DoorDash Reservations Recorded America’s Most Distinctive Restaurants

At eighty-six In Manhattan, exclusivity is the goal.

The 11-table upscale steakhouse is the kind that lavishes caviar and aged Mimolette cheese on its potatoes, and it’s a wonder that Dr. Joe Jorgelewicz, DVM, raises the duck at market price in the rural hills of Pennsylvania. Taylor Swift reportedly had dinner there wearing a Miu Miu skirt.

Reservations are a rare commodity and New York restaurant law prohibits you from selling them. “Access is the key asset,” food writer Helen Rosner wrote recently The New Yorker review Of the eighty-six. “The product is a door, and what a door! An impossible door!”

What may be even more surprising is that New York’s most exclusive restaurant will dedicate a space to dinner-only via “Table Drops” by The Eighty-Six on DoorDasha food logistics app that until recently was placing its bets on the idea that you’d rather eat burritos at home.

after Acquisition of hospitality technology company SevenRooms Last year, DoorDash plunged full body into a raging war with rival tech companies like Resy and OpenTable for control of an increasingly scarce asset: seats at some of the country’s most exclusive restaurants.

“We provide value for customers to discover new restaurants for casual dining,” DoorDash CEO Tony Xu told investors on a February 2026 earnings call. “We also do this with accessibility – offering reservations for some of the best restaurants.”

Its sister restaurants in New York are both non-reservable Urich and Corner storeLikewise, it will only offer you a seat through the DoorDash app and website. There are also exclusive arrangements with DoorDash and SevenRooms for some of Miami’s most guarded restaurants, e.g Michelin-recognized Ecuadorian hotspot Cotoa Or a Miami-London steakhouse Sparrow Italy.

So far, DoorDash has rolled out reservations in 13 of the largest U.S. cities, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Chicago. But more are scheduled.

In the depths of the reservation wars

This may be in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has accustomed the country to very long incubation periods for food and drink plans. Or maybe it’s just a sign of growing wealth inequality, as average restaurants suffer but ultra-exclusive experiences for the wealthy proliferate.

But as WIRED colleagues at Enjoy your food I noticed a few years ago, In recent years, the restaurant reservation craze has turned into a competitive sportleading to a gray economy of workers in the labor ranks Destroying the black market of restaurant vendors Who hoarded reservations and resold seats to high bidders.

A march of US cities, starting with New York, have banned reservation scalping after pressure from restaurant groups. What’s replaced it is a new pitched battle between restaurant booking apps.

DoorDash is the latest and perhaps most disruptive entrant in these reservation wars, as tech apps leverage restaurant accessibility to bring diners into an entire loyalty-based ecosystem — often through partnerships with credit card companies.

OpenTable now offers dining credits and reserved tables At fine dining restaurants in a number of major US cities for Chase Sapphire cardholders. The booking app Resy, owned by credit card company American Express, has Accommodate event tickets tok app To take this further, by creating an ecosystem of exclusive “experiences” and loyalty rewards for American Express cardholders.

DoorDash is moving fast

“But no one seems to be moving as quickly or as aggressively as DoorDash, which was already the country’s largest food delivery app before it joined forces with SevenRooms. DoorDash has been quick to press that advantage by securing exclusive access to some of the most sought-after tables across the country.

In Manhattan alone, more than 200 restaurants have current or pending deals with DoorDash to offer exclusive tables, times or reservations. On a February earnings call, DoorDash CEO Shaw laid out the strategy: become a one-stop app for restaurants to attract customers.