I Had Breakfast At Tiffany’s—How To Get One Of New York’s Hottest Breakfast Reservations And If It’s Worth The Hype

Everyone has had something to say since Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Box Café, the crown jewel atop the famed luxury store’s Fifth Avenue flagship, reopened in 2023 after extensive renovations and a complete culinary overhaul. But what is it really like behind the iconic restaurant’s roped-off entryway? I snagged a seat to find out.

(And, in case you were wondering, the ropes dividing those privileged guests from the gawkers are, in fact, Tiffany blue.)

Hepburnphilia 

When I was 18, I was mistaken for a reincarnated Audrey Hepburn by a doddering drunk, and the ensuing awkwardness quickly worked itself into family lore. That, coupled with my love of vintage cinema, started me down the path to becoming a “Hepburnphile.” I dress like her character Holly Golightly (from the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s) for Halloween and every other chance I get, including, on occasion, a random Saturday.

When I booked my first trip to NYC last autumn, I knew I would do whatever it took to make sure I got to experience a real Breakfast at Tiffany’s. But getting into the Blue Box Café is nearly as unthinkable as being able to buy one of Tiffany’s famed “Bird on a Rock” necklaces, which will set you back somewhere to the tune of $80,000. Breakfast, on the other hand, starts at $34. 

The Downside to Uptown Dining

Sitting kitty-corner from the Bergdorf Goodman and only a couple of blocks from Central Park, Tiffany’s sits at the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th – a street aptly known as “Billionaire’s Row.” While a dining experience at Tiffany’s crown jewel (pardon the pun) sixth-floor restaurant might not put too much pressure on your pocketbook, the reservation system might make you feel like a beggar. Since Tiffany’s Blue Box Café is considerably less cost-prohibitive than its jewels, the space is fairly intimate, and diners tend to linger, walk-in seating at the bar is unlikely and tables are nearly impossible to snag short of an equally difficult-to-procure reservation.

This isn’t particularly uncommon in Midtown Manhattan, where restaurants tend to guard their reservations system as fiercely as Tiffany’s security guards protect their jewels, but the ins and outs of New York dining can be difficult for a mere tourist to navigate. In the case of a highly anticipated new restaurant on one of Midtown’s hottest street corners, even luxury concierge services struggle to book reservations, which open exactly 30 days in advance at midnight. 

But, even though I prefer my beauty sleep to burning the midnight oil, I had two things on my side when it came to snagging a table. First, I was determined. Second, I lived on the West Coast.

I checked my calendar, did some research on how to manage the RESY booking site, and set a reminder for the day exactly one month before my weekend stay in New York. That evening, I went over to the house of my traveling companion, pulled up the reservations site, and began refreshing my browser every few seconds, starting at 11:59 p.m., until the reservations window opened.

When the clocks in New York all struck midnight and my own chimed 9 p.m., a full catalog of reservations appeared, beginning at 10 a.m. and stretching until the evening hours. (The café’s signature Breakfast at Tiffany’s is its croissants and caviar, but it also serves afternoon tea and brassiere-style bites fit for a late lunch or light dinner.) 

If I was going to Tiffany’s, of course, I would be eating breakfast, but would I rather have it at 10:00 or 10:30? I glanced over to quickly confirm the time with my friend before clicking Reserve Now.

I got an error message.

Refreshed my browser. 

Gasped.

The restaurant was fully booked.

A glance at the clock revealed that less than two minutes had passed since the reservations window opened. A split second’s hesitation had cost me my seat.

Undeterred and feeling more confident after my “trial run,” I tried again the next evening. This time, my fingers moved lightning-fast. I nabbed a table for two in less than a minute. Good thing, because, when I refreshed my browser out of curiosity, that day was sold out too.

Getting a reservation confirmed that the hype was real. For months after my trip, people would gape at me when I told them I’d been able to get a table. And the air of exclusivity heightened my excitement for my dining experience…even as Yelp reviews trickled in, professing that the entire restaurant was a tourist trap, the Disneyland of dining experiences. 

