Blue Box Cafe Reservations at Tiffany & Co. in New York City

If you’re a fan of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (or Tiffany’s in general) then you’re probably aware that you can now make reservations at the Blue Box Cafe to literally have…breakfast, at Tiffany’s! It only took 56 years for the iconic jeweler to take a cue from the movie and install its first-ever restaurant in its Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City (currently closed for renovations; reopening 2022), but it was worth the wait! 

So, What Is The Blue Box Cafe?

Aptly named The Blue Box Café, this adorable robin’s-egg blue jewel opened to enormous fanfare back in November 2017 and has remained incredibly popular ever since. (In fact, the popularity has encouraged other Blue Box Cafes to open up in other locations, which I’ve listed at the end of this post.)

The original Blue Box Cafe in NYC is located on the 4^th floor of Tiffany’s and is a quick elevator ride to your own Holly Golightly-inspired experience and it’s everything you’d hope it would be… elegant and opulent, with splashes of Tiffany Blue absolutely everywhere. It’s certainly an extravagant setting with prices to match, but you go in knowing this, right? After all, it’s all about the experience. However, what you may not have bargained for was how incredibly hard the experience is to get a reservation! 

RESY — The App You’ll Need To Make Reservations

Unfortunately you can’t just pick up the phone to make a reservation and neither can you book on Tiffany’s website. RESY is the only way (currently) and let me tell you, it’s an experience like no other. I can only equate it to Black Friday where you, along with a thousand other people, are standing at the department store doors all straining to snag the coveted toy for the year. Only instead of a toy, it’s a time slot and those are extremely limited…and your chance of snagging one is like playing the lottery.

Fortunately, almost otherworldly…I’m happy to say that I was able to snag a reservation (on my second attempt albeit) and I’m still to this day stunned at how I got one. But, before I go into that, let’s go over some basics.

5 Things to Know Before Making Blue Box Cafe Reservations (May Vary By Location):

1. The café is open 10am to 5:30pm Monday through Saturday and noon to 4:30pm Sunday. (Times vary by location)
2. The café only seats 40 people and reservations can be made for up to four people.
3. Reservations can only be booked a month in advance, beginning at 9am Eastern time.
4. The menu is prix fixe with three options (breakfast, lunch, and high tea), plus one extravagant breakfast in case you like caviar.
5. Credit cards only. Cash is not accepted.

$32 – Breakfast At Tiffany includes tea or coffee with seasonal fruit & berries and croissant with Nutella, honey butter or fruit spread, as well as a choice of either smoked salmon & bagel, coddled egg, avocado toast, or a buttermilk waffle

$42 – Lunch includes a starter with a choice from celery root parsnip soup, Sheep’s milk ricotta toast, artic char crudo, or red baby gem lettuce salad and then also a main course with choices between “Charles Lewis Tiffany” club sandwich, fifty-seven street flatbread, baby beets, fifth avenue salad, or olive oil poached skuna bay salmon

$52 – Tiffany Tea includes choice of tea along with a tower of assorted finger sandwiches (herbed chicken salad, smoked salmon cream cheese, cucumber goat cheese, romesco & asparagus), and sweet & savory scones. The top tier sweets include a tiffany bird’s nest, blue box petit four, coconut brownie, key lime tart, chocolate ingot, and lemon jelly square.

If you have money to burn…
…They also have a $100 Ten Carat Breakfast consisting of caviar and a waffle!

And, if you’re celebrating… well anything… then you’ll want to get the Instagram-worthy Blue Box Celebration Cake ($49) that looks exactly like a Tiffany blue box!

In addition to these main items, they also have additional desserts, wine, and hot and cold beverages.

So, What Did I Choose?!
I Decided to Have The “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Naturally…

After a quick scan of the menu, my mind was quickly made up. I chose to have the Breakfast at Tiffany (classic croissant included), not only because it was the cheapest, but because I wanted to say that I actually had breakfast, at Tiffany’s… plus I had a craving for a waffle. 😉 I also chose to have the classic Tiffany Tea and then topped everything off with a Blue Box Celebration Cake because I was celebrating a big birthday. The cake was almost too pretty to eat, but was delicious. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed my, once-in-a-lifetime, Breakfast at Tiffany’s experience!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Now, Tips to Snag Those Coveted Reservations!

As I mentioned earlier, getting a reservation at Tiffany’s Blue Box Café is NOT easy! It’s all in the preparation, the flexibility of your schedule, and how fast your trigger finger is…seriously! Here is what you need to know, so you have the best shot at getting that table.

