These 5 NYC restaurants have the hottest patrons, controversial new AI ranking claims
By Caroline Cubbin and David Landsel
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Hot or not?
A divisive new dining ranking — more interested in who’s sitting at the table than what’s on the menu — is raising eyebrows in New York’s image-conscious restaurant world.
Created by Gen Z programmer Riley Walz, LooksMapping scores hotspots in the Big Apple — and Los Angeles and San Francisco, too — based on AI-driven evaluations of the profile photos of patrons leaving Google Reviews.
two young adults talking at a bar
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After scraping countless amounts of data, the algorithm spits out an average score that supposedly represents the physical appeal of each eatery’s clientele.
And the results are, in some cases, a complete slap in the face.
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Take Balthazar, Keith McNally’s iconic Soho brasserie, for example, long considered one of the top NYC spots to see and be seen — there, the clientele ranked a somewhat pitiful 5.4 out of 10.
Adding insult to injury in many cases, the site also dishes a detailed explanation of its findings — like which way age, gender and general physical beauty lean.
Further downtown, for example, it’s supposedly mostly unattractive, middle-aged men and women dining at The Odeon, a Tribeca spot with a dreadful 3.1 rating that appears to no longer play host to the “It” crowd of artists and celebrities it once did.
looksmapping restaurant customers attractiveness ranker
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“The model is certainly biased. It’s certainly flawed. But we judge places by the people who go there,” the website reads. “This website just puts reductive numbers on the superficial calculations we make every day. A mirror held up to our collective vanity.”
Looks Mapping
And way up town at ultra-exclusive East Harlem Italian restaurant, Rao’s, the elite crowd was handed a woeful 3.4 — suggesting, perhaps, that even AI models get jealous over not being able to snag one of the legendary spot’s highly-coveted tables.
Of course, it’s not all bad news — fine-dining stalwart Jean-Georges is where hot-leaning, middle-aged men and women go, according to the tool, earning the quintessential French spot a 7.1 and a light, rosy-hued marker on the map.
But even that crowd can’t beat local institutions like Katz’s Delicatessen, which managed to snag an 8.1 rating — suggesting the customers are as beautiful as the city’s best pastrami sandwiches.
balthazar restaurant exterior
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Balthazar is a legendary spot in the NYC food scene, and despite its apparently unattractive reviewers, it still proves tough to snag a reservation.
Bloomberg via Getty Images
The top ratings in town, however, were reserved for a handful of relatively obscure options — from a Midtown sushi spot to a Thai restaurant in the Financial District.
The NYC restaurants with the hottest patrons, according to AI
Ubani Midtown: 10/10
Shinn West: 10/10
KYU NYC: 10/10
Aroy Dee Thai Kitchen: 10/10
Top Thai 55 Carmine: 10/10
Walz first shared news of the site’s launch back in March, and a steady wave of AI-haters, driven developers and delighted daters on the prowl quickly flooded the replies.
rao's restaurant
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Rao’s was among the LooksMapping’s lowest-ranked of the iconic NYC restaurants.
Google Maps
Many have pronounced the AI model flawed — even suggesting that it has a racial bias.
On this subject, Walz told the New York Times, “[the project] is making fun of AI,” and admitted that the attractiveness ranking system was “a bit janky.”
For now, Manhattan and the Bronx are the only boroughs included on LooksMapping, but Walz, a native New Yorker currently based in San Francisco, “knew people would rightfully give [him] crap” and is planning to add the other three soon, he assured eager diners in a post on X.
The release of the talked-about tool comes as younger diners are increasingly concerned with customer attractiveness.
With limited budgets and time on their hands, young and single New Yorkers want to go where they might score.
people eating at a restaurant
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Admittedly, clientele can be considered a part of a restaurant’s atmosphere, which, for many, is a key factor in deciding to make a reservation.
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On TikTok, a new trend has taken hold among women in their 20s that clearly demonstrates a demand for sites like LooksMapping.
Ahead of going out for the evening or as a deciding factor, these ladies are calling the restaurants and bars they’re interested in going to and asking the staff whether the current crop of patrons is hot.
“As a hostess, I take my job of vibe checking very seriously and am always happy to keep the girls updated #womensupportingwomen,” wrote one understanding commenter.
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