Yet, 30 days after that fateful night, I found myself in front of Tiffany’s in my little black dress, ready for breakfast.

Breakfast, a Cure for the (Tiffany) Blues

The Tiffany & Co. flagship opens every morning at 10 a.m. (the same time as the Café welcomes its first round of reservations), and would-be diners must traverse six flights of stairs before being rewarded with sustenance. This also requires said patrons to run the glittering gauntlet of twice that number of display cases featuring outlandishly priced jewels.

By the time you reach the café level, you might be feeling underdressed and out-of-place – and experiencing FOMO over the most beautiful $14,000 earrings. But while the prices of most Tiffany products put them far past the range of my own modest budget, the employees are welcoming, and the café workers even more so.

Although I heard the maitre d’ expressing his apologies to a group who had unsuccessfully tried to sneak in without reservations, those with guaranteed tables were greeted promptly and seated swiftly, offered Tiffany-blue menus and warm finger towels scented with ginger and lime. Taking their cue from Audrey (or, more specifically, Holly Golightly), most of my fellow diners had donned their best little black dresses, and the restaurant was awash with Chanel purses and “Happy Birthday” cakes. This was clearly a special occasion spot.

When I visited, the Café was barely six months old – still brand-new by many standards. High-profile critics typically wait several months to rate and review a new dining establishment, and some believe that a restaurant needs up to a year to work out “the kinks.” But, under the direction of New York celebrity chef Daniel Boulud, the Blue Box Café was already running like a well-oiled pop-art machine. 

With an artistically paint-splattered floor and a ceiling dripping with hundreds of those coveted Tiffany Blue boxes, the café could potentially be mischaracterized as a tourist trap. But one bite of Chef Boulud’s signature croissant proved to me that this place was as authentic and exquisite as all of those glittering jewels I’d passed on my way upstairs.

I ordered the signature Breakfast at Tiffany’s for my meal. While it set me and my dining companion back $65 apiece, it proved to be plentiful, with more food than we could handle. Out came a tray bearing three full-sized pastries apiece, as well as individual china bowls of fruit and crystal glasses of yogurt. The bounty also includes the restaurant’s iconic Egg in a Shell, featuring a whole eggshell delicately stuffed with soft-scrambled eggs and enough caviar to make a mermaid swoon. 

Topped off with a Glass of Golightly (the café’s signature nonalcoholic blend of ginger and juices) and a pot of Tiffany Tea ($8 supplement) with frothed milk, the meal was elegant, eclectic, and more than enough for the price. We both left with Tiffany-blue gift bags holding our leftovers, as well as full stomachs and hearts. (I also took home my embossed Tiffany-blue coaster, the souvenir postcards included with our bill, and a little something from the jewelry shop downstairs.)

But Was It “Top Banana”?

Holly Golightly famously states that it’s useful being “top banana” in the shock department, and, while the quality of my experience at the Blue Box Café wasn’t as shocking (or downright scandalous) as Audrey’s character was to a crowd of mild-mannered 1960s cinema patrons, it was a bit of a surprise.

I’d booked the experience as a sort of right of passage, an obligatory pilgrimage as a lover of Audrey Hepburn and an Instagrammer who dared to brand herself as @Breakfast_at_Taylors. I’d expected to find fun, frivolity, and frippery. I hadn’t been prepared for the gracious service, impeccable attention to detail, and special touches that made the difference between a delightful diversion and a lifelong memory.

It was worth the hassle, the price, the time, and more. And, while the remainder of my pastries disappeared before the day was over (Chef Boulud’s apricot Danish was especially hard to keep my hands off of), the memory of my experience lasted long after that. Now, with my next flight to NY reserved for this coming fall, I’ve already started stalking the Blue Box Café page on RESY. It’s still booked solid…as it should be.

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