OpenTable Reviews

Pros

As we have 2 restaurants in our company, we are always looking new ways to promote them and to have less empty seats for lunch or dinner. We have found about OpenTable online, and we contacted them several years back. At that time they were only U.S. based, but last year when they spreader their network in Europe, we were the first company in our country that signed the contract with OpenTable.
Their training staff was great, introducing the system and training our staff.

As were the first users, we believe that we gain enough advantage for the time being and the fact that we were the first helped us to increase the business in our restaurant - times four....

Cons

In this part we would say the fees, but the fees are ridiculously small, we counted that we are spending or giving 2,5-3% of our revenue to OT, which is really small when you count the fact that any mediator would ask for 10%...

Pros

When OpenTable had a cleaner reservation system, it was excellent. You could book way ahead of time and they had a points-based system that earned you rewards. Sometime a few years back, they lost a lot of their functionality and they seemed to lose their ability to book a lot of restaurants they'd previously had. The rewards system was a big part of my regular use, so I stopped using them as often as a result.

Cons

When there is a reservation option on the listing for a restaurant, it is kind of hidden. This makes very little sense.

Pros

Love open table, easy to use, cost effective

Cons

I can't say that I dislike anything about open table

Pros

This Application is very Easy to Use, gives valuable information, and makes making reservations at dining establishments very easy. Like reading menus and ratings about dining establishments via this application.

Cons

The rating system is very hard to understand... It seems as though negative ratings weigh much more than positive ones. The application has to stay in contact with dining establishments to make sure menus on the website stay updated. Menus are outdated constantly.

Pros

What I like about opentable is that the service is free and allows you to reserve a table at any time of the day. It is also easy to use: just indicate the restaurant, the number of seats, the date and the desired time. The platform takes care of the rest. If the restaurant is full, it even offers you the next available slot.

Cons

For me, the downside of OpenTable is its prices. Many competitors offer cheaper prices for the same services, so beware!

Pros

OpenTable is extremely user friendly. I mainly use the OpenTable app for reservations ahead of time, especially on vacations, and it works great!

Cons

The only thing I do not like is that I can't book 2 reservations around the same time. I like to do this and then cancel which one I didn't want, but I understand how that could create issues.

Pros

I love that there's a reward aspect for bookings.

Cons

Any issues I've had were because of the restaurants and not OpenTable.

Pros

OpenTable is an excellent platform for anyone looking to streamline the process of booking a restaurant reservation. Their user-friendly interface makes it incredibly easy to search for restaurants and make a reservation, with a wide range of filters to help you find the perfect dining experience.

Cons

In my personal experience using OpenTable, I have never encountered an issue that their customer service team couldn't resolve. This speaks to their commitment to providing a high-quality service that meets the needs of their users.

Pros

Makes choosing dinning options super simple. Can filter by location, cuisine and price.

Cons

No dislikes so far. Great app. hope to see more restaurants in the near future.

Pros

OpenTable is a seamless and efficient way to make restaurant reservations. It allows you to see when the restaurant is available and is very convenient.

Cons

Sometimes the information on the restaurant can be inaccurate, which may not be OpenTable's fault. The interface is also a little clunky and unintuitive.

Pros

From a sales perspective, Open Table is fantastic at making sure we have plotted the proper rooms for private events. It is constantly making suggestions and making sure we're in the right time slots for turning tables. For our FOH manangers, it is very easy to train on which makes it less time consuming in the host training process. Guest center is also a great hub to check reviews, see your seating from an app on your phone and make any changes on the go. Love the pop up function and notes section to make sure our hosts have all the information they need. OTrestaurant.com is also wonderful to make sure we have all the right marketing tools turned on and become available to our guests. It is important that our guests have an ease of use to make a reservation and with the bonus points they receive from booking on open table it is just a plus for us to use the software.

Cons

Not a con, but we would love to see Open Table integrate with private dining software to make plotting private events faster.

Pros

There is so many benifits- ease of use, platform for managing reservations prior to and in the moment, it aids in generating reservations, retaining guests and collecting data. Now that there is a venga connection I’m over the moon!

Cons

Honestly the cost per reservation is a little high for small owner operated restaurants but the added benefits are unmatched.

Alternatives Considered

Yelp Guest Manager and SevenRooms

Reasons for Choosing OpenTable

Now that venga has been added we will be moving away from another product.

Reasons for Switching to OpenTable

Main stream product used by 90% of market. Allows for better advertising and venga is amazing!

Pros

Most everything you can do with this software is very intuitive. Very easy to learn how to do multiple things very quickly and very easy to teach my other employees to do the same. I love how I can run my dining room on a busy weekend night from my tablet and be in complete control of all reservations, walk ins, and call aheads.

Cons

Very few issues with this software. If i had to come up with one for the review, i would say that it can be slightly buggy every once in awhile. What i mean is, some settings that i have changed to block tables for reservations or reconfigure the dining room setup can revert to previous settings without my doing. Once in a blue moon, but it is very frustrating when it happens.

Pros

The ease of access of this app is too good for words. If everyone is sufficiently trained, and staff members are on their A game, this is app is quite helpful and useful. It allows all members of staff to update the POS system in order to communicate quickly what status a table is at. It is also helpful with assigning tables to certain parties and deciding upon wait times. For the Hostess, this system is great all all hosts should learn this program at some point in their career. I would only say that it is harder to expect a server to stay on top of updating the system for the hosts throughout their steps of service.

