A friend once gave the kind of sage advice you don’t appreciate until later in life: If you want to be treated like a regular at a restaurant, become a regular at that restaurant.
In other words, before you can expect the perks that come with being known and liked by the staff – the choice table, the extra pour, the inside joke – you should go to that restaurant, then go again, and again. There’s no need to splash out and spend big, but you do need to show up and be amiable: Sit at the bar, order a drink, get a bite, tip appropriately, repeat.