Now some restaurants are scrapping the reservation system altogether in favor of first-come, first-served seating, encouraging block-long lines and people willing to spend high three figures on a meal queued up on a curb for hours. For lovers of such restaurants in New York City, there is Shout, an independent app that connects buyers with line standers. (In Washington, DC, line-standing is a well-established and time-honored profession, serving lobbyists who need seats for in-demand congressional hearings but can’t charge clients $650 an hour for sitting on their duffs.) You can even request someone to wait for the original cronuts.

But many of these restaurants are smaller and endeavor to be more populist (even with $40 entrees) so one would probably dine