Cocktail attire, fish fries, and someone's home in the Midwest.
These were the makings of the modern supper club, a phenomenon born in the years after Prohibition ended — when Americans could finally drink openly again — and has since evolved to become a cornerstone of the culinary scene in New York City and the world over.
Whether you're new to NYC or basically part of the furniture, supper clubs have become a way to slow down and connect in a city that's known and loved for the fast-paced lifestyle.
But, what exactly is a supper club in the modern context?
These days, a "supper club" tends to refer to two quite different things — and New York has both. There's the grand tradition: live jazz, candlelit tables, a dress code, dinner and a show rolled into one long, glamorous evening. Think the Rainbow Room in its heyday, or places like Drai's and Smoke Jazz & Supper Club today. That version of the supper club is very much alive in this city, and worth a night of its own.
But there's another kind. A little more intimate, less spectacle, and a whole lot of connection. It started with underground apartment dinners — think, an up-and-coming chef cooking for a small group of friends in their Brooklyn loft — and has grown into a genuine movement. No stage, no show. Just a table, a set menu, and a room full of people who showed up specifically to meet each other.
That's the format this guide covers. The kind where the conversation is the point, the food is the reason, and the person sitting next to you might end up being someone you keep in touch with.
Whether you're after a chef-hosted underground feast, a women-only creative dinner, or a weekly low-pressure gathering with new people — here's where to start.
What makes NYC's supper club scene special
A brief history
The original supper club wasn't born in New York. It’s a product of the Midwest — technically, the very first one opened in Beverly Hills in the 1930s, but the format took real root in rural Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Post-Prohibition, supper clubs offered something the country had been starved of: a place to go out, dress up, drink legally, and linger over a long meal with good company. They were less about the food and more about the event of eating together.
Back then, supper clubs were a special occasion. Patrons came dressed in their finest, settled into booths over walleye fish fries and gin and tonics, and stayed for hours. In author Dave Hoekstra's words, the supper club was "about the longing for belonging." Nobody went alone. As Natalie Rin put it: “At supper club…you belong simply by showing up”.
New York took that spirit and ran with it — but stripped away the formality and added its own unmistakable energy.
The NYC iteration
New York's supper club story has two chapters.
The first belongs to the grand tradition. In the 1930s and 40s — the golden age — venues like the Cotton Club in Harlem, the Copacabana, and El Morocco drew Hollywood royalty and high society for evenings that moved from dinner to live jazz to dancing, all under one roof. It was a total night out, designed to linger in. That tradition never really left. Places like Drai's (French-inspired fine dining with live jazz nightly on West 14th Street) and Smoke Jazz & Supper Club on the Upper West Side carry that torch today — dressed-up, atmospheric, dinner-and-a-show in the most New York sense of the phrase.
The second chapter is newer, and it's the one this guide covers. Somewhere in the 2010s, "supper club" took on a different meaning: intimate, underground, often hosted in someone's apartment or a rotating pop-up space. Ticket-only or application-based. A set menu you can’t choose, a table of people you don’t know, and no entertainment except the conversation. Less spectacle, more intention.
Post-pandemic, this format has had a genuine boom. After years of isolation and Zoom dinners, people came out hungry for something more than a restaurant meal. They wanted the intimacy and intentionality of being invited somewhere. The underground, intimate supper club filled that gap in a way the grand tradition never could.
A note on this guide: if you're looking for the dinner-and-jazz-show experience, Drai's, Smoke, and Ginny's Supper Club in Harlem are all worth your time. But every entry on this list belongs to the second tradition — the kind built around a table of strangers, a cook with something to say, and an evening where the point is connection.
Why NYC, specifically?
New York is uniquely suited to the supper club model. It's a city of millions of people, most of whom have moved here from somewhere else, who are working on building community in a place that doesn't make it easy. The city is fast, expensive, and socially demanding — which is exactly why a structured, low-pressure dinner with a small group of interesting people hits differently here than anywhere else.
