damnlines.comdamnlines.comA century-old, family-run Little Italy latteria known for a numbered-ticket line that owner Luigi Di Palo told Gothamist runs "not uncommon" 40-minute waits on normal days and up to four hours over the holidays.
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The wait is the whole story at Di Palo's. Per findingnycdotcom's account of a day-before-Thanksgiving visit, the shop runs on a numbered-ticket system — the writer pulled ticket 51 while number 17 was being served, working out to roughly a two-and-a-half-hour wait — and the piece says customers generally "report waiting in line for two to three hours." Owner Luigi Di Palo confirmed the broader pattern directly to Gothamist: "It's not uncommon to have a 40-minute wait. During the holidays it could be up to 4 hours."
Di Palo frames the wait as part of the shop's identity rather than a flaw to fix, telling Gothamist that customers should experience the buying process unhurried, the same way they'd savor the food itself. There's no way to skip the line — findingnycdotcom describes taking a number at the door and browsing the olive oil shelves until it's called, and neither Gothamist nor findingnycdotcom mentions any reservation, call-ahead, or online-ordering option. NYC Tourism lists the shop, on the corner of Grand and Mott Streets, as family-owned since 1910, and findingnycdotcom notes the current operators are the founders' grandchildren — Lou, Sal, and Marie — running the same walk-in-and-wait model the shop has used for generations.
Patterns as reported by press and regulars — not measured by damnlines.
Reservations: No reservations — walk-in only with a numbered-ticket line at the door, per findingnycdotcom and Gothamist.
Walk-ins: Yes — walk-in only; take a number at the door and wait to be served, per findingnycdotcom.
Owner Luigi Di Palo told Gothamist, "It's not uncommon to have a 40-minute wait. During the holidays it could be up to 4 hours." Separately, findingnycdotcom's account of a day-before-Thanksgiving visit describes pulling ticket number 51 while number 17 was being served — about a two-and-a-half-hour wait — and says customers generally "report waiting in line for two to three hours."
No — neither Gothamist nor findingnycdotcom mentions any reservation system; the shop runs on a first-come, numbered-ticket line at the door instead. Owner Luigi Di Palo told Gothamist the slow, in-person wait is intentional, not something the shop tries to streamline.
Yes — it's walk-in only. Per findingnycdotcom, customers take a number when they arrive and browse the shop's olive oil and cheese shelves until they're called.
Sources don't quantify a specific slow period, but findingnycdotcom notes the shop "is not nearly as busy if you aren't shopping the day before a major holiday," implying weekday, non-holiday visits are the safer bet — though the piece adds shoppers "should always be prepared to wait a while."
It's a family-run Italian grocery and latteria on the corner of Grand and Mott Streets, family-owned since 1910 per NYC Tourism, known for handmade cheese and prepared Italian foods. Owner Luigi Di Palo describes his family, per Gothamist, as among "the last of the real, original Little Italy people."
Sources: findingnycdotcom · Gothamist · NYC Tourism