• Plan the Date: Reservations open ONLY 30 days in advance of your desired date at 9am Eastern Standard Time (EST).
• Download the app, RESY (There is a website version Resy.com, but it’s not as quick as the app.)
• Create an Account on RESY…Enter ALL the required information, including your credit card. If you fail to enter your credit card it will delay precious time in securing your reservation. Do this well in advance…at least 31 days out from your desired reservation date.
• On the morning of the 30 days out…get your app open no later than 8:55am (EST)
• Double check that your account information has all been entered (including credit card!)
• Search for the Blue Box Café Reservations listing.
• Enter your desired date and the number in your party (Note they typically only accept parties of no more than 4 people)
• DO ALL OF THE ABOVE PRIOR TO 8:59AM (EST)!!! 

Preparation Is Key – Get Your Trigger Finger Ready!!!

You need to have everything poised at the ready, so when 9am (EST) ticks over you can take your best shot, because by 9:01am, it’s game over…all reservations will be taken! 

• At 9am, on the dot, REFRESH THE APP (this is a must), then click the “make a reservation” button.
• Don’t dawdle looking over the times. Just select one. Tip to the wise…do not try for the first time slot, as you and everybody’s mother is going after that one slot.
• Whatever you do…just do it fast…so fast you don’t even know what time you selected until you are hopefully lucky enough to see a confirmation page. Then hit that CONFIRM button and congratulate yourself for navigating the Russian Roulette that is RESY’s Blue Box Café Reservation’s Experience! Whew!!

Not Lucky?! It’s OK, There’s Still A Way

Ok, so let’s say it’s 9:01am, and it’s game over…you missed your chance. What now? If your schedule is flexible and you have another day, then you can try again. If not, definitely hit the Notify button for the date/time you originally wanted, but really…just select all the times for notification and then check your email often. It is surprising how many notifications you’ll receive alerting you that a table may be available. It seems cancellations happen all the time. However, these cancellation notifications seem to mostly happen at like midnight or in the wee hours of the morning. I was never successful with securing a reservation through the notification system…even when I was lucky enough to see a time open up just as it happened. There are just so many people getting those notifications at the same time. 

Why I Chose To Have Breakfast at Tiffany’s

• 

• 

• 

I had planned a mother/daughter trip for me and my mother to visit New York City over my birthday, which just so happens to be in December. So, not only were we going to celebrate my birthday, but also get a chance to see NYC dressed up for the holidays! I mean, there’s nothing like Christmas in New York and if you haven’t been during this time…I highly recommend it!

My Blue Box Cafe Reservation Experience

Our trip had us arriving on a Thursday and leaving on a Sunday. So, I had two full days to try and get a reservation at the Blue Box Café. Naturally, I tried to plan it for my actual birthday, but alas, I was not quick enough. I was downhearted, but I still had hope that maybe the next day I could be lucky…and I was!

That day I made sure I had both my app and website version of RESY open and primed to refresh. As soon as 9AM ticked over I jumped to hit refresh and a time slot so fast I didn’t even know what I chose. My first time selected on the app was SOLD OUT, and so was my website choice, so I quickly chose another and just as soon as I thought I’d have no chance of winning…I noticed that my time of 4:30PM turned into a CONFIRMATION page! I couldn’t believe it!

Luck Was On My Side, For Once!

To say I was ecstatic, was to put it mildly. I literally jumped up and down like I won the golden ticket from Willy Wonka, and I guess on some small level I had. These reservations aren’t easy to come by, and I was on cloud nine to know I was actually going to experience having Breakfast at Tiffany’s for my birthday…a day late, but who cared! I did it! I beat out a ton of people for that one ‘golden’ time slot…it was a pretty good feeling.

So, if you’re wanting to experience the coveted, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” all I can say is I wish you luck on making reservations and hope you’ll be just as fortunate as I was…at least on my second attempt.

“What I’ve found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany’s.”

Truman Capote

Now, go make those Blue Box Cafe Reservations to let your inner Holly Golightly shine–it’s coffee and croissant time!

BLUE BOX CAFÉ LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD:

NEW YORK

• The first Blue Box Cafe at its New York flagship store on Fifth Avenue is currently CLOSED for renovations. The café is expected to reopen in 2022. So, be sure to pencil in your reservation for when the reinvention of the store at 727 Fifth Avenue will be completed.

CALIFORNIA

• A NEW Blue Box Café is opening Spring 2021 at South Coast Plaza—it will be the second café to open in North America. So if you’re in California, be sure to visit The Blue Box Cafe at South Coast Plaza on 3333 Bristol Street in Costa Mesa.

UK

• The British Blue Box Café opened in 2020, and is located at Harrods department store (ground floor) in Knightsbridge, London, making it the first Blue Box Café in Europe. The décor mirrors that of the flagship café in New York City, but it also has unique touches exclusive to Harrods.

ASIA

• China’s first Tiffany Blue Box Café opened in 2019 on One Peking Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
• China’s second Tiffany Blue Box Café opened in 2020 and is on the upper level of Tiffany’s Hong Kong Plaza flagship store.