It's also a city with an extraordinary food culture and an appetite for novelty. Nowhere else could you find a Nepali-Italian fusion dinner in a downtown loft, a Nigerian five-course feast in Brooklyn, and a weekly app-based dinner with new faces across 12 neighborhoods — all in the same city, and in the same week.
The 12 best supper clubs and social dining experiences in NYC
The supper club scene in New York is as diverse as the city itself. Some are ticketed events that sell out in hours. Some run weekly like clockwork. Some are underground and word-of-mouth only. Here's a breakdown of 12 of the best, from the most accessible to the most exclusive.
1. Timeleft
🍽️ Weekly dinners with new people🏆Most accessible
Timeleft isn't a traditional supper club — and that’s the point. It's a social dinner platform that does something different: it organizes weekly dinners across New York City and seats you with a small group of people you've never met. No planning, no group chats, no bios to scroll through. Just a table, a restaurant, and six people showing up to see what happens.
It's the most accessible entry point in this list, with no application or waitlist, just new spots available every week across neighborhoods like Williamsburg, the West Village, Midtown, and beyond.
Price range: From $20/month for a subscription. Food and drinks paid separately at the venue. Location: Multiple NYC neighborhoods, weekly. How to book: Download the Timeleft app, take a short quiz, subscribe, and book your first dinner. You'll get your venue and group details on the day. Choose this if: You want to meet new people over dinner without the social pressure of organizing it yourself. Or, if you're new to the city and want a low-stakes, recurring way to build your social circle. Also available as a women-only dinner format on Tuesdays.
2. The Sewing Tin
🍽️ “Uniquely Desi” fine dining 🏆 Most celebrated
Few supper clubs in New York have made as big a cultural splash as The Sewing Tin, the acclaimed Indian dining series run by chef Akhil. What started as intimate apartment dinners has grown into one of the most talked-about supper clubs in the city, covered by Time Out NY, Forbes, Vogue India, The Observer, and more.
The food is the star. Menus rotate seasonally, blending Nepali and Indian traditions with fine-dining technique — think lobster mo:mo in charred tomato consommé, or a lamb-over-rice tribute to NYC's halal cart culture, elevated into something extraordinary. Events now also take place at venues like Maxwell Social in addition to private settings.
Price range: Varies by event; check website for current tickets. Location: Rotating NYC venues. How to book: the-sewingtin.com — tickets are released in advance and sell out quickly. Follow on Instagram for announcements. Choose this if: You want a genuinely special night out that doubles as a cultural experience. Worth booking well in advance.
3. Ebi-Ayo Supper Club
🍽️ Nigerian-Italian fusion🏆 Most soulful
Ebi-Ayo takes its name from two Yoruba words: Ebi (family) and Ayo (joy). Chef Tayo was born in Nigeria, and his first meal in America — after his family relocated to Missouri in 1998 — was Italian food. That formative moment became the foundation of a five-course dining series that blends West African flavors with classic Italian technique.
Expect dishes like goat cheese jollof risotto with braised oxtail, truffle yam polenta, and a Nigerian honey crème brûlée with peak milk chantilly and cornflake crumble. It's communal, cultural, and unlike almost anything else on this list.
Price range: Varies by event; check website. Location: NYC (also operates in LA and DC). How to book: ebiayosupperclub.com Choose this if: You want food that tells a story — and a dinner that feels more like a gathering than a regular restaurant experience.
4. The Salon
🍽️ South Asian apartment dining🏆Most intimate
The Salon, hosted monthly by Ananya Chopra and Kritika Manchanda in an artist loft in downtown Manhattan, invites guests in for a culturally-rich evening. The premise is simple and beautiful: a four-course Indian meal, inspired by childhood recipes and family traditions, served to a small group of creatives and like-minded guests gathered for conversation and a communal experience.
Featured in The Observer and praised for its warm, salon-style atmosphere, it's the kind of dinner you get invited to and immediately want to invite others to as well.
