An economic analysis of Mayor Mike’s restaurant rating scheme
In my first guest blog post, my cousin, Daniel Stone, prepared an analysis of NYC Department of Health Restaurant Ratings after joining me for Dim Sum in Chinatown a few weeks ago.
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Recently, I had the privilege to join my cousin Jay for a guys lunch out. We decided to meet in Chinatown and enjoy dim sum, the pastry that started a revolution. When we arrived, we noticed a large letter C on the front window. Zounds! This new information on documented poor sanitation practices caused us to reconsider our options. We wound up reconsidering and ultimately enjoyed a fine assortment of vegetable, meath, and seafood confections somewhere else. This C rating was a disincentive to try the establishment. If the establishment were an A, we probably would have eaten at the place, but we still would have ordered the same amount. So, after lunch, I left with a few questions about whether the whole enterprise of grading restaurants was really good for business. I know Mayor Mike likes business, and he would be loathe to institute a program that would decrease the city’s tax base. What gives?
I was stepping off the train this past Sunday when I saw the answer. The Auntie Ann’s pretzel stand in Penn station: it had an A rating. The McDonalds on the corner: it also had an A. At all of these places, I normally would have questioned whether they were truly worth trusting. At least, they had brand goodwill to back up their claims, but goodwill is based on faith and corporations all have varying standards of quality control. But there were an additional class of restaurants that had an A rating. That hole in the wall Mexican restaurant that advertised with old school Chinese picture menus also had an A. I knew their pockets were not as deep as McDonald’s. The corner deli, the discounted Indian buffet, the Thai restaurant with the curtains in front–all of these places earned an A. My confidence in the New York City restaurant macroeconomy was now increasing. Places that before might have made me suspicious of surviving with my health intact, I now viewed as viable culinary alternatives. A new universe of dining was opening; certainly this would make business sense to Mayor Mike, a man who values the affordable lunch option, and would increase sales (and tax receipts) for many New York City small businesses.
What is the upshot for jaysnycrestaurantreviews.com? I propose a new price category: cheap! Normally, this category would have carried risks. But no more: we may be intrepid restaurant goers in an age of prominently documented hygienic report cards.
Turkey Meatloaf Rundown
I love turkey meatloaf. I have made it a few times from various internet recipes, but for such an inexpensive dish (even at inflated NYC prices), is it really worth buying all the ingredients, making a mess in the kitchen, then producing enough to eat for a week? This will change when I have a family to feed, but for now, I am sticking with turkey meatloaf takeout and the occassional sit down order. Here are my favorite turkey meatloafs in the Murray Hill area and one to avoid.
Dishes To Go makes a hell of a turkey meatloaf. I typically buy a piece or three on my walk through the Grand Central Market on my way home from work. It is packed with flavor, has great consistency, and no matter how long you put it in the toaster oven to heat up, it is not dry and has a great crust. The tangy and slightly spicy bbq sauce on top accentuates the loaf. Dishes has several locations throughout NYC and plenty more options than turkey meatloaf are available.http://dishestogo.com.
Another turkey meatloaf to note is Energy Kitchen. Their approach is different than Dishes’. The seasoned ground turkey is very flavorful on it’s own, but the marinara sauce on top adds another poweful punch of flavor. The charred preparation scores points with me. Sorry if the photo below doesn’t do the loaf justice. All in all, a nice portion of turkey meat loaf with sauce is 311 calories (everything at Energy Kitchen is under 500 cals). The meatloaf is served in a nice compatrmentalized plate with two sides for under $11. For sides, I like their mixed vegetables (37 calories), sauteed mushrooms & onions (pictured, 34 calories), spinach (30 calories), steamed sweet potatoes (145 calories). Energy Kitchen has locations throughout NYC. Energy Kitchen is typically better as a take out option than eat in. http://www.energykitchen.com.
