Technology
Your Table is Waiting
It’s a common Friday night dilemma. You want to have a nice sit- down dinner with a date, but what’s the easiest way to find a restaurant where you don’t have to wait an hour for a table? Now, it’s as easy as picking up the phone. No, you don’t need to make a phone call, just tap the icon for the Open Table app, and you’ll quickly find a selection of fine dining restaurants that can offer you the reservation you want.
Open Table was founded in 1998 by Chuck Templeton. Noticing his wife’s frustration when she was calling a restaurant for a reservation, he used his skills as a former marketer to find a way to streamline the task. OpenTable. com was born, providing diners an easy way to use the expanding presence of the Internet to simplify a portion of their daily lives.
Fast forward to 2014, and Open Table boasts a global presence, with more than 31,000 restaurants using its services. Originally a computer- based service, Open Table showed great potential as the smartphone became more widely available, and for the first quarter of 2014, the company reported that 42 percent of the dinner reservations seated originated on mobile devices.
Statistics are fun to ponder, of course, but what does all of this mean for the hungry people of our Gulf Coast communities?
Marley Young, a Fort Myers resident who travels around the country as a project director for Walmart, enthusiastically exclaims “Love it!” He points out, “When I go into a city, say Corpus Christi, Texas, I check Open Table for restaurants that my team would like and make reservations. Never had a problem.”
JUST GO TO OPENTABLE. COM, CHOOSE YOUR DEVICE FROM THE LIST … THEN DOWNLOAD THE APP AND SEE WHAT 15 MILLION DINERS WORLDWIDE USE EACH MONTH.
Young doesn’t just use Open Table for business- related reservations, though. For a recently anniversary celebration, he took his wife, Crystal, to Miami for a romantic dinner. He smiles as he remembers the evening. “I checked Open Table for fine dining and made my reservation.” His expression makes it clear the dinner was a success.
Chef Melissa Talmage, owner of Sweet Melissa’s Cafe on Sanibel, doesn’t hesitate to recommend this app. “Open Table is great from both the user and business perspective,” she
MORE THAN JUST A CONVENIENT WAY TO SCHEDULE RESERVATIONS, OPEN TABLE GIVES THE RESTAURANT THE ABILITY TO MEET THE INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OF REPEAT CUSTOMERS … WHAT TABLES THEY LIKE, FOOD ALLERGIES, BIRTHDAYS OR WHAT WINE THEY LIKE.
declares. An efficient reservation system makes her restaurant run more smoothly, and she says Open Table allows diners to “make a reservation when it is convenient for them, so you don’t lose them because they can’t get through [ on the phone].”
More than just a convenient way to schedule reservations, Open Table gives the restaurant the ability to meet the individual needs of repeat customers. “It works as a database, so we can make notes on customers,” says Talmage. Using this feature makes the returning diner feel more welcome, as the restaurant knows what tables they like, food allergies, birthdays or what wine they like.
Owning a highly acclaimed restaurant in an internationally popular travel spot has clearly given Talmage insight into the business perspective of Open Table, but she also uses it when she travels. A recent trip to Washington, D. C. provided an excellent example. She says “I was just in D. C. for two days and brought up the highest- rated restaurant, and I was able to make reservations right then and there.” What could be better?
So many people are using Open Table to make their dining experience easier. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s easy to get started. Just go to opentable. com, choose your device from the list, which includes iPhone and iPad, Android and Windows devices, Blackberry and Kindle Fire, then download the app and see what 15 million diners worldwide use each month.
Choose the number of diners, day and time, and you’ll have a list of availability within seconds. That’s not all, though, as you can sort this list based on distance from your location, restaurant rating or simply alphabetically by name. You can have a confirmed reservation in the time it would take to call one restaurant to ask if they have an opening.
We live in an age where technology is becoming an integral part of everyday life. Your smartphone is more capable than the best computers of just a few decades ago, and the right app can unlock its amazing potential. When it comes to making dinner plans, the Open Table app will connect you on the go with the perfect restaurant.