Price range: Check mailing list for current pricing. Location: Downtown Manhattan How to book: thesalonnewyork.com — join the mailing list for event announcements. Choose this if: You're looking for something intimate, culturally-rich, and conversation-led. Perfect for creative types who want a dinner that feels like an entire evening out.
5. Shtick
🍽️ Jewish-themed dinner parties🏆Most festive
Shtick is a Lower East Side-based hospitality concept that hosts dinner parties, pop-ups, Shabbat dinners, and holiday events open to all. Each event celebrates the Jewish foods and customs woven into the fabric of New York City itself — the Lower East Side, after all, is the neighborhood that shaped much of the city's food culture.
It's joyful, community-minded, and deeply rooted in place. Even if you didn't grow up with a Shabbat table, you'll feel at home here.
Price range: Varies by event. Location: Lower East Side.How to book: shticknyc.com Choose this if: You want a dinner that feels like a real occasion, with food that carries a sense of history and community behind it.
6. That Dinner Thing
🍽️ Pop-up dinners🏆Best for duos
That Dinner Thing has a fun and distinct concept: they only sell “tix” in pairs. The idea is to give you a built-in excuse to invite someone, whether it’s your neighbor, a friend you haven't seen in months, or someone you keep running into at the same coffee shop. Once seated, guests gather around a seasonal menu and a theme-of-the-night, with conversation and connection baked into the format.
The team also runs knife skills workshops and other food-adjacent events, making it a great pick if you want something that goes a bit beyond just eating together.
Price range: Varies by event. Location: Brooklyn (rotating venues). How to book: thatdinnerthing.co — follow on social for new event announcements. Choose this if: You already have a person in mind and want a structured, themed evening that takes the planning pressure off both of you.
7. Bazaar
🍽️ Apartment supper club🏆 Most viral
Bazaar is the supper club that the internet fell for — and for good reason. Hosted by Nirupa Konijeti in her Brooklyn apartment, it's a family-style feast for around 18 guests built around good food, deep conversation, and genuine community. The name comes from the Hindi/Urdu word for spice market, which captures the ethos well: eclectic, warm, full of life.
With a 10,000+ person waitlist and 175K followers on Instagram, Bazaar has become one of the most talked-about underground dining experiences in New York. The format is intentional: this isn't just a dinner party, it's a chance to meet people you'd actually want to become friends with.
Price range: Check Instagram/Stan store for current event pricing. Location: Brooklyn How to book: Follow @bazaar_nyc on Instagram for waitlist and event announcements. Choose this if: You want a truly intimate, community-minded experience with a strong social media following that speaks for itself.
8. Create Dinners
🍽️Women's dinner series🏆Most creative)
Create Dinners is a women-only dining series that doubles as a creative collaboration. Each dinner brings together 16 women to produce a themed event where every attendee contributes something: food, a tablescape, a craft activity, conversation starters, photography. It's part dinner party, part creative showcase, part women supporting women.
With over 25 dinners in its history and press coverage from Vogue, Vanity Fair, The Cut, and Thrillist, it has a well-earned reputation as one of the more thoughtful and beautifully produced events in the city.
Price range: $150 to attend (if selected). Location: NYC (rotating venues). How to book: createdinners.com/womensdinnerseries — application-based. Spaces are limited and competitive. Choose this if: You're a creative woman looking for a dinner that's also a community experience. Be ready to (literally) bring something to the table.
9. Burrow
🍽️Underground chef's table🏆Most exclusive
In a cozy Brooklyn apartment, ex-Eleven Madison Park chef Sammy Koolik is running Burrow: a small, intimate, multi-course supper club that has been quietly selling out since it launched in early 2025. Koolik's cooking is seasonally led and pulls from different culinary traditions with each dinner — one night a New York strip steak with potato chips and a soy glaze; another a wild blackberry baked Alaska with mint oil.
It's reminiscent of the original Midwest supper club spirit — a small room, exceptional food, and the feeling that you're somewhere genuinely special.
