When stars like Taylor Swift, Hailey Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter are in town, New York City’s celeb-approved Italian restaurants are where you’ll find them — but landing a table takes strategy. Here’s what to know about the spots A-listers can’t quit.
Which Italian Restaurants in NYC Do Celebrities Actually Go To?
Carbone, Via Carota, L’Artusi, Rao’s, Bar Pitti and Sant Ambroeus are the six Italian restaurants where NYC’s most-photographed celebrities are repeatedly spotted dining. Each has its own reservation rules, signature dish and reputation for star-studded crowds.
Carbone in Greenwich Village is notoriously hard to get a table at — so hard that Justin and Hailey Bieber once showed up without a reservation and were turned away. The Kardashians have been spotted there, along with the Biebers, Jennifer Lopez and many more.
Via Carota in the West Village regularly hosts stars from Swift to Sarah Jessica Parker. A few blocks away, L’Artusi draws the Bieber crowd too — the couple has been photographed leaving more than once.
Rao’s in East Harlem is the most exclusive of the bunch — its extreme exclusivity is exactly why celebrities show up. Bar Pitti in Greenwich Village offers a more chaotic, see-and-be-seen experience, with Carpenter and Bieber recently spotted at its sidewalk tables.
Sant Ambroeus, which serves coffee, gelato and full meals, is a celebrity magnet at its West Village outpost. Jared Leto, Swift and Calvin Klein have all been seen there, and the brand has expanded into international food travel destinations including Milan, Paris, the Hamptons, Palm Beach and Aspen.
How Do You Get a Reservation at Carbone in NYC?
Reservations at Carbone drop on Resy exactly 30 days in advance at 10 a.m., and you’ll need to be logged in and ready to click the moment they appear. The window closes within seconds.
If you do land a table, the spicy rigatoni vodka is the dish everyone comes for — it’s the order that turned Carbone into a celebrity institution and a social media phenomenon. The restaurant’s old-school red-sauce-meets-luxury vibe is the draw, but the rigatoni is the signature.
The Biebers’ famous walk-in rejection is a useful warning: even A-listers don’t get in without a reservation here. If the 30-day Resy drop fails, your best alternative is to try for a bar seat earlier in the evening, though even those go fast on weekends.
L’Artusi, just across town in the West Village, runs on a similar but slightly easier system. Reservations drop on Resy two weeks in advance at 9 a.m., and the ricotta gnocchi is the must-order. It’s a softer landing if Carbone keeps shutting you out.
For travelers building NYC into a list of food travel destinations, plan reservation drops around your trip dates — booking your flights and hotel before you’ve secured a Carbone or L’Artusi table is the order most people get wrong.
Where Do Celebrities Like Taylor Swift and Hailey Bieber Dine in the West Village?
Via Carota, L’Artusi, Bar Pitti and the West Village location of Sant Ambroeus are the four spots where Taylor Swift, Hailey Bieber, Sarah Jessica Parker and Sabrina Carpenter have all been repeatedly photographed.
Via Carota is famous for its cacio e pepe and insalata verde, and walking in is the way to go. The restaurant used to be walk-in only and now takes a limited number of Resy reservations that are nearly impossible to land. The smarter play: go early in the evening on a weeknight, grab a drink and embrace the wait.
Bar Pitti is the chaos counterpart — packed, buzzy and best known for its sidewalk tables out front, which are great for catching A-listers dining al fresco. It’s cash only, so come prepared.
Sant Ambroeus’s West Village location functions almost as a celebrity clubhouse during the day, with everyone from Leto to Klein turning up for espresso or gelato. If you care more about the food than the sightings, the other Manhattan locations and outposts in the Hamptons, Palm Beach, Aspen, Milan and Paris pour the same coffee without the paparazzi.
Why Is Rao’s the Hardest Italian Restaurant to Get Into in NYC?
Rao’s in East Harlem takes no reservations and keeps no walk-in wait list — instead, the restaurant’s tables are held by regulars and essentially passed down like heirlooms. To get in, you or someone in your party has to have a standing table.
That system is exactly why the rich and famous fight to dine there. Scarcity creates the celebrity factor, and the celebrity factor reinforces the scarcity. The restaurant is cash only, which adds to the throwback feel.
If you’re determined to break in without inheriting a table, the unofficial workaround is to become a regular at the bar. Come for drinks repeatedly, befriend the staff and it just might pay off in the form of an open table on an unusually slow night. It’s a long game, not a weekend plan.
The lemon chicken is legendary — if you do manage to find a way in, that’s the order. For most visitors building NYC into their food travel destinations, Rao’s is best understood as a story to chase rather than a reservation to book. The other five restaurants on this list are realistic; Rao’s is the white whale.
