OpenTable: Can It Be Trusted?

Over in another thread, it's come to my attention that it's fairly common practice for a restaurant on OpenTable to hold tables back from OpenTable--so that OpenTable may show no tables available at a certain hour when a phone call to the restaurant will produce a different result.

I can understand why a restaurant might hold a certain number of tables in reserve for regular customers. But I'm hard-pressed to understand why a restaurant will have OpenTable inform "John Doe" that there are no tables available at 7 PM but tell the very same "John Doe" who calls on the telephone that there are.

There are members here who know how the restaurant business works, and I'd be interested to know their insights.

Don't blame Open Table. It's common practice to place your capacity at some point below 100% when using 3rd party booking software regardless of the industry. Hotels do it, restaurants do it, even doctors do it. It allows them flexibility to allow for walk-ins, VIP's and other extraordinary circumstances. If you've got your heart set on eating at a certain restaurant or staying at a certain hotel and it comes up as sold out online, it's always best to call the business directly just in case they can accommodate you.

Plus, restaurants pay a per-reservation fee to Open Table. Restaurants that know they will fill up during peak times can save a little money by taking those reservations themselves. (I know this doesn't apply the case you described at Boarding House.)

Note also that Open Table is fairly upfront about this. Try searching for a 7pm table this Friday at Browntrout, for example. You'll get a message that they don't take reservations for that time via Open Table.

Also see their FAQ: http://support.opentable.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/21

Why did your site say no tables were available, but when I called the restaurant, I got one?

As a general rule, the availability you see on OpenTable.com reflects the actual availability in the restaurant's computerized reservation book at the time of your search. On occasion the reservationist may make an exception based on special circumstances. For example, popular restaurants often offer a limited number of seating times, such as 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM. When a restaurant isn't busy, a reservationist may decide to accommodate a reservation between seatings. Also, some reservation requests, such as those with larger party sizes, do not match the standard table layout and associated reservation slots at a restaurant. However, a reservationist may be able to accommodate those requests by reconfiguring or combining tables.

stevez wrote:Don't blame Open Table. It's common practice to place your capacity at some point below 100% when using 3rd party booking software regardless of the industry. Hotels do it, restaurants do it, even doctors do it.

This is even used in online catalogs. It's not uncommon to have a buffer in case the inventory counts are off by a bit, and it also helps to resolve conflicts if two people are trying to order the same items at the same time. It's a basic best practice for any online ordering system.

OpenTable is just a machine. Obviously it does not know the rhythms of the restaurant, it's just a tool.

Let's say the restaurant DOES release all its tables into the software (which no one does for all the very good reasons mentioned upthread). Calling the restaurant and speaking with a human who is actually there on, say, a Saturday night at 8 PM, and knows from experience that a little bit of overbooking might make up for cancellations, no-shows, etc., is still going to produce a better result. The human will be able to override the parameters that we set into OpenTable for covers per half hour, turn times, party sizes, and all that fun stuff.

OpenTable is a wonderful tool for a lot of things, sure, but it still doesn't beat a good maitre d at seating a room .

And it costs the restaurants money when you use it--I never book thru OT for places I go to regularly. I do use it tho-- mostly when I'm looking for a place on the fly and need ideas-- it's great for that.

I tried to make reservations at RPM Italian for a friend's birthday last year on OT for a party of 6. Had to call because it shows no times available for that many people even 2-3 months out or whatever the max is.

To no one's surprise (least of all my own), the replies have been illuminating. Thanks.

I'm a big fan of OpenTable. At the very least, it reminds me of restaurants that I may want to visit. There are just too many restaurants in this town for me always to remember (even more difficult as I get older!). If a restaurant is not on OpenTable, the chances are better I will forget about them.

But it also takes the human mistake element out of the equation. On three separate occasions that I can immediately recall, I made reservations by calling a restaurant only to have the restaurant screw up the reservation. You can have a pretty good idea this is going to happen when there is a lot of noise on the other end and you know the restaurant reservation person cannot possibly hear you very well. This issue never happens with OpenTable.

I recognize that not all tables are released on the site, so on occasion if a restaurant does not show availability, I will call the restaurant. Only a couple of instances did this result in a reservation where one was not otherwise available on OpenTable. But someone I know who works at a restaurant listed on OpenTable told me that part of the issue is not so much holding back tables as it is slightly reconfiguring a dining room seating chart to accommodate certain parties.