There’s something about a red booth. Running your hand down the smooth grain of cherry-licorice leather… The assembly line of upholstery tacks pinch-pressed into a meeting point of scarlet velvet and mahogany wood. A singular pendant light dimly illuminating dirty martinis and oysters. When you sit down at a red booth with dear friends, you know regardless of whether the Bourbon, burger, or Bolognese hits different, you’re bound to have a good time.
When presented with the option of sitting at a lonely table in the middle of a dining room or choosing that beckoning red booth lining the restaurant wall, we always make the same choice. There’s a comfort there, a familiarity — of a milkshake shared with mom or dad, a good date gone awry (or two), or a late night drinking alone and waiting for time to pass. The red booth is a global staple of leisure, a symbol of solace. I found a few of the best red booths in the world to honor their legacy. Enjoy.
Sveavägen 77, 113 50 Stockholm, Sweden
This swanky Stockholm eatery is nestled in a neglected cinema, a perfectly fitting locale as L’Avventura derives its name from Michelangelo Antonini’s 1961 film masterpiece. The menu focuses on traditional Italian fare of the Apennines, the central mountain range extending across peninsular Italy’s backbone. Hand-painted frescos, olive trees imported from “the motherland,” and, of course, red velvet booths designed by Swedish architectural firm Millimeter Arkitekter set the scene for an evening worthy of the silver screen.
6667 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California
Musso and Frank’s is the oldest restaurant in Hollywood. It was founded in 1919 and has a rich history teeming with legendary names. To name a few, Ernest Hemingway, Greta Garbo, and Marlon Brando have slid into its famed red banquette booths. Serving everything from Welsh Rarebit to lobster thermidor, this steakhouse-style Hollywood landmark is not to be missed.
Operngasse 7, 1010 Wien, Austria
Though it is still in its original 1899 location in Vienna’s Innere Stadt neighborhood (or 1st municipal district), Café Museum seems timeless upon entering. Especially magical during Christmas and the winter holiday season, Café Museum boasts traditional Viennese favorites to keep you warm, like delicious goulash and spiked dessert drinks, which you can sip in your cozy red velvet booth — an intimate reprieve from the frost of Vienna in winter and an old haunt of legendary Austrian artists Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt.
114 N. Green Street, Chicago, Illinois
This Continental American tavern, hidden in the old cobblestone courtyard of 114 N. Green Street in Chicago’s West Loop, serves steaks, pasta, and upscale bar food. Offering a robust whiskey selection, this place feels like a ritzy gentlemen’s lounge, transporting diners to a Victorian-age Chicago lost to the past. There are many red booth restaurants in the Windy City, but Trivoli possesses all the swank with zero pretension. There’s plenty of room to sit back, take a deep breath, and sip on an Old Fashioned in one of their burgundy booths. Don’t miss the Key lime pie.
34-35 Maiden Lane, London, United Kingdom
Founded in 1798 in Convent Garden, Rules Restaurant is London’s oldest restaurant. The Maiden Lane restaurant serves uber-traditional British cuisine amid walls decorated with sketches, oil paintings, and scribbles collected throughout its long history. The elegance of the posh red booths is carried over to the cherry-waxed leather bar seats lining the famed cocktail bar, which once hosted King Edward VII and his mistress, Lillie Langtry. Kidney pie, anyone?
7156 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California
The Formosa Cafe reeks of glitz, glam, and Hollywood, baby. Nestled on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, this decadent eatery has been serving Chinese-American comfort food since 1939. The classic hotspot received a restoration “facelift” in 2015, supervised by L.A. archival history experts. Now, the Formosa is sexier than ever, with sleek red booths perched under the starry-eyed gaze of Hollywood icons and Chinese lanterns affixed like mobiles to the tin-tile ceiling.
Piazza San Marco, 57 30124 Venezia, Italy
Caffé Florian in Venice is the oldest coffeehouse in Italy that is still in operation, surpassing its status as a cultural landmark. At the time of its opening in 1720, the San Marco Piazza venue was the only coffeehouse that allowed women as patrons. Featuring rooms inspired by different parts of the world, such as the “Sala Cinese” (Chinese Room) and the “Sala Greco” (Greek Room), this Venetian staple reflects the east-meets-west allure of a world nearly forgotten. The red “booths” here may be more bench-like, but don’t let that deter you. You’ll be too busy taking in the opulent decor and a frothy cappuccino.
16 Bank Street, New York, New York
This once-exclusive insider’s club in Manhattan’s West Village has tempered down with time. And now, we plebs can snag a table at this historic high-end spot offering American home-cooking classics. Deemed “[The] worst food in [New York] City” by none other than former President Donald Trump, this place sits at the apex of New York City microculture. The Waverly Inn features a menu that changes seasonally, so be sure to ask for what’s fresh and good. There are only a handful of red booths, but if you can pull it off, don’t hesitate. The flash of a smile from Benjamin Franklin never hurts.
54 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Plaza Cafe Downtown, in the heart of downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico (not to be confused with their secondary location in Santa Fe’s Southside neighborhood), is the oldest restaurant in the city, having opened in 1905. This diner features new spins on old classics, like a blue corn Piñon pancake and chicken-fried steak, New Mexican style with all the fixins’. Plaza Cafe has its finger on the pulse of Santa Fe’s beating heart, offering fresh ingredients and a home-town charm drawing in locals and celebrities alike, eagerly waiting to plop down in a red leather booth and try something new.
Avenue 5 de Mayo 10, Mexico City 06000
Mexico City is a destination teeming with innovation. From art and design to perfume and cuisine, the city seems to constantly reinvent itself through new fusions and elevations of traditional practices. One such staple that has been taking its own spin on traditional dishes since the El Porfiriato (Mexico’s equivalent of the Belle Epoque Era) is La Opera Bar, founded in 1876 by two French immigrant sisters. Serving up traditional Mexican entrées, such as enchiladas en molé and reinspired dishes like snails in chipotle sauce, this 19th-century grand parlor clad with antique mirrors and red booths harkens back to a simpler yet more opulent time. It’s making my mouth water just writing this.