How to get a table at State Bird Provisions without waiting 1.5 hours in line

UPD: We put making reservations at State Bird Provisions on hold — we’ll keep you updated when we start doing that again.

State Bird Provisions is a restaurant in San Francisco that’s famous for great food and lines that start at 4 pm everyday. Luka makes it easy for you to get a table the day you want it at the time you want without waiting in lines and calling at midnight 2 months ahead to make a reservation.

Hey, have you heard of State Bird Provisions? Yeah, of course you have — it’s the hottest restaurant in San Francisco, America, the world (evil laugh). It’s so damn popular that tech guys have built bots to snag themselves reservations. (…) The restaurant is fully booked, two months in advance, every single day. In short: you do want to eat here. And you need a strategy to do so. Your plan? Show up, and line up by 4:30 or so. Put a name in as soon as the doors open. And absolutely prepare to hit the four hour mark. — sfist.com

Anyone who’s heard about Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski’s restaurant knows its five-second elevator pitch: Western food served dim sum-style. http://www.bonappetit.com/sandbox/pages/hot10/statebird/index.html

So how do you get a table? Here is a simple instruction:

1. Download the app Luka at https://luka.ai (only for iPhone now). Luka is an app that recommends places to eat in a chat interface. If you’ve seen Her by Spike Jonze you can have an idea of what’s Luka. Right now it knows about restaurants in San Francisco and South Bay Area.
2. Swipe through the tour and login with Facebook.
3. Text Luka saying: I want a table at State Bird Provisions today at X pm for Y people. Leave Luka your phone number so that you don’t miss your table (we’ll leave your name and your phone number at the door so they can find you when your table is ready if you don’t want to have dinner at 5.30 pm). Note: it’s important to say exactly “I want a table at State Bird…” so that Luka gets it right for sure.
4. We’ll get back to you by 4 pm telling you that you are in.
5. If you decide to dine at 5.30 pm (the first seating) we’ll greet you at the door with a glass of champagne.

Note: if you already have Luka on your phone just text Luka saying when you need a table.

Luka is a mobile app that recommends you places to eat in a chat interface

So how do we do it? We actually come to SBP at 4 pm and wait for 1.5 hours to get a table for you. Everyday we put in one name —if there is more than one person who asked Luka to get a table at SBP we pick one randomly putting all names in a hat. We pick one by 4 pm.

Here is what the line looks like if you show up 1 hour before the opening

Don’t forget to get a duck liver mousse when you’re in — it’s a definite must!

If you have any questions or just want to chat with us — find us at luka@luka.ai.

Truly yours,

Team Luka