This foodie tool is top of the “line” — a new app will allow New Yorkers to buy someone else’s reservation at some of the city’s hottest restaurants.
Users of Shout buy and sell dinner reservations at hot spots, including Mario Batali’s famed eatery Babbo.
And diners who want to cut the queue can also hook up with people who are ahead of them at trendy walk-up eateries — and trade places for a fee — by sending each other messages.
“New Yorkers hate to wait. The fact that this app can actually eliminate waiting is genius,” said Victoria Manganiello, who scored a $20 spot at Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho, where lines for the wildly popular Cronuts sometimes wrap around the block.
“I am a big foodie and love trying new restaurants, but I rarely have the time to wait for two hours in line for a table,” Manganiello said.
Users download the free app, which launched last month and is available only via iPhone, and can then post ads or respond to posts by clicking them.
Those who sell spots in line post times, locations and a suggested fee. Users selling reservations post time, party size and fee.
Buyers then send sellers private messages — to haggle over prices or set up a time and place.
All cash is then exchanged using the app’s security-safe credit-card system.
On Wednesday, users posted ads selling places in line at the Village gastropub The Spotted Pig for $30, the trendy East Village brunch spot Prune for $15 and the popular ramen joint Ippudo Westside in Hell’s Kitchen for $20.
“Trying a Wednesday brunch, too cold for me to wait,” one user posted.
The idea for the app struck while the company’s founders were stuck at the airport, said Shout CEO Zachariah Reitano, 22.
He and pals were trying to figure out how to track down someone who would part with an airplane ticket for a price, he said.
“It hit us that it’s much easier to broadcast thoughts [using an app] than just talking to people in close proximity,” said Reitano, who graduated from Columbia University last year.
Additional reporting by Amber Sutherland