Josie’s is in my neighborhood. I have walked by for years and never went in. I will continue to walk by because the “Freshly Ground Thanksgiving Natural Turkey Meatloaf, herb-spiced lean ground natural turkey loaf, smashed potatoes, wok sautéed Asian greens, natural au jus & cranberry-apple chutney” I had at Josie’s is clearly second rate to the ones described above (and a lot more expensive). Though a generous portion, they must have used a fat free turkey mix because flavor was non-exisitant. In addition, I got the impression that my meatloaf was microwaved to order. I have no complaints about the steamed “Asian greens” (bok choy) and the mashed potatoes were nice. I also appreciated the cranberry chutney as a way to add flavor to the loaf. The difference between Josies Vs. Energy Kitchen and Dishes is – sauce on the latter two is a nice to have addition to the meal, Josies’ sauce is the only way to get flavor into the dish. http://josiesnyc.com
Seamless Web Shadiness
Two easy ways to stand out on Seamlessweb.com are to be on the top of the alphabetical list to or have great reviews. Some of the restaurants on seamlessweb.com have figured out how to do both. All you have to do is add a number or letter (or a combination of the two) to the front of your restaurant’s name and you will show up on top. To get some great reviews, just go have your staff register for seamlessweb.com and post as many 5 star reviews as they can! Here are the “top of the list” offenders in my Murray Hill neighborhood:
- #1 Burger
- 1 Chimi Sushi
- 1 Darbar
- 121 Midori Sushi (formerly Kiku Sushi 3) (Over 500 reviews, 5 star overall)
- 1-A Canaan Sushi (formerly Canaan Sushi)
- 28 Fusion Sushi (brought to you by 28th Street Chef 28)
- 28 Scott’s Food (The Gourmet Deli)
- 2nd Avenue Tex
- 2nd Yo Sushi (Over 700 reviews, 5 star overall)
- 3 Ave Blue 9 Burger
- 33-Golden City
- 3rd Ave. Hana Sushi
- 41 Bistro Marketplace
- 44 Street Curry House
- AA Ichiban
For the record, I went through the long process of sorting through and copying and pasting these names in this post so they come up if people search for the restaurant name online. It may or may not have been worth it to go through this effort… The reality is, no one searches for these restaurants – they are “bottom of the barrel” local takeout places. And, if someone did search, they wouldn’t search for 121 Midori, they’d search for Midori. They wouldn’t search for 1-A Cannan, they’d search for Cannan. And, what’s 28 Fusion Sushi (brought to you by 28th Street Chef 28)! ? Is it me or are there too many 28s!?
Here’s what these restaurants look like on the site:
Onto review rating inflation.
What’s better than a 5 star review? If the restaurant received lots of 5 star reviews from people like me, how could it be bad? Most restaurants have a handful of reviews, some have dozens, some even have a couple hundred, but strangely, some sushi places manage to have over 500 reviews!
The actual written reviews are hard to find on seamlessweb.com. You must click into the restaurant’s menu, then click the review tab on top to read. From a design perspective, I would like to be able to click on the stars from the listing to see written reviews.
Here are some of the 5 star reviews for 2nd Ave Yo Sushi
- Excellent, creative sushi! Quick delivery!(18 block)
- Fresh sushi. I was very happy with my order. Very fast delivery-about 20 minutes. Would definitely order from here again.
- amazing. 20 mins. to deliver all the way to the west side. fresh+packaged perfectly.
- very fresh sushi, and cheaper price, excellent delivery service, i love this place, i will order from here again and again for reliable
- nice taste. salmon had nice taste. overall great taste.
If you see a lot of reviews, my recommendation would be to ignore. If you are compelled to look, check out the reviews for yourself. With a little investigation, you will see right through the fakes and you may even get a chuckle reading the ridiculousness.
This shadiness is particularly concerning to me. If the owners of these restaurants use these tactics online, what are they doing when they order their food from purveyors? Store their food? Prepare? It would be interesting to see how these shady restaurants do in the Department of Health Sanitary Restaurant Ratings. I’ll save that for another post.
Seamlessweb.com is in a position to clean this up. They are a clear market leader. If I were in a position of leadership at seamlessweb.com, I would create “standards of integrity,” the rules of the road for posting andwould have strict penalties for breaking the rules. The transparency might result in losing revenue from some restaurants, but ultimately Seamlessweb.com would have happier customers who would probably order more!
Guide to NYC Department of Health Restaurant Ratings
You may or may not have noticed the the A, B, and C restaurant ratings around NYC. Well, I noticed and wanted to share some thoughts.
I applaud the Dept of Health introducing these ratings. I have noticed that restaurants post their A’s with pride, as if it were a report card on a parent’s refrigerator. Some restaurants are even investing in new equipment and closing for a few weeks to clean up, which is another good thing. I tend to question ratings under an A, and I am pretty sure others do too. One thing I would like to point out is, the hygiene rating has no correlation with how good the food is!
Here are the rules of the road (from – http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh//downloads/pdf/rii/how-we-score-grade.pdf).
“Inspectors check for compliance in food handling, food temperature, personal hygiene, facility and equipment maintenance, and vermin control. Each violation of a regulation earns a certain number of points. At the end of the inspection, the inspector totals the points, and this number is the restaurant’s inspection score; the lower the score, the better.”
- 0-13 is an A. 12,468 NYC restaurants had an A rating when this article was written.
- 14-27 is a B. 7,892 restaurants.