Price range: Check Instagram for current ticket pricing. Location: Brooklyn. How to book: Follow @burrow.bk on Instagram for upcoming dinners. Choose this if: You love serious, chef-driven cooking in a genuinely intimate setting. Tickets go fast — worth following the account now even if you're not ready to book yet.
10. Dine With Dez
🍽️ Immersive dinner series🏆 Most connected
Dine With Dez started as one man's search for something better than a nightclub. Desmond Sam — NYC publicist, producer, and self-described connector of people — spent years introducing friends to each other over text threads before realizing a dinner table did the job far better. The series launched at Art Basel Miami in 2023, and has since grown into a multi-city operation spanning New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Paris.
The NYC dinners are intimate, intentional, and built around conversation as much as cuisine. Guests — many of whom arrive not knowing anyone — are guided through thought-provoking questions designed to move past small talk fast. Think: "Do you have a hard time saying no, and why?" The crowd skews creative, diverse, and LGBTQ+-inclusive, reflecting Dez's own community and background in nightlife and PR. Celebrity guests make occasional appearances, but the point is never the spectacle — it's the people at the table.
As Dez told 1202 Magazine: the dinners are about finding an alternative to nightlife that actually builds something lasting. "Those moments would unlock thoughts we didn't have before."
Price range: Varies by event. Location: Rotating NYC restaurants and venues. How to book: Follow @dinewithdez and check their newsletter for upcoming NYC dates. Choose this if: You want a dinner that takes the conversation seriously — and you're open to being genuinely surprised by who you end up sitting next to.
11. Queer Soup Night
🍽️LGBTQ+ community dining🏆 Most community-minded
What started as a one-off Brooklyn dinner party has become a national movement — and its NYC chapter remains one of the most beloved LGBTQ+ social dining experiences in the city. Queer Soup Night is exactly what it sounds like: a queer-led party centered on exceptional soup, made by local queer chefs, with proceeds going to grassroots organizations doing frontline justice work.
The format is deliberately accessible. Events are pay-what-you-can (suggested donation $15–20), held in bars, community spaces, and venues across Brooklyn and beyond, and open to everyone. They're part dinner, part dance party, part fundraiser. Think: DJs, delicious soup, and a crowd of people who are genuinely happy to be in the same room together.
Price range: Suggested donation $15–20; no one turned away for lack of funds. Location: Rotating Brooklyn and NYC venues. How to book: queersoupnight.com — follow on Instagram and sign up to the mailing list for upcoming NYC events. Choose this if: You want a social dining experience with a strong sense of community, purpose, and joy baked in. Also a great option if you want to support local queer-led organizations while you eat.
12. Golden Cat
🍽️Secret chef's table🏆Most underground
Golden Cat is about as underground as it gets. Run by chef Nicholas Tran — who trained at three-Michelin-starred Quince in San Francisco and New York's own Gramercy Tavern — it's a secretive, intimate supper club organized entirely via social media, with no website, no booking platform, and no fixed address. Reservations are made by email, details arrive close to the date, and what you get is a seven-course tasting menu from one of the more quietly accomplished chefs running a supper club in the city right now.
With 18K followers and consistent sell-outs, Golden Cat has developed a cult following among the NYC foodie underground — the kind of place you find out about through a friend, book immediately, and tell everyone about after.
Price range: Check Instagram for current pricing.Location: Downtown NYC (rotating, revealed on booking) How to book: Follow @goldencatnyc on Instagram and email [email protected] for reservations. Choose this if: You want the most underground, no-frills, food-first experience on this list. The secrecy is part of the appeal — and the cooking is worth it.
How to choose the right supper club for you
With so many options, the question isn't really "Which supper club is best?". It’s more about which one is right for you.
