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Imagine you have a big night coming up. You have an important date or business dinner you’ve been eagerly anticipating for a while. The day arrives and you suddenly realize that you completely forgot to make dinner reservations. You don’t have time to call around to see which restaurants have available seating, you just want a reservation at a great restaurant at a reasonable time for dinner.
OpenTable can solve your dilemma easily. OpenTable is a web site, complete with accompanying apps, that will find available seats for you at your favorite restaurants or suggest new restaurants for you to try. OpenTable has over 20,000 participating restaurants to make sure you have a wide variety of choices, whether you need last-minute dinner reservations or are planning ahead.
You can search for available reservations by going to opentable.com. From there you can search by location or restaurant name. The location can be general, such as Philadelphia, or more specific, such as Penn’s Landing. Enter the date and time and the number in your party.
OpenTable then searches its restaurant reservation database for availability. You are given a chart with the names of restaurants, neighborhoods, types of food, ratings, price ranges, and reservation times. OpenTable shows you availability within an hour before and after your desired reservation time, in case you can be flexible with your dining time. You can also see where the restaurant is located on Google Maps, view menus, see special deals, and reviews for each restaurant. After you’ve made your reservation you can have the confirmation emailed to you and anyone else you choose.
You don’t need to register for OpenTable, but by doing so you can receive notices of special OpenTable offers from participating restaurants. OpenTable also tries to learn your dining preferences and will suggest other restaurants you may enjoy.
If you’re traveling for business or pleasure, you can use OpenTable to help you find restaurants during your trip. OpenTable can suggest restaurants and give you reviews of eateries at your destination. OpenTable covers cities and towns throughout the US and in more than 18 other countries, including the UK, France, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Dubai, and the Caribbean.
Using OpenTable can also save you money. OpenTable often has special deals on restaurants, such as 30% off your bill at top Philadelphia restaurants. When you register with OpenTable, you begin to earn points in the Dining Rewards Program, which you can redeem for gift certificates at participating restaurants. You earn 100 points for every time you use OpenTable to make a reservation for you and at least one other guest. With certain restaurants, you can earn 1000 points. After you earn 20,000 points you can redeem your points for $20 off at an OpenTable restaurant.
My husband and I first used OpenTable when we were on our way to a Philadelphia Orchestra concert. We hadn’t made dinner reservations but my husband was able to get out of work early so we were able to eat before the concert. As he drove, I checked the OpenTable app on my iPhone and found an Italian restaurant near the Kimmel Center called Bella Cena with the following description:
“Our food is as pure, sincere & genuine as mountain spring water. No fusion, no gimmicks, no shenanigans. We remain true to the artisan way of cooking, brought to America by my mother, Clelia, featured in many newspapers & magazines for her award-winning recipes. In the 1950s & ‘60s, in Rome, she cooked for many famous people in the film industry. Her favorite pupil for 15 years, Ugo, is still in the kitchen cooking her delicious recipes for you to enjoy.”
I saw from the app that the restaurant had a table for two available within the hour. I made my reservation, immediately received a confirmation email and was greeted warmly at the restaurant when we arrived. The meal was splendid, making us fans of both Bella Cena and OpenTable.
You can download the OpenTable app for free for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch at the iTunes App Store or for your Android phone or tablet at the Android Market.
Have you ever struggled to get a restaurant reservation? Do you enjoy discovering new restaurants? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Wow! Sounds great Carolyn!
OpenTable sure comes to the rescue for people like us who at times have problems coming up with dinner or are caught up with work- I guess it works just for anyone not wanting to cook also and wanting a break 🙂
I wish we had this working at our end also, would surely have gone ahead and ordered dinner today itself 🙂
Thanks for sharing- this is indeed wonderful 🙂
Hi Harleena, I agree. OpenTable is really handy for restaurant reservations. I find now that OpenTable is what I use almost exclusively now to make reservations. I hope it expands soon to India for you! 🙂
OpenTable sounds awesome, especially for people living in big cities or traveling to new places. There are so few restaurants in my town, and they are never fully booked 🙂
Hi Jens, You’re right, OpenTable is very handy to find restaurants in cities, but they also have quite an impressive listing of restaurants outside of large urban centers. I like using OpenTable to help me find recommended restaurants when I’m traveling and don’t know which restaurants are in the area. 🙂
I bet I can find some awesome pizza restaurants 🙂
You’re right, Jens. I’m thinking the restaurant we went to had pizza, but I can’t remember. All the pasta was fresh and homemade. Really amazing food. Yummy! 😀
Now that is just too darn cool Carolyn. I’m going to tell my sister about this one. She’s a new iPad owner and goes nowhere without it now. Plus she travels a lot so she’ll love this one.
OMG, I’m such a planner. Who in the world would ever not make reservations knowing that you have a big event coming up. Okay, I’m sure there are a few of them out there. But like you said, it’s good for just wanting to make dinner reservations and maybe try something new. I love this one and will download it right now.
Thanks Carolyn for always keeping us in the know. You rock!
