Alert – New York ‘celebrity reservationist’ reveals his secrets to scoring the best tables at all the hottest restaurants in town

Scoring a reservation at a top restaurant in New York City is not for the faint-hearted – but there is one man in town who may be able to help you do just that.

Nicky DiMaggio, 33, – or ‘Little Nicky’ as he is now widely known – is a professional reservationist who has made a career out of schmoozing the right people to lock down the most coveted tables around.  

From billionaires and celebrities to Wall Street giants and politicians, everyone who is anyone seeks out his help to get their name on the right lists.

Indeed, as he joked in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com this week, he may well be one the most powerful people in the Big Apple (on the restaurant scene at least). 

So just how does he do it? Here DiMaggio reveals his secrets to securing the best tables at all the hottest restaurants in town. 

Nick DiMaggio is a professional reservationist who scores the most coveted tables in NYC

His clientele not only includes celebrities but the NFL, Morgan Stanley and the United Nations

Pictured: DiMaggio and Bruce Springsteen at Emilio Ballato’s on E Houston Street

DiMaggio became so good at acquiring reservations that he created his own LLC

DiMaggio first became interested in securing reservations at restaurant hotspots after visiting Rao in Harlem. 

The 125-year-old ten-table dinner spot doesn’t accept walk ins or reservations and there is virtually no way to contact the restaurant unless you have an ‘in’ – even if you are a celebrity. 

But after his cousin helped him get a table aged just 17 he became hooked. 

Speaking to DailyMail.com, he said: ‘I realized, if I walked through these doors, I could walk through any door.’ 

From there he began building his rolodex by networking with the owners of the most exclusive restaurants in New York.

As foodies got word of DiMaggio connections, they began asking him if he could get a reservation for them in his name. 

They would send DiMaggio money as a ‘thank you’ for the favor, but as more and more people put in requests, he decided to make his business official with an LLC.

‘The whole reservation thing is a science,’ said DiMaggio. ‘People want what they can’t have. [Restaurants] want you to want it more and be frustrated that you can’t secure a reservation.’

‘People will say ‘I’ve been waiting six months to get a reservation, and you got in in six minutes.’ So then they want to know, ‘who’s Nicky?”

But how much does a reservation cost? And how do you price something that would be otherwise free?

DiMaggio charges anywhere between $500 to $1000 per reservation, depending on the date, time, the location, the number of people and how much notice he’s been given.

The most he has been paid for a reservation was $5,000.

‘A woman called me and said her boss (who was a billionaire) was flying into New York for a meeting and he wanted to take his clients to dinner. She said he was flying into Teterboro, the driver was going to pick him up, take them to a restaurant called Per Se, and he’s going back home.’

‘I got the Per Se Reservation done in 10 minutes. She sent me the wire within five minutes.

That’s not even the most money he’s seen a reservation go for. 

On a website called Charity Buzz where users can bid on bookings, one reservation at Rao’s is going for $20,000 – and that’s before the food.

‘People want what they can’t have. [Restaurants] want you to want it more and be frustrated that you can’t secure a reservation,’ said DiMaggio

New York’s scalping laws are particularly strict, but it only applies to tickets for entertainment and sports, so what DiMaggio is doing is perfectly legal

DiMaggio charges between $500 and $1000 per reservation

Media outlets, such as TMZ, often reach out to DiMaggio to ask him where celebrities are dining, he said. But he remains loyal to his customers.

‘I don’t do that. Because that’s trust,’ he explained.

In fact, celebrities prefer to use DiMaggio for this very reason. It also helps them keep their identity hidden as instead of using their own name for the reservation, DiMaggio volunteers his own, allowing the celebrity a moment of privacy.

But it’s not just individuals who reach out to DiMaggio. He said he also helps companies such as the NBA, NFL, Morgan Stanley, and the United Nations.

He has hooked people up of all crafts – from WAGS of professional athletes to the Vice President of Sweden. 

DiMaggio has a limitation on how many people he can get in per restaurant, so despite being inundated with requests, he can only send a certain amount of clients for those tables.

‘[The restaurants] want to make it a point that it doesn’t matter who you are, celebrity or not,’ he said. 

So what separates DiMaggio’s business from scalping?

What DiMaggio’s doing isn’t illegal. New York’s scalping laws are strict, but only apply to tickets for entertainment and sports.

‘I had to be on a professional level and start invoicing people,’ he said. ‘I’m not scalping. People are paying for my services, paying for my connection, paying for the work I have to put in to get this done sometimes.’

Ballpark, DiMaggio said he makes around $500,000 on selling reservations alone.

Some restaurants who ask DiMaggio to help bring in some business will give him a percentage of the client’s spend on the restaurant 

‘Say someone comes into town and I get them into a club and they spend $10,000, then I’ll invoice the club 20%,’ he said. 

DiMaggio has been approached by apps, such as Appointment Trader or Dorsia, that let people with existing reservations sell them on a virtual marketplace. 

He said these apps have even sometimes gone to Nicky to obtain more reservations for their site.

But he has become concerned about the increasing use of bots that gobble up reservations the minute they’re available so human thumbs don’t stand a chance.

‘It’s not fair to the customers. It’s not fair to the restaurants. I’ve seen people get denied for a reservation that doesn’t exist.’

DiMaggio said before the pandemic, reservations were not this hard to come by.

‘I think [people] realized the world can shut down in one day,’ he said.

‘I’ve never seen anything like it. I mean, for people to create bots to create fake names, to create fake virtual credit cards. I mean, that’s fraud. Just for a reservation, you know, it’s getting out of control.’

Different restaurants trend every few months, but aside from Rao’s, DiMaggio said the hardest reservation to get in New York City is 4 Charles Prime Rib – where he helped Hailey and Justin Bieber get in a month ago.

Coming in a close second is Polo Bar on E 55th Street, where he said you literally cannot walk through the doors without having a reservation.

In third place, Don Angie on Greenwich Avenue, for which he said receives over 2,000 reservation requests a day. 

The most he was paid for a reservation was $5,000

Pictured: DiMaggio and Emily Ratajkowski at Emilio Ballato’s

Pictured: DiMaggio and rapper 50cent at Bice Cucina on W 55th Street

DiMaggio has some tentative campaigns coming up, saying that he and Deux Moi, a celebrity gossip Instagram account, are in discussions to launch something new.

‘They want to do an app, but their focus is just on the reservations where there are celebrity sightings.’

Deux Moi confirmed with DailyMail.com that they are in discussions with DiMaggio but ‘it’s not definitely happening yet.’

DiMaggio’s entire livelihood revolves around getting people reservations. So what is his personal favorite place to dine?

‘I like BondST in the lounge,’ he said. ‘It is such a vibe. They make me feel at home. I just love the energy.’

He chuckled, adding: ‘My favorite restaurant isn’t necessarily impossible to get into.’

If you want to get in touch with the king of reservations himself, DiMaggio keeps his number private. 

But you can request to follow him on Instagram and message him. He also posts cancellations on his story, so you might be in luck if you’re scrolling at the right time.