I want to go out for dinner tonight but I’m having trouble finding a good restaurant with an available table at the time I want. Help!

SUMMARY

Use OpenTable to find a great place to eat at a time that’s convenient for you.

WHY?

When selecting a restaurant, most people prioritize the WHERE over the WHEN. They have a list of restaurants and call each one individually hoping to find an opening at the desired time. The conversation may go something like this:

Customer: “I’d like to make a reservation for 4 people at 6pm. Do you have that time available?”

Restaurant: “I’m afraid not. We have 4:30pm and 8pm available. Would you like to reserve one of those times?”

Customer: “No thanks.”

Does this sound familiar? What if you could pick from a list of all restaurants with space for 4 people at 6pm? This is exactly what OpenTable will do for you.

OpenTable is a free service that I have used since 2005. Enter the time you want to eat and the number in your party and OpenTable displays a list of restaurants that has space available at the time you need. It’s not uncommon for there to be 100 or more restaurants to choose from.

In addition to the time you’re looking for, OpenTable also displays alternate available times if you schedule is slightly flexible. Are you looking for a restaurant with space at 6pm? Would 5:45pm or 6:15pm work as well? No need to call the restaurant. Make your selection from the intuitive interface and your table is reserved.

Create an OpenTable account with your email address, Facebook or Google+ account and you will collect 100 OpenTable Points for each reservation you complete. 2000 points can be redeemed for $20 towards your next meal. While it may seem like it will take a while to accumulate points to get some real money,, some restaurants offer 1000 points per completed reservation, usually at low traffic times to fill the restaurant. Select these restaurants and you’ll be racking up the points in no time, needing only two visits to earn $20.

While OpenTable is great to use in your hometown, it’s invaluable when travelling. It’s difficult to know where to eat when in an unfamiliar neighborhood. OpenTable is like an old, reliable friend offering suggestions complete with the restaurant’s menu to help you decide.

If you’re still not sure if a restaurant is right for you, reviews left by other OpenTable members is sure to help.

Too many options? A filter helps you to narrow down the choices to something more manageable.

Filter the list by cuisine (Italian, vegetarian, dessert),

by neighborhood,

or by price.

You can also display only those restaurants offering 1000 point times to help accumulate OpenTable points quickly.

A long, scrolling list of restaurants is not usually very helpful when out-of-town since none of the restaurants or their locations will be familiar. A map view is also available with push pins showing all the restaurants at once on a single map. Perhaps you’re traveling north and you want to find a restaurant along the way. If that’s the case, you will find the map view extraordinary useful.

If you discover that you need to change your reservation, no problem.  OpenTable allows you to select a new time or if needed, you can simply cancel the reservation.

OpenTable Etiquette

OpenTable provides a wonderful service, but there are a few responsibilities that you will have when using it:

1. If you need to change or cancel your reservation, do it 30 minutes in advance. This ensures that the restaurant will not continue to hold your table for somebody that will never show, and you will comply with OpenTable’s cancellation policy.
2. If you’re running late and won’t make your reservation time, try to change your reservation to a later time. (See #1 above). If you are too close to the reservation time, the website and app won’t let you change it. Instead, call the restaurant as a courtesy using the phone number displayed in OpenTable. I’ve done this before and the restaurant was grateful that I called. Being a “no-show” is very annoying for a restaurant. Although they had to give my table away, they put me first in line when I arrived, and there were no hard feelings.

My own observations about the OpenTable system

I tend to find restaurant’s quality to be higher than average when using OpenTable. Although the service is free for customers to use, I suspect that the restaurant must pay OpenTable for this service, weeding out lower-end restaurants. From what I can tell, OpenTable provides the restaurant with a reservation system to track tables and manage customers. In return for this service, traffic is driven to the restaurant from the website, bring people who otherwise never would have walked in off the street. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Give OpenTable a try the next time you want to book a restaurant you know or when looking for a new place to dine. I think you will be impressed with the result.

• Website

I’m going on a road trip. Are there any good apps to take for the ride?

SUMMARY

Navigation software is good for getting you from point A to point B, but my favorite app for finding food and fuel stops along the way is RoadNinja.

WHY?

When you’re in your car driving for hours on the interstate your priorities change. You have a few basic needs:

• A place to eat.
• A gas station.
• A place to sleep.

If you’re going to stop:

• You don’t want to travel far from the highway.
• If you want to know what stores are at the exit before you commit to exiting.

RoadNinja is a huge help when deciding whether to exit the highway. Using your current location, RoadNinja detects which Interstate you’re on and the direction you’re travelling.

It then displays an easy to digest list of exits and shows you what services are at each one. These include gas stations, restaurants, lodging, pharmacies and more.

Google Maps will find a diner for you, but it could be 20 miles from the highway. RoadNinja performs the specialized type of searches needed for road trips.

Roadside signs do show some of the shops that are at the upcoming exit, but the list is usually incomplete. RoadNinja shows all the shops at the upcoming exit to help you decide whether it’s worth veering off. If you’re not hungry but you know you will be soon, you can look ahead to see what restaurants are up ahead. Each exit shows the miles to that exit, the exit name and number so you can make a plan.

In addition, you can search for a particular type of shop and specify its distance from the highway. For instance, you can search for coffee shops less 0.8 miles from the exit.

Selecting a result displays a map with the address, phone number and hours of operation. Press the “Directions” button and you’re on your way.

You can also customize the search to make it easy to search for a specific store, such as Subway, Starbucks, etc.

I just love RoadNinja and never travel the Interstate without it.

• Play Store
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