The Ridiculous Myth of the Impossible Reservation

In 2008, then-governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was famously musing on his options to fill the Senate seat that would soon be vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden,” he said. “And I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing.” The sentiment, in part, got Blagojevich sent to prison; the same idea has worked remarkably well for New York City restaurateurs for decades.

I haven’t run the numbers lately, but the...