OpenTable Reviews

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....

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%...

It allows you to assign tables in the restaurant as they come in and shoes a fairly good job of tracking several metrics like turn time, server cover counts, etc. It also has ways to advertise and draw in customers who may not know about you.

It's impossible to compete. With the difficulty in finding a restaurant as a customer it translates to moe exposure for larger chain restaurants with budgets to throw at open table. Also, it's pricey. The cost per guest that books is unreasonable and you still have to pay more to advertise. It's just not worth it in my opinion. That are cheaper methods available that focus on phone number advertising as opposed to email (because who opens email nowadays). There are text message options with open table but they are buried and not effective.

OpenTable is a great resource. I use it often when trying to select a restaurant. I love that I am able to see pictures of the real food, along with the menu and prices. Easy platform for making reservations.

Would love an easier way to view a clean menu. there are multiple views (on OpenTable, within a user's picture, or sending me to the website)

I like that it is quick and easy to use, especially when searching directly within Google or in a restaurant's website.

Nothing at this time. I find it to be easy and flexible.

Simple to use features - a lot of popular restaurants seem to have it as well. The best feature in the integration with the calendar you utilize, and the mobile accessibility.

There isn't a feature that is disappointing with OpenTable, but they should try to get contracted with more places to touch as many audiences as possible. There has been instances where I've seen it not available when traveling or with a particular merchant.

I like that I can go to opentable and reserve a table months in advance

Nothing I have never had an issue with opentable

The ease of use and ability to easily reserve and change reservations. Also, the ability to order food through OpenTable is super nice.

On some reservations you have to pay a deposit which can be $20/person, but I don't think there is much that OpenTable can do about it.

My favorite thing about OpenTable is that it is easy to use and links to my calendar. When I make reservations for business meals, this feature is really handy.

The rewards offered in the platform are weak and do not offer much of an incentive to continue using the service.

You can easily search for restaurants to suit your tastes.

It's difficult to change your default location.

Finally upgraded a lot of options for the software. It's been years and years making suggestions with this company, glad they started to finally implement what industry people needed.

The cost associated with some of the repeat business seems like it's unnecessary, but as long as it's driving business towards me I'm OK with it.

What I like most about this software is its usefulness, coupled with its simplistic yet easy layout. The options for available times and selections are very easy to read, making it very user-friendly. I also liked the way the layout also seemed to cater to touchscreen devices with larger than average digital buttons for selections. This definitely contributes to use on the go when a reservation may be needed to be made last minute. The available time suggestions closest to my desired time and date option also save me time from having to search around and find an available date and time.

There is not much I dislike about this software, but one thing that I would appreciate is in regards to desired date storage. What I mean by this is, let us say I have a date and time in mind for a reservation, and that time slot is not available, I am unable to book that timeslot. However, I am never made aware if that time slot becomes available unless I keep checking on that timeslot. It would be ideal if this software could incorporate an email alert or equivalent if a previously unavailable timeslot becomes available (due to the party originally occupying the reservation say cancels their existing reservation or if more seating becomes available) such that I can book my desired timeslot. While I realize this is more a feature I would like to see in a future update as opposed to an issue with the present software, I feel that this is something that is lacking that could be easily incorporated as a very useful user option.

My in-laws own a restaurant and I often help them from a technology and operations perspective. They had trouble managing their reservations. They only open for dinner, and they would spend a lot of time every day listening to Voicemail reservations, trying to get parties back on the phone to confirm, and trying to manage cancellations vs. openings with an antiquated system. When I suggested OpenTable I did not realize all of the problems I would be solving for them. OpenTable brings reservation systems into the 21st century, and allows patrons an easy way to make, change, and cancel restaurant reservations with the click of a button. For the restaurant owner or manager, it saves all of the time you use to need for follow-up, and all of the administrative management needed to handle cancellations and book optimal service volume.

There is nothing that I do not like about OpenTable for business. It has brought a lot of value to our team, and has become a major asset that we rely on to book reservations. Patrons are as happy with OpenTable as we have been in the decision to start taking reservations through them.

This is an unbelievably convenient and functional product. I use it to find restaurants easily and reliably when I travel. It's much more convenient than having to call the restaurant. I can make reservations any time of the day and go back-and-forth between restaurants to compare available times. Then, after I finish making my reservation, I could send the information to the other people in my party with just one click. Because of this product, I have tried many new restaurants and in many different areas that I wouldn't have otherwise tried. And, of course, the point system gets me a coupon every so often.

My biggest complaint is with the interface. I use it as an app on my phone mostly and sometimes I have trouble finding what I'm looking for. It works much better on the desktop.

Easy to use
Clear indication of bookings
Easy to make notes for specific bookings
Excellent in time management

Reduced cost from online bookings
More options to indicate where tables are at
Better automatic table allocation

(struggled to find many cons to be honest)

Exposure. But also many features to keep track of your bookings, who changed the bookings when, and history of return guests. Great customer service- you get right thru every time. Highly recommend.

I wish it would have the ability to get it on more computers without the extra cost. As a sales manager, if I could get it at home, I could work from home.

Allowing guests to book online and opening up space for guests to book online is super helpful and helps bring in extra $$$.

I wish that the desktop and ipad version were the same. I wish you could block tables on the dekstop version like you do on the ipad.