10-seat omakase counter booked through Tock, so plan on a reservation rather than a walk-in. (theinfatuation.com)
What is the best way to book Friends Only?
- Check what is open at Friends Only right now. Start from the live calendar on this page rather than from Tock. It shows every date in the 30-day window with its current status, so you can see at a glance whether anything is bookable before you spend time on the platform.
- Aim at a Thursday. Thursdays are the softest night on Friends Only's calendar in our data, open 100% of the times we checked, against 74% on Fridays. Shifting the day is usually worth more than shifting the month.
- Widen your time to include 8:30 PM. 8:30 PM is the slot that opens most often at Friends Only. The full range we see open runs 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM.
- Try a party of two. Party size changes the answer here more than people expect: 60% of the window was bookable for two against 50% at the other size.
- Set an alert instead of refreshing. Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking. Cancellations arrive on no schedule at all, which is why refreshing by hand does not work. Star Friends Only on SnagRes and you get an alert the moment a table appears, with a link straight to Tock.
Where can you actually get a table instead of Friends Only?
These are SF restaurants close to Friends Only in cuisine or neighbourhood that were measurably easier to book at the last check. Ranked by how much easier, not by similarity alone, so there is always a good table within reach.
| Restaurant | Why it is similar | Window open |
|---|---|---|
| Elena's | also American, West Portal | 100% |
| Bar Jabroni | also American, Lower Haight | 100% |
| The Progress | also American, Fillmore | 93% |
| Boulevard | also American, Embarcadero | 87% |
| Liholiho Yacht Club | also Nob Hill | 87% |
| Rich Table | also American, Hayes Valley | 83% |
Frequently asked questions about booking Friends Only
- How hard is it to get a reservation at Friends Only?
- At the last check, 60% of the 30-day booking window had a table open for two at Friends Only. About 57% of open slots land between 7:00 and 8:30 PM. SnagRes rechecks Tock throughout the day and alerts you when that changes.
- What time can you actually get a table at Friends Only?
- The open times recorded at Friends Only run from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM, and 8:30 PM is the slot that comes open most often. These are the times left available, not the restaurant's full service hours.
- What is the easiest night to book Friends Only?
- Thursday is the softest night on Friends Only's calendar in our data, open 100% of the times we checked, against 74% on Friday.
- What is the best party size to book Friends Only?
- A party of two is measurably easier at Friends Only: 60% of the window was bookable at that size against 50% at the other. Tables for two are usually the most contested inventory, so trying an adjacent size often beats trying an adjacent night.
- Is Friends Only open on Sunday?
- We have never recorded an open table at Friends Only on a Sunday or a Monday or a Tuesday, which normally indicates a closing day rather than a full book.
- What time do Friends Only tickets open?
- Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking. We have not yet measured a fixed drop time for Friends Only, so we do not claim one. SnagRes rechecks it throughout the day for cancellations and off-schedule drops.
- How far ahead does Friends Only release tables?
- The furthest-out date we have seen bookable at Friends Only was 29 days ahead, so its window runs roughly that far. New dates land at the far edge and cancellations surface in between, which is why watching beats checking once.
- Which booking platform does Friends Only use?
- Friends Only takes tickets on Tock. Tock began as a prepaid ticketing platform and still behaves like one. Seats tend to go on sale in blocks at a set moment, often weeks ahead, and a returned seat can reappear without warning when someone cancels a prepaid booking. SnagRes rechecks Tock for Friends Only throughout the day and alerts you when a table opens.
- Can you walk in at Friends Only?
- SnagRes tracks reservations rather than walk-ins, so we cannot see a live bar or counter count at Friends Only. Many rooms do hold a few seats for walk-ins, often early or at the bar, so it is worth calling ahead. If you would rather lock in a table, star Friends Only and we will alert you the moment a reservation opens.
- Is using a reservation alert legal?
- Yes. SnagRes only notifies you when a table opens; the booking itself is an ordinary reservation you make yourself on Tock, under your own name. It does not resell tables, run bots to hold them, or automate the booking, so it does not cross the lines a resale or auto-booking service does.
- Does SnagRes book Friends Only for me?
- No. SnagRes tells you the moment a table opens at Friends Only and links you straight to Tock with the date prefilled, then you complete the reservation yourself. It never logs into your account and never books on your behalf, which is what keeps your account in good standing.
More questions about Friends Only
How far in advance can you book Friends Only?
Friends Only's calendar runs about 30 days deep. At the last check a table for two was bookable on 60% of the dates in that window, so booking a few days ahead is usually enough.
More SF restaurants like this
- Book Friends Only on Tock
- All 60 tracked SF restaurants
- Also in Nob Hill: House of Prime Rib, Liholiho Yacht Club, Folklore, Naides, The Happy Crane, The Big Four
- More American in SF: 7 Adams, Gary Danko, Jilli, Rich Table, Folklore, Benu, Enclos, Kiln
- Other Tock restaurants we track: Cafe Zoetrope, Ox + Tiger, Mister Jiu's, Enclos, Fu Hui Hua, Jou Jou
- See all: American restaurants in SF.
- Ranked nearby: the hardest American tables in SF, the hardest tables in Nob Hill.
- Guides: How to get a table at Friends Only, SF reservation alerts, How to get SF reservations, Tock reservation alerts, when restaurants release tables, how these numbers are measured