No, it’s not just you. Reserving bars and restaurants in NYC for parties and events is hard.

Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, reunion, fundraiser, engagement, or anniversary, planning a work happy hour, or just trying to gather friends for a night out, finding the right venue in NYC can be daunting. And if you’re looking to reserve a space at a bar or restaurant for a larger group, you’ve likely discovered that platforms like Resy or OpenTable just don’t cut it with more than six guests.

Until Party Place, the process of securing the right venue involved endless searching, countless phone calls, and a whole lot of frustration. Most people start with a Google search for “places to have a party in NYC” or “best birthday bars near me,” only to get lost in a maze of social media posts for the “Top 5 places for birthdays” on Instagram or TikTok.

You might end up with a long list of cool options and think the hard part is over—all that’s left is to call or email the bar or restaurant and lock it in. If only it were that simple! More often than not, when you call, you’re told the manager isn’t available, or you’re asked to email someone else. If you find an email on the venue’s website and reach out, half the time, you get no response. And when you do hear back, the price is too high, or the venue is already booked.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone! On average, it takes party hosts 2-5 weeks to secure a venue, with anywhere from 10 to 40 emails exchanged before reaching an agreement. For venues, less than 10% of inbound inquiries turn into actual events. In other words, this process is frustrating for everyone, and many parties end up un-thrown.

Why is that? It boils down to three main issues:

1. Sticker Shock: You didn’t realize how expensive it would be to reserve the place you had in mind.
2. Availability: Your perfect venue is already booked for the date you wanted.
3. Confusing Lingo: The back-and-forth with venues is filled with jargon—terms like “minimum spend,” “cash bar,” “open bar,” “private,” “buyout,” “semi-private,” and more. What do they even mean?

All you wanted was a clear idea of what you’re getting and how much it will cost, but booking a bar or restaurant in NYC—something that should be straightforward—has become an unnecessarily complicated and confusing process.

So, while your research may have helped you find potential venues, it didn’t make booking them any easier!

Next week, we’ll break down what it really means to reserve a bar or restaurant in NYC for any event or get-together, and how with Party Place this whole process can take less than 5 minutes.