Open Table: Make reservations in a snap at your favorite restaurant
Written: Mar 30 '07
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I started using the open table service a few months ago. I find it much easier to make reservations with this servie than calling. I can highly recommend this service.
WHAT IS IT
Opentable.com is an internet service that allows you to make restaurant reservations It works for a lot of major cities including my home city, Boston. In Boston, 147 restaurants currently participate. Restaurants in the suburbs are not as represented and only a handful participate in my suburb. Still, enough restaurants are represented that I find I use the service quite a bit.
The first thing you have to do is sign up and create a membership for the service. Opentable is a free service. Creating a membership requires you to provide some basic information including a phone number. You also have to select a user name and password.
After you sign up, you can use the service to make reservations. First, you pick the city you want to search. You can search all of Boston or certain areas of the city. You can also search the suburbs. Then you have to select your date, approximate time and people in your party. After that, opentable tells you what restaurants have reservations available.
I find opentable is great for giving me ideas of what restaurant to choose. Not only do they list restaurants, they give information on location and cuisine. They also give the restaurant's web site, if they have one. This is a great service if you are looking for a restaurant but are open to trying something new. In addition to basic information, opentable includes reviews of the restaurants written by professionals. Unfortunately, they don't include non-professional reviews but that is okay - I can rely on Epinions for that.
To make a reservation, you just need to click on a time next to the restaurant's name. Your phone number and email address will come up. There is a space where you can add a note. For example, I used the space once to notify the restaurant that it was my date's birthday. After that you just confirm your reservation. Immediately thereafter, they send you an email confirming your reservation.
THE POINT SYSTEM
Every time you make a reservation, and show up at the restaurant, you get 100 points. Some restaurants give you up to 1,000 points if you eat at off times. When you earn 2,000 points, you can get a $20 gift certificate to use at an open table restaurant. Since I usually earn only 100 points per reservation, I have not earned enough points yet because it would take 20 uses at the standard point allowance. Also, points expire after 12 months. Since I am unlikely to use this service 20 times in 12 months, I don't think I can get there. However, if you tend to eat at off times, this point system might work for you because you can get some of the higher point values.
MY EXPERIENCE
I mentioned above that I use this service not just to make reservations but also to get ideas for new restaurants to try. It is much easier to use this service than to locate a restaurant's number and call. Plus, you get the directions to the restaurant in your confirming email from the site. This service is particularly helpful when you want to make a reservation on a peak night and time such as Saturday at 7pm. This service will tell you which restaurants still have reservations available so you don't have to waste time calling several restaurants. Overall, I find the service very useful and reliable.
Another thing I like is that you can discreetly contact the restaurant for a special request. I let one restaurant know of a birthday the day we were dining. This would also be a good way to discreetly let a restaurant know if someone in your party had mobility issues or special needs or dietary restrictions.
The only thing I don't like about opentable is that the restaurants use my phone number to call and confirm my reservation. I find this invasive although I can't blame opentable. I find that even if I make reservations myself by phone, the restaurant will still sometimes call me in advance to confirm the reservation.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I really find this service useful. They put the contact information, menu and price information and directions all in one easy place. The confirming email is helpful. Overall, I can definitely recommend opentable.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
modernmarvel
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Location: Basking in the Sun
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Can anyone recommend a western family dude ranch for a vacation this summer?
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