OpenTable--Snagging a Reservation at 28 Days
When do reservations become available on OpenTable? Is it one minute after midnight of the day they are open or is it at 9AM? The restaurant tells me they take reservations by phone 28 days in advance at 9AM. OpenTable also takes them at 28 days in advance....but is it earlier in the day?
We're planning a trip around this dinner, so I really want to do my best to get a reservation. Thank you for your help.
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Another thing with OT...if you cannot get a reservation at the time you want, accept the closest available time. Then, call the restaurant when you can speak directly with someone at the restaurant and see if the can move it to a time closer to what you would like. Repeat this as necessary. You can occasionlly get it moved enough to make it acceptable. This only works if you can call directly to the restaurant...hotel reservationists, or answering services typically have the same OT access as you do, whereas the restaurant itself has some ability to override OT.
But...if you do not eventually get a reservation that you will use, be sure to cancel the one you've made. OT seriously and appropriately frowns on no-shows. More than a few per year, and they kick you off!
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I'm not sure that it's true for all restaurants, but for all of those I've booked through OT (including some of NYC's most popular restaurants), the OT booking starts at precisely the same time the restaurant starts accepting reservations by phone, not at midnight of the same day. Keep in mind that the restaurant reservationists book the reservations through the same OT system that everyone else does. They can usually override the system in some ways, but generally it's the same system they are entering. Nevertheless for an extremely busy restaurant where reservations are in great demand, you can often do better by using OT because you don't have to deal with busy phones that are typical at the opening bell!
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re: josephnl
babette feasts
May 8, 2011 08:07 PM
Odd, because I find that the great thing about OT is being able to reserve a table at any time of the day or night. The places I've worked at certainly accept reservations via OT all day long, so I have a hard time picturing why someone would pay for broadening their accessibility via OT, then limiting it to a timeframe when there is already a reservationist in the restaurant. Isn't OT for the times when the reservationist is NOT there? So curious.
I got a French Laundry reservation a few years ago by waiting until midnight and pouncing as soon as one of the few tables they put on OT became available.
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re: babette feasts
LindaWhit
May 9, 2011 08:51 AM
I rarely use OT, but here's a question - would that have been midnight where the restaurant is located, or midnight at your local time? For instance, I'm in the Boston area - if I wanted a reservation a TFL, would I check for availability at midnight or 3:00am EDT?
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re: LindaWhit
babette feasts
May 9, 2011 11:43 AM
Hmm, well I was in the same time zone, but I would guess the same time zone as the restaurant, so 3am for you.
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re: babette feasts
Must be up to the restaurant. At Le Bernardin, and at Danny Meyer's NYC restaurants (Gramercy Tavern, 11 Madison Park, etc.), OT begins taking reservations at precisely the minute the restaurant opens them for a specific date, typically 9 am, 28 days in advance. However, once the books are opened for a date, you can make a res on OT 24 hours a day.
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re: josephnl
babette feasts
May 10, 2011 06:36 PM
That makes more sense. I thought you were saying they never took OT reservations outside of operating hours.
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re: babette feasts
That's the best part of OT, being able to make a res at anytime regardless of whether or not the restaurant is open. But, as mentioned above, I know as a fact that for at least many of the restaurants where reservations are tough to get, you cannot get a reservation online before the restaurant starts taking them by phone.
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