Cons

While the overall application is easy to use and very informative, it does tend to send some mixed signals between servers and hosts if not used properly. The app shows table layout on the screen that allows the user to see which tables have guests, which tables are empty but need to be bussed, and which tables are ready for new guests to be seated. The problem here is that unless a server has time between taking care of her other guests to run to a POS station to inform a hostess that a table is dirty and then find time 5-10 minutes later to see if her buster has cleaned the table and then update the table through the system, clean tables are forgotten and wait times are lengthened due to miscommunications. The structure itself is easy to use, however it seems to add

Pros

I use OpenTable almost on a daily basis to make reservations for both business and personal lunches or dinners. It is very easy to use and you can book a table at a restaurant within minutes. I like that you can search restaurants by neighborhood but also by cuisine and price range. It is also very easy to cancel or modify a reservation. The app is also very convenient for any on the go need.

Cons

Their reward program is not appealing. The VIP status doesn't grant you anything. I wish they would design a program where VIP members get preferred seating, timing etc. Moreover, after you collect a certain amount of points, you get a voucher towards a future reservation; however I noticed that the selection of restaurants that accept the voucher is extremely limited. Additionally, not all restaurants are listed on OpenTable, which sometimes is not ideal

Pros

Very easy platform to use to find and book restaurants. You can search for restaurants by cuisines, location and availability and once you have made a booking you can also easily modify the booking by following the link in the email.

If you make a booking and don’t turn up they also send you an email to ask you to cancel if you cannot make it so that small businesses are not impacted by people not Turing up for their reservations. All in all a very easy to use product and this is the only software I use to book restaurants in my city. Shame it is not available more widely across other countries!

Cons

I can’t think of any cons except sometimes, it’s possible that some slots that are cancelled are not always available on open table but I suspect that is got more to do with restaurant updating their availability rather than open table

Pros

As a website agency, OpenTable has been great to embed on our clients' websites to allow customers to make online reservations.

Cons

There aren't a ton of options in terms of styling the different widgets and browser testing for online reservations.

Alternatives Considered

Yelp Guest Manager

Reasons for Switching to OpenTable

The reviews were better

Pros

The best thing about making reservations on OpenTable is the vast array of dining locations available to you. We are able to easily find niche restaurants that offer the often-scarce African-ish menus we love to explore on trips and compare to what we are used to back home. Profiles of locations are also detailed enough to assist me in my elimination process so then I am very confident of my decision on where to eat when I eventually make it.

Cons

What I dislike about using OpenTable as a diner is the same thing that makes it good. The huge number of choices available can make deciding on where to book a bit of a headache

Pros

Ability to text those on the waitlist at the click of a button, how customizable table setup can be to make it look exactly like our multi-floor restaurant layout, ease of customizing server profiles/keeping track of who's next in rotation automatically. Keeps record of heads per each table sat so keeps servers satisfied they aren't being jipped

Cons

Only allows 3 texts per guest-- not ideal for busy brunch spots. Does not send alerts to us when cancellations are made so often having to constantly check and re-check to make sure we aren't saving tables for nothing

Pros

The features most liked are the customer history, ability to bypass the standard programming for a table and put in special requests. I also like the ease of which you can change a floor plan and number the tables to accommodate various special occasion situations. And I like the ability to no-show a client and they receive that response. Also like the ability to enter in special codes like anniversary, birthday, special event, gluten free, etc. This all helps us to give the client a superior experience.

Cons

The system is only as good as what is programmed into it. You have to learn the tricks and tips to move around the Open Table system in order to get past what it tells you upfront.

Pros

This app is a time saving god send! It helps you find the perfect table in a restaurant suited to both your food requirements and area and then allows you a smooth and QUICK process to book. I absolutely love how effortless this app allows a laborious job of finding a table for whatever the occasion is and then sets up your invites to the fellows you intend to dine with. It looks incredibly professional if this is aimed at a Buisness meeting or super cute if its a first date! All details of time, date and address is automatically added to your calendar once recipient accepts. Perfect.

Cons

I have experienced on a small amount of occasions where I loved the look of a restaurant or table and then when 1/2 through the booking process it may turn out there are limited availability and/or none. This is normal I guess for hot spots and weekends. Book earlier if it is a special event. The bright side of it is if a table is released as a result of cancellations, you'll be notified if those specifics are turned on, on your personal account with the app. Not much to fault, it is easy and accessible.

Pros

When a restaurant is shown on Connect platform from OpenTable their customers increase so well when they book a reservation from this tool. I think OpenTable helps tourism to go further allowing low fees from the enterprises, can it be better?

Cons

The only thing I may be worried about is the fact that a reservation gets as faster as is needed. Besides that, I think OpenTable is a great company to look at.

Pros

OpenTable is great for booking last minute or planning ahead at any restaurant in most cities. Everything is at your finger tips, menus,directions, reviews.
Very user friendly and you are able to customize your reservation with any special needs that you have.
You get see all the choices that are offered of dining in the area that you are looking.

Cons

There is not much I do not like about this software. I would like to see the VIP points never expire. There are times in life that you are not going out alot and it would be great to have that feature. The VIP status though, really does not do much and there are a small percentage of restaurants that will accept there. I would like to see a priority in seating, or a comp of some sort.

Pros

There are so many features with OpenTable that are productive to us using it from letting us know how many people are in the party if they have any allergies we can text them and let them know there are tables ready

Cons

There are so many features with OpenTable that are productive to us using it from letting us know how many people are in the party if they have any allergies we can text them and let them know there are tables ready

Pros

It is the go-to for table reservations for restaurants. It is easy to use and the restaurant staff has easy visibility to the planned seating for the night. It really helps customers have a great dinner service because there is one less thing they have to worry about.

Cons

The reservation process for the customer can be a little frustrating. The software will only show a 1 -2 hour window on either side of your "target" reservation time. So you have to do the "trial & error" method to find a date / time that works.