Kristina Jenkins

There’s a restaurant not far from me, just one neighborhood away in a strip mall so low rent you’ll double check that the car is locked. Pass through the parking spots that seem entirely too tight to be real and you’ll find one of Miami’s best restaurants, Boia De, where the theme is quite simple: put out things that are delicious. Like other Time Out contributors and editors, I make a pilgrimage there yearly on my birthday. To do this, I check the reservations incessantly. I put my name on a waitlist. And I text the chef as if I’m hoping he’ll take me to the spring formal. Eventually, usually, I get that coveted reservation, albeit at a time that most people would say it’s too early to begin happy hour. The crazy thing, as we found in trying to book these restaurants below, is that Boia De isn’t even the toughest reservation to be had in this fair land. Some of the toughest reservations in America are just simply impossible to get—unless you’ve been headlining at Madison Square Garden. For others, getting a reservation will require a combination of computer skills and patience, and some planning well in advance. So, break out your laptops, set your calendar with reminders, and prepare to call in favors because we’re about to take a trip to the restaurants in America that are just near impossible to book. RECOMMENDED: The cheapest Michelin-starred restaurants in AmericaThe best seafood restaurants in the USA

At the Las Vegas iteration of José Andrés’s culinary lab, the eight-seat bar books one month out by first-come, first-served email reservation only. Lucky correspondents will snag a seat for an experimental 15-course tasting in a space within the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hotel.

Miss out on a culinary adventure to Ferran Adrià’s elBulli? Try to secure one of the twelve seats at Minibar by chef José Andrés—an Adrià disciple—for a progressive meal merging art, science and unmistakable culinary flair. Seasonal reservations are acquired via email and roll out every three months. If sheer proximity to this hot ticket suffices, snap up a seat at the adjacent Barmini, Andrés’ culinary cocktail lab.