14 Gifts for Restaurant Lovers

We all know that one person whose Google map is littered with pins of all the best restaurants, cafés, bars, and dessert spots in their city. They always know what dishes to order, can game the Resy app like no one else, and can tell you exactly when to get a reservation at Via Carota, no Taylor Swift girl squad required.

This is a person with impeccable taste, so don’t feel bad if you’re a little intimidated by shopping for them this holiday season. While you can’t exactly put a bow on their go-to restaurant and drop it on their doorstep, you can give them products that’ll give them a taste of their favorite joint—no reservation required.

Cookbooks

A cookbook will allow your loved one to eat from their favorite restaurant literally whenever they want to, so this works especially well if they have a go-to order at a place where they’re a regular. BA restaurant editor Elazar Sontag found Via Carota’s cookbook helped him capture the “magic” of the Italian restaurant’s decadent and distinct dishes, all from the comfort of home. Achieve a similar effect with books from Atomix chef JP Park (and writer Jungyoon Choi) and Chicago’s Lula Cafe.

Chef-Created Ingredients

If you’ve ever eaten a mouthful of Momofuku noodles or Carbone’s spicy rigatoni and thought to yourself, I wish I could eat this exact thing every day, you’re in luck. A lot of popular restaurants sell some of their most popular sauces, seasonings, and spices, making it easier than ever for home cooks to add the flair of fine dining to any dish. Use Carbone’s spicy vodka sauce with your pasta of choice, or cook up some Momofuku chili noodles for a quick lunch.

Restaurant Merch

Anyone obsessed with a restaurant wants the whole world to know it, so give them something that’ll allow them to do just that without saying anything at all. A funky T-shirt from their favorite steak spot or a mug from their go-to brunch haunt lets them show their loyalty without posting yet yet another pic of the same dish they get every time.