Getting reservations in NYC has gotten so out of hand that some restaurants are now offering $1,000 NFTs so diners can skip the line

• Some popular NYC eateries are selling $100-$1000 NFTs that give patrons guaranteed reservations.
• Company Front of House sells the NFTs for hard-to-get-into restaurants around the city.

If you're looking for a cramped, two-person table at one of New York's best restaurants, there's now an alternative to repeatedly calling the Maitre d' pretending to be a famous person's assistant or setting alarms for staggered reservation openings — 12 weeks out at 12 p.m. for Dame, 14 days out at 10 a.m. for Bonnie's.

Vying for a dinner reservation in New York has gotten so out of hand that new companies are popping up to capitalize off the post-pandemic dining-out craze. A handful of popular NYC restaurants — Wildair, Hanoi House, Dame, and Emmett's on Grove — are now selling NFTs that bestow dining perks — like the promise of a hassle-free weekly reservation — upon their owners.

Front of House (FOH) launched May 18 and sells the NFTs — but they're not cheap. You'll be paying anywhere from $100-$1,000 for the privilege of skipping the reservation queue.

According to FOH, 80% of the NFT profits go to the eatery — "helping restaurants create new revenue streams outside of the dining room."

A $1,000 NFT of a fish and chips graphic from Dame, an English restaurant in Greenwich Village that made Infatuation's list of best new restaurants in 2021, will grant its owner one reservation per week through the end of 2022. Reservations are good for parties of two or four people — and as long as NFT owners request the table more than 24 hours in advance. However, it's unclear how many tables the restaurant will allot for digital collectible owners; the listing says the table isn't guaranteed if another FOH holder has already booked it.

VaynerFund partner and FOH co-founder Phil Toronto told Insider FOH has sold "about 150 collectibles so far," and restaurants have capped the available NFTs at 20-30 each.

For now, patrons can purchase NFTs (by credit card or cryptocurrency) from the restaurants directly. Toronto says another 10 restaurants and bars — including Tokyo Record Bar and Rosella — will launch in the coming weeks.

If reservations are the main draw for you, and you'd rather not spend $100-$1,000 on digital art, you still may be able to snag reservations to participating restaurants the old-fashioned way: by lurking on OpenTable and Resy.

Email tips on all things internet to mleighton@insider.com.