Open Table Online Service: Is This Foodie Heaven?
Written: Oct 10 '09
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Only recently did I stumble upon a little gem called Open Table. The website - opentable.com - specializes in making restaurant reservations for foodies and the general public alike, and its gigantic roster of restaurants makes it appealing to many. Not just for Americans, the website is international and allows reservations in Canada and the United Kingdom as well. I'm still surprised that there is no other restaurant service like this - it's a great idea and a "must" for those who dine out regularly.
Opentable.com has a somewhat overbearing layout, which probably stems from the fact that there are thousands of restaurants to choose from, as well as many features to use. The home page has a thousand things to look at and click on, and I feel that it would look tidier and would be easier to use if tabs and drop-down menus were utilized more. Nonetheless, pages generally load quickly and fonts are easy to read.
When signing up for an account - as you are mandatory to do if you wish to use the service - you can choose which metropolitan area you dine at most, and then you have to enter some general contact information. A valid phone number does have to be left as well - just in case the restaurant needs to contact you for any reason. The sign up process is really quick and painless however, and you get reward points for using the service. For each reservation that you make and show up to, you receive 100 points, and when you reach 2,000 points, Open Table sends you a $20 dining check which can be used at any Open Table-affiliated restaurant. There are also promotions where you receive 1,000 points for booking a reservation at select restaurants on certain dates/times. Really a nice little feature, if you ask me.
I am actually quite impressed with the amount of restaurants which you can make a reservation at. All major cities in the United States are listed, as well as a large amount of medium and small sized cities. I must say, however, that there were quite a few small sized cities which didn't make the cut. Hopefully, as the website evolves, they can include more cities in their war chest. But it seems like new restaurants are added daily, so that's a good sign.
If you know which restaurant you want to make a reservation for, you can go ahead and type it into the interactive search bar at the top. However, you can also choose to search for restaurants in a specific area by specific neighborhoods or cuisine type. I do wish there were more search functions, such as by price range, kid friendliness, vegetarian friendliness, or atmosphere type. Being able to specify searches by several of these attributes would be even better.
Once you find a restaurant which looks good, you can access additional information by clicking on the link. There you'll find a short description (generally prepared by the restaurant's owners), as well as a host of other details, such as price range, cuisine type (which can be several attributes), dress code, and of course contact/location/hours information. You can also view user ratings and reviews - though the reviews are not as detailed as what you find here on Epinions.com, of course. There is also a star ranking regarding service, ambiance, and food quality. A nice touch is the special features rankings, where users select one feature which best describes the restaurant in two or three words.
If you're looking to book a reservation, you're going to have to look hard - the button to place a reservation is small, hidden amongst other links, and located toward the bottom of the page on the left hand side. In my opinion, there should be a huge, bright button which states "Make A Reservation" smack on the top of the page. But then again, I'm not in graphic design...
Once you hit the link, you can select a date and time to view availability. If the time you chose is already booked up, the site automatically shows you another time option - which is a nice feature. After finding a date and time, you can choose to leave any special requests or comments before submitting the reservation. An e-mail will be sent with the details of the reservation - a nice piece of mind in case you forget.
I have used the service several times at different restaurants around Long Island and Manhattan and never have I had a problem with the reservation date or time. Each and every time my reservation has been there. I did experience one minor inconvenience on my birthday at a restaurant in Manhattan, however, when I was told we would not receive a complementary bottle of champagne (as was restaurant policy) since the reservation was made through Open Table. I do think the restaurant is more to blame for this than Open Table, but I still don't understand why there should be a difference in a reservation made via the website rather than over the phone. Same information to the same place, right? Hmph.
Overall, I would certainly recommend Open Table to foodies and to anyone who enjoys dining out. There is a huge array of restaurants to choose from, and the website is very helpful in finding new places to try out. There is a plethora of information to go through, and making reservations is easy once you get the hang of things. I do wish that there were some technical differences, such as the layout and some button placement problems. I also wish that the incident on my birthday didn't occur - it left a somewhat sour impression on me. Nonetheless, I'm willing to overlook it in my rating.
Recommended:
Yes
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