“OpenTable is the leading supplier of reservation, table management and guest management software for restaurants. In addition, the company operates www.opentable.com, the world’s most popular website for making restaurant reservations online.” (opentable.com)

Open Table has been around for awhile now but it never seizes to amaze me how convenient this website is, especially when the application came to the Iphone. They have also just joined forces with Yelp to make reservations even easier. This will allow logged-in Yelp users to make a reservation at many restaurants without leaving the site. You won’t need an OpenTable account to take advantage of the system, but if you use the same e-mail address for both accounts, they’ll continue to earn dining reward points on OpenTable, which can add up to credit at certain restaurants.

The App: Being an event planner, this can be extremely useful at times when you need to scout available venues on the fly! This application/website not only finds nearby restaurants but can book your table as well. Calling restaurants and being put on hold is now a thing of the past. It will even give you directions to the restaurant from wherever you are. You are shown only nearby restaurants, and while it doesn’t filter by type of cuisine or refine your search as easily as you can on the website, it’s still very functional. They have also just created a new app for the iPad which will allow a lot more information on one single screen, and is more user friendly than the Iphone app.

For more info on the iPad app, check out OpenTable iPhone App Now Available For iPad [OpenTable Restaurant Reservation App Is Now Available For iPad] » TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities

Dining Points: Every time you make a reservation and show up, you receive dining award points. The points can be anywhere from 100-1000 depending on the restaurant and time you chose, and are not awarded for cancellations/no-shows. They can later become a “dinning cheque” which can be used at any OpenTable restaurant world wide.

Have you used the OpenTable app yet?