Here's a quick way to think through it:
Timeleft
Chef-hosted (Burrow, Sewing Tin, Golden Cat)
Community/themed (Shtick, That Dinner Thing, Bazaar)
Women-only (Create Dinners, Timeleft)
LGBTQ+ (Queer Soup Night)
Best for
Meeting new people, building a social routine
Food lovers, special occasions
Finding your community, themed experiences
Women looking for a specific social environment
Queer community connection
Price range
$ (subscription model)
$
$
$$
Pay-what-you-can
Solo-friendly
Yes
Yes
Depends
Yes
Yes
Booking ease
Easy, weekly availability
Hard — sells out fast
Medium — follow socials
Hard — application-based
Easy — no tickets required
Frequency
Weekly
Irregular, occasional
Monthly–occasional
Seasonal
Monthly
Group size
Small (6)
Very small (6–18)
Medium (16–30+)
Small–medium
Large (community party)
The short version: if you want something recurring and easy to access, start with Timeleft. If you want a one-off special occasion centered on serious food, Burrow or The Sewing Tin. If you want to find your community specifically, look at themed options like Shtick, Bazaar, or Create Dinners.
Tips for your first supper club experience
Whether you're heading to a weekly app-based dinner or a ticketed underground feast, a few things hold across every format.
What to wear: Most NYC supper clubs lean smart-casual — a step up from brunch, a step down from a formal dinner. If in doubt, check the Instagram of whatever you're attending. The vibe is usually clear from the photos.
Going solo is fine (expected, even): Many supper clubs, and almost all social dining formats like Timeleft, are built specifically for solo attendees. The whole point is to meet people, so arriving alone isn't awkward — it's part of the design.
Arrive on time: Unlike a restaurant where you can drift in 20 minutes late, supper clubs often have communal tables and set start times. Being there at the start matters. It's where you make your first impressions and settle into the energy of the room.
Put your phone away (mostly): A quick photo for the grid is fine. But the conversations that happen at these dinners are the whole point. The more present you are, the more you'll get out of it.
Follow up: If you meet someone you genuinely clicked with, don't leave it to chance. Ask for their number, follow them on Instagram, or (if you're on Timeleft) use the app's repeat feature to invite them to your next dinner. The connection doesn't deepen itself.
Show up again: One dinner is a start. Becoming a regular is where things actually shift. Showing up again is how strangers become familiar faces, and familiar faces become something more.
FAQ
Q: What is a supper club? A supper club is a dining format that sits somewhere between a restaurant meal and a private dinner party. Guests typically eat together at a communal or shared table, often in an intimate setting (a home, a loft, a pop-up venue) with a set menu and a social atmosphere. The emphasis is on connection and experience as much as food.
Q: How much do supper clubs in NYC cost? It varies widely. A recurring weekly format like Timeleft starts from $20/month (food and drinks extra). Application-based creative dinners like Create Dinners charge around $150 per person. Chef-hosted experiences like Burrow and The Sewing Tin are priced per event and vary with the menu. As a rough guide, expect to pay anywhere from $20–$150+ depending on the format and how production-heavy the event is.
Q: Are supper clubs safe? Generally, yes — especially established and well-reviewed ones. Most have a clear host, a structured format, and a defined guest list. For underground or apartment-based clubs, do your due diligence: read reviews, check social media, and look for a community of real past attendees before booking. Platforms like Timeleft have a formal booking system, safety guidelines, and verified venues.
Q: Can I go to a supper club alone? Absolutely. Most NYC supper clubs actively welcome solo attendees and in many cases, the whole format is built around it. Timeleft, Ebi-Ayo, and many others specifically cater to people coming on their own. It's one of the things that makes the supper club format different from a regular night out.
Q: What's the difference between a supper club and a dinner party? A dinner party is usually hosted by someone you already know, in a social circle you already belong to. A supper club is open to guests who may not know each other — and often don't — with the shared table as the starting point for connection. The host or format provides the structure; the guests bring the conversation.
Ready to show up?
New York has no shortage of places to eat. But a great meal with people you actually want to be around? That's harder to find — and worth showing up for.
Start with whatever's most accessible to you. A weekly Timeleft dinner. A ticket to a chef's table in Brooklyn. An application for a women's creative dinner. One table, one evening, and see where the conversation goes.
Ready to try a Timeleft dinner in NYC this week? Start your membership.
