{"id":16838,"date":"2026-07-25T14:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16838"},"modified":"2026-07-25T14:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:06:37","slug":"americans-are-paying-people-to-wait-in-line-for-tiktok-famous-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16838","title":{"rendered":"Americans are paying people to wait in line for TikTok-famous food"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2Fnewspress-collage-pis6tgbp0-1784969577242.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261784955229\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>People desperate to try viral food items are going so far as to pay others to wait in line for them at shops and\u00a0restaurants.<\/p>\n<p>Line sitting, also called line waiting or line standing, has been a common practice in big cities like Los Angeles and New York, where people pay others to wait in line for tickets, the latest iPhone or a table at a popular restaurant,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eater.com\/dining-out\/973730\/line-sitters-standers-restaurant-waitlist\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eater reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The practice is more popular now than ever because of social media, Robert Samuel, a professional line sitter and <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/27\/lifestyle\/tsa-line-sitters-let-clever-travelers-skip-long-waits-for-25-hr\/\">founder of the professional line-waiting company Same Ole Line Dudes<\/a> in New York, told Eater.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s always been a thing, but I think social media makes it bigger than it used to be,\u201d Samuel said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s why there\u2019s more people out there doing it. I blame TikTok more than any other platform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the earliest\u00a0viral food crazes\u00a0to fuel Samuel\u2019s business was <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/06\/lifestyle\/costco-now-selling-their-own-version-of-the-viral-cronut\/\">the cronut<\/a> \u2014 a revolutionary pastry that combines a croissant with a doughnut.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a client who wanted to impress these businesspeople visiting from Japan,\u201d he told Eater.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Desperate foodies are now paying professional line sitters to snag viral treats they\u2019ve seen on social media. <span class=\"credit\">Ellionn \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThey wanted to close a deal with something they\u2019d never seen before, and I guess that was cronuts. They sent six of our [line sitters] to get a dozen, because you can only buy so many per person at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today, Samuel said Same Ole Line Dudes employs about 35 line sitters who <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/17\/lifestyle\/knicks-fanatics-hire-125-line-sitters-before-knicks-parade\/\">take requests in New York and beyond \u201cfor anything that requires a wait.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/05\/28\/lifestyle\/viral-dot-cakes-have-new-yorkers-lining-up-for-hours-at-butterfield-market\/\">Dot cakes\u00a0from Manhattan\u2019s Butterfield Market<\/a> have taken social media by storm. They\u2019re single-serving cakes topped with a thick layer of icing and covered with tiny sprinkles called nonpareils.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Robert Samuel, founder of Same Ole Line Dudes, charges $50 for two hours of line-waiting. <span class=\"credit\">Robert Miller for NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The colorful cakes have become a viral sensation on TikTok and Instagram, with customers posting videos of long lines outside the Upper East Side grocery store.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had a customer who wanted two [dot cakes] of every flavor, so she hired five line sitters,\u201d Samuel told Eater.<\/p>\n<p>Same Ole Line Dudes requires customers to book a minimum of two hours for $50. It charges $25 for each additional hour and $15 for a half-hour add-on, according to the company\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Dot cakes sold at Manhattan\u2019s Butterfield Market have drawn long lines outside the Upper East Side grocery store. <span class=\"credit\">Ladyfingers Bakery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rates vary depending on inclement weather, rush orders and the type of service.<\/p>\n<p>TaskRabbit is another company that connects people with line sitters, and there are more than 4,900 line-sitting \u201ctaskers\u201d available in New York City, Eater reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are chasing the high of novel new things and experiences, and\u00a0food always seems\u00a0to be at the center of that, particularly when there\u2019s an exclusivity angle to it,\u201d David Henkes, senior principal and head of strategic partnerships for Chicago-based food service consultant firm Technomic, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLargely, I suspect, due to social media, but regardless, this trend of line sitting reflects this continued consumer demand for newness, while also exposing the realities of the economy today,\u201d Henkes added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople are time-strapped and, particularly [those with] higher incomes, are willing to pay more for experiences but don\u2019t want to go through the hassle of waiting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, not everyone can afford sitters, so this is really mostly for those with money but not time, widening small gaps in access to cool experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People desperate to try viral food items are going so far as to pay others to wait in line for them at shops and\u00a0restaurants. Line sitting, also called line waiting or line standing, has been a common practice in big cities like Los Angeles and New York, where people pay others to wait in line&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/newspress-collage-pis6tgbp0-1784969577242.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1784955229&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}