damnlines.comdamnlines.comTwo-room Lower East Side bar ranked among the World's 50 Best, known for food-inspired cocktails and a cult fried-chicken sandwich.
Double Chicken Please runs two rooms behind one door at 115 Allen Street: Free Range, the walk-in front bar, and The Coop, the back room where the food-inspired cocktail menu is served. Per the venue's own Visit Us page, The Coop keeps over 70% of its seats first-come, first-served; Resy reservations cover only parties up to six, drop six days ahead, and carry a $2.50-per-person non-refundable fee. Time Out New York describes drinkers who "stake out a place in line well in advance of opening," with the front room effectively a holding area for the back.
Resy's own guide to the bar says the line usually starts forming around 4:30pm for the 5pm open and that it takes about 30 minutes to fill both rooms; staff there recommend arriving by 4:40pm on weekdays and 4:30pm on weekends. The same guide puts typical waits anywhere from about 90 minutes to four or five hours, depending on when you join the waitlist, and says Friday and Saturday nights run 20-25 groups deep on the list at once. We do not have a camera here, so these are reported patterns, not a live count.
The waitlist is text-based: the venue says you sign up with the host, get a text when a seat opens, and have 10 minutes to return. Resy notes smaller parties of two to four move faster because those tables turn quicker than large groups. The reputation is why people eat the wait — it debuted at No. 6 on the World's 50 Best Bars in 2022 and was named the best bar in North America in 2023.
No camera here yet — but these lines are on camera right now:
Golden Diner · 10 min walkclosedLucinda's · 14 min walkclosedBánh Anh Em · 19 min walkclosedResy's own guide puts it anywhere from about 90 minutes to four or five hours, depending on when you join the waitlist, with Fridays and Saturdays running longest. We don't have a live camera here, so treat those as reported ranges, not a measured wait.
Resy's guide says the line typically begins around 4:30pm for the 5pm open. Staff there recommend arriving by 4:40pm on weekdays or 4:30pm on weekends for a good walk-in shot.
Per the venue's Visit Us page, only the back room (The Coop) takes Resy reservations — parties up to six, released six days ahead, with a $2.50-per-person non-refundable fee. Over 70% of back-room seats stay first-come, first-served, and the front room (Free Range) is walk-in only.
To skip the worst of the line, Resy's guide points to arriving before the 5pm open. It flags 5-7pm and 10:30-11pm as the busiest windows, so just after opening on a weekday is the softer bet.
The venue says you sign up with the host, receive a text when seating opens, and have 10 minutes to return. The front room (Free Range) has standing room while you wait.