opentable.com

[glenn]

There is a set up fee, a monthly rental charge and a charge per reservation. Plus, there's an additional charge for promotions that the restaurant chooses to participate in. The restaurant does not own the computer or software -- it's rented from OT.

Steven, I was not aware that some restaurants don't make available all of their tables to OT and opt to make them available by phone only. I can see 2 reasons for this and they would only apply to the more popular places: (1) not wanting to piss off customers who don't use OT who otherwise might not be able to get a reservation and, (2) a cost savings to the restaurant by not having to pay the $1 booking fee to OT, or whatever it is. Are there other reasons?

[thursdaynext]

I've used OpenTable since 2001, making reservations in advance of travel to other cities. There's never been a problem getting prime time seating, or any problems with my reservation at numerous fine establishments across the country. That said, I've never been to NYC, so perhaps the restaurant situation is different there.

[Mulcahy]

I am probably an anomaly, but when thinking about where to eat dinner, I often check to see where reservations are available on opentable, and only make phone calls to set up reservations if I *really* can't find anywhere acceptable there.

Me too.

but a lot of the popular restaurants actually release very few or none of their prime time tables to OpenTable. So while I'm a fan of OpenTable, and I use it often, I know that getting a prime time table at a popular place still requires an old-fashioned phone call.

'Cesca, for instance, doesn't release all its tables to Open Table but Open Table tells you so when you try to make a reservation.

Edited for punctuation

Edited April 23, 2004 by Mulcahy (log)

[vintner]

Any restaurant that fails to make maximum use of OpenTable is making a big mistake.

A diner uses them to see "which restaurants have bookings available for tonight?" or "... on Friday around 8:00?" Restricted by neighborhood or area.

Or, a diner uses them to see "when is the next available booking for the specific restaurant I want to go to?"

After you see how well those searches work, you never again start looking up and calling restaurant after restaurant only to be disappointed at each; you never again call the specific restaurant and beg for a table. You go straight to OpenTable. You do the search, choose, get the confirmation, click on "map", print the map and/or driving directions, and you're done in a minute or less.

Unlike the original setup, now they verify the booking immediately with the restaurant's reservation book, and they confirm immediately and then again by email. No screw-ups.

The other night, I found out at 4:30 PM that I needed to entertain guests in San Francisco at 6:00 PM the same night. Rather than feeling discouraged, OpenTable immediately revealed which restaurants had tables an hour and a half later--and there were LOTS of good ones, surprisingly. By 4:31 PM, it was sorted.

[Hest88]

As a consumer, I love Opentable. Love, love, love. The only time I had a problem was with an old-fashioned, high-end restaurant where I called to move my original Opentable reservation out a week. Somehow that never happened and when I talked to them during a confirmation call (they were confirming for the original week not the new week) they couldn't figure out how to change it either. As a result, when I got there they couldn't find my reseravion. Luckily it was for lunch and they were not busy, but I got the distinct impression that they never trained their staff on how to use Opentable.

I *should* have modified my reservation online instead of using the old-fashioned phone route!

[Fat Guy]

Glenn, the reason a very popular restaurant won't give its prime tables to OpenTable is that it wants to keep control over who gets those tables. Once a table goes on OpenTable, it's first-come-first-served. OpenTable's online reservation system doesn't acknowledge VIPs, or even discriminate between people who are nice on the phone and people who treat the reservationist like shit. Nor does it know who is a friend of the chef, etc. So it's just survival for restaurants to maintain control over the best tables on the nights when all those tables will sell anyway. The point being, if you're desperate to go to a restaurant, and you can't get a reservation on OpenTable, you should try the phone anyway -- especially if you've dined there before and can therefore claim to be a repeat customer.

[Mark Sommelier]

Glenn, the reason a very popular restaurant won't give its prime tables to OpenTable is that it wants to keep control over who gets those tables. Once a table goes on OpenTable, it's first-come-first-served. OpenTable's online reservation system doesn't acknowledge VIPs, or even discriminate between people who are nice on the phone and people who treat the reservationist like shit. Nor does it know who is a friend of the chef, etc. So it's just survival for restaurants to maintain control over the best tables on the nights when all those tables will sell anyway. The point being, if you're desperate to go to a restaurant, and you can't get a reservation on OpenTable, you should try the phone anyway -- especially if you've dined there before and can therefore claim to be a repeat customer.

Steven,

The beauty of the OT software is that, if you have been there before, it tells the restaurant. If you really are a friend of the chef, that item will most likely be in your permanent customer notes. The software keeps track of how many reservations you have had, what table you sat at, who your server was. When you reserve online, you can type in temporary notes like "wife's birthday, celebrating divorce, got a promotion". The permanent notes are where the restaurant keeps info on you like "likes '61 Petrus, likes table 41, allergic to garlic, PITA ".

The software also keeps track of how many times you have cancelled and no-showed for reservations. When you call on the phone to make a reservation that is put into the OT computer the most common glitch is spelling. Always spell your name to the reservationist. If you are in the system your name and customer history will pop up automatically. It really is a great tool.

[Fat Guy]

You're talking about the software that the restaurant uses locally. I'm talking about the online reservation system.

If I go online to make a reservation via OpenTable.com, it doesn't matter if I'm the King of Siam (although, is being the King of Siam such a big deal anymore?), I'm still going to get offered the exact same reservations as Joe Schmoe. The online reservation system doesn't have those special customer notes to guide it. It isn't able to say, "Oh, this guy is a VIP at Hearth so he should be offered an 8pm table by the system."

That's why you need to call. Once you're on the phone with the reservationist you at least have a chance of working outside the rigid online system, because the human reservationist has tables available that OpenTable online doesn't, and the human reservationist can treat VIPs (or non-VIPs who are very sweet) like VIPs.

[Suzanne F]

. . . Nor does it know who is a friend of the chef, etc. . . . The point being, if you're desperate to go to a restaurant, and you can't get a reservation on OpenTable, you should try the phone anyway -- especially if you've dined there before and can therefore claim to be a repeat customer.

I'm going to test that first part out when I finally have time to go to The Biltmore Room. And as for the second: I can't imagine being so desperate for any one place, although I suppose others might be.