Hi Adrienne, I know it happens for some people that they have last minute plans (as my husband and I did when he got off of work early) and need to find a spot to eat at the last minute. But also you can use OpenTable when you’re planning way ahead to help you discover new restaurants you would enjoy.
I’m glad you’re downloading this one, Adrienne. I think you’ll find it very useful! 🙂
Does it find fish ‘n’ chips shops? 🙂 I don’t need restaurants I can cook! Where I live we have a choice of lots of different ethnic foods. Mostly Asian but varied. You choose which culture first and then the restaurant! I don’t think we have a English restaurant left! 🙁
Hi MIke! So no local pubs in your area? That’s a shame. When I lived there, gastro pubs were big but I never thought they had the charm of the older pubs. But to answer your question, yes, you can find Fish and Chips places with OpenTable. 🙂
Carolyn, aloha. What a great story and perfect illustration of how Open Table works.
Though I have not used it, I actually was familiar with Open Table and think it’s a terrific idea. If I lived on the Mainland, I know it would come in handy.
Thanks so much for the review and for sharing your story. Until next time, aloha. Janet
Hi Janet, Thank you, yes, my husband and I could have tried to research restaurants near the Kimmel Center and called around to see if any had tables, but the OpenTable app made the process very easy and convenient. We were thrilled with the restaurant too so the entire experience was delightful. It’s a lot of fun to be able to share great tech with others!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Janet! 🙂
Carolyn, aloha. This post wasn’t up yet on PI so I tweeted the Valentine’s Tech post again. Will check back later today or tomorrow to tweet this one.
Thanks, Janet. I really appreciate your checking. It should be up by now. Just a heads up for next week. My article will be appearing on Tuesday, 🙂
I haven’t had the chance to try Open Table yet. Just haven’t had the right opportunity. Perhaps during our upcoming vacation I will give it a try. Thanks for sharing another great tech-post with us! :-bd
Hi Carol, Great idea! Using OpenTable would be very handy on vacation because you can make reservations ahead of time, see reviews, and locate the restaurant on the map. One less thing to take care of when you arrive at your destination.
Have fun on your trip! 🙂
I wish I had that service when I used to spend 300 days a year traveling! Good spotlight post.
Hi Thomas, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech!
Wow, 300 days a year traveling is a lot! I bet you became quite tired of going to restaurants. At least with OpenTable you would have earned some free meals. 🙂
Thank You, and yes. I got on a first name basis with a lot of the TA’s and Enterprise people across the country. I will give Open Table a try in the next couple of weeks.
That’s fantastic. I hope you enjoy OpenTable and your free meals. 🙂
THanks for the information and for sharing your knowledge. Keep on blogging.
Hi Jianna, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you enjoyed this article. Please come back and visit The Wonder of Tech again! 🙂
Hey – you’re featuring all of my favourite apps this week! LOVE OpenTable. I’ve been using it for a few years and I’ve racked up some credit! It’s so convenient – way better than having to phone up restaurants individually and find out about availability. I use it especially when I travel. Great write-up Carolyn!
Hi Ruth, Yes, it’s Official Ruth Week here at The Wonder of Tech! Which app would you like me to write about next? 😉
You know, I haven’t run across anyone who has used OpenTable who hasn’t loved it, Ruth. The first time we used it my husband said, “You have to write about this!” OpenTable is beyond convenient, it saves you money too. Really, what’s not to love about this site?
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences with us, Ruth!
Of course, that would require you actually go to a restaurant that doesn’t ask ‘would you like fries with that order’, huh?
Cool beans, will definitely have to check it out. At our monthly sales meetings we have a few minutes devoted to ‘new’ apps we have found, this will be on the list.
Thanks for sharing; did you know I will be meeting @AdamToporek at 11:30 today and we will be shooting clay pigeons? Pull, or duck?……..:)
Good point, Bill. OpenTable does not include McDonald’s.
OpenTable is handy for both business and social restaurant reservations. If you and your partners wine and dine a lot, you can be racking up free meals in no time!
Very cool you will be meeting Adam! Please send him my best. Have fun with your pigeons! 🙂
OpenTable is new to me as like for many others up here. As suggested by most, I feel it will be very handy during vacation times when you can please your beloved by making all the reservations without a hassle and be at your best 🙂
Hi Praveen, You’re exactly right. OpenTable is especially handy when you’re traveling as you can discover and make reservations at new restaurants before you leave on your trip. One less thing that you have to worry about when you arrive at your destination! :-bd
I wonder if it works for this part of the world!
I’ve never struggled with restaurant reservations. Maybe I haven’t been to fancy fancy ones! But yes, this part of the world; if you want a decent meal in an almost fancy restaurant, it is not really that tough!
But yes, on weekends it is a different story!
Hi Hajra, You can see if OpenTable lists any restaurants in your area. I find the service handy not only to find available tables but also to discover new restaurants such as Bella Cena. You may find it worth checking out. They cover restaurants in all price ranges, just so long as they take reservations. 🙂