- 28 or more points a C. 1,666 restaurants.
- If a restaurant operator wants to contest the results of a graded inspection, the restaurant can post a “Grade Pending” card until it has an opportunity to be heard at the Health Department’s Administrative Tribunal. Until they undergo graded inspections, restaurants will be listed online as Not Yet Graded on the Health Department website.
- Grade cards must be posted where they can easily be seen by people passing by.
I figured I would take a walk around NYC and see what some local reastaurants rated and what it means. I encourage you to do the same. All ratings text is directly quoted from http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchBrowse.do.
A Rating: Hudson Place – Murray Hill
Violation points: 12
Violations from 01/13/2011 inspection
1) Cold food item held above 41º F (smoked fish and reduced oxygen packaged foods above 38 ºF) except during necessary preparation.
2) Other general violation.
B Rating: Sarge’s in Murray Hill
Violation points: 20
Violations from 10/18/2010 Inspection
Hot food item not held at or above 140º F.
2) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
3) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
4) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
C Rating: Jing Fong Dim Sum, Chinatown
Violations from 08/11/2010 Inspection
Violation points: 51
1) Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
2) Personal cleanliness inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn in an area where food is prepared.
3) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.
4) Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
5) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
6) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained and/or not properly sealed, raised, spaced or movable to allow accessibility for cleaning on all sides, above and underneath the unit.
Grade Pending: Euro Diner, Murray Hill
Violations from 10/29/2010 Inspection
Violation points: 19
1) Live roaches present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas.
2) Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage-associated (FRSA) flies present in facility’s food and/or non-food areas. Filth flies include house flies, little house flies, blow flies, bottle flies and flesh flies. Food/refuse/sewage-associated flies include fruit flies, drain flies and Phorid flies.
3) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.
4) Plumbing not properly installed or maintained; anti-siphonage or backflow prevention device not provided where required; equipment or floor not properly drained; sewage disposal system in disrepair or not functioning properly.
5) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained and/or not properly sealed, raised, spaced or movable to allow accessibility for cleaning on all sides, above and underneath the unit.
The other thing I applaud the Dept of Health on is the creation of an easy to use website with lots of ways to sort through content, clear navigation, maps, street view, effective “chunking of content” , email alerts, etc. Check it out and check out the health rating of your favorite restaurant! http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchBrowse.do.
Group Restaurant Discount Site Tipping Point?
As the summer comes to an end, I have been thinking about a lot of things… will I kick up my running routine this fall? How will I evolve or not evolve Jay’s NYC Restaurant Reviews? And what’s next for group restaurant discount sites? I will focus this post on the last question.
Ever since the beginning of Groupon I have been following every move of Groupon and all the Groupon followers (Living Social, Tippr, Scoop Street, DealOn, In Bundles, etc.). I subscribe to all group discount alerts and even subscribe to aggregators like The Daily Flock.
Last May, I wrote a post called “Beware of, But Don’t Ignore Restaurant Discounts.” In the post, I talked about seeking out and buying only the best “hidden gems.” Now that the market has been so saturated with these discounts, it’s been hard to find the hidden gems. As a matter of fact, I just haven’t found anything that piqued my interest in at least a month or two.
In the months before not finding any restaurant deals of interest, I noticed myself buying a bunch of discounts that I have not used and likely will not use. As a matter of fact, most of the money that I would have saved on the 50% off deals has went out the window in unused deals. I should have known that I wouldn’t go to Brooklyn for that sushi place when I purchased (no offense to my friends in BK).
It’s also hard keeping up with the deals. Sometimes I just don’t remember which site I bought the deal on. When I do find out which site I bought the deal on, there are varying levels of difficulty in redeeming… Some of the sites are not as evolved as Groupon and LivingSocial and do not have iphone apps. If I want to use a discount and don’t have a print out, is it worth $5 at FedexOffice to print out (I don’t have a printer at home)? Or do I carry a “man purse” with all my coupons (not going to happen)!?
There is also the problem of the restaurants that are using one or more restaurant discount site all the time. Use one of these sites, fine, twice ok, when I see the same establishment paying so much to get customers in the door (I hear groupon gets as much as half the coupon value), I begin to question the business.
Hyper customization of deals is also a problem- Do I sign up for midtown deals? East side deals? What about the deals in North Jersey? As in all businesses, losing focus on what you do best can compromise the quality of the end product. Scaling the process of sourcing and marketing deals is not as easy as it may seem. The more deals offered on each site and in the collection of all these sites, and the more time that goes by with the same type of deals, the less impact each deal will have.
Groupon recently evolved the game with their first ever National Deal – selling over 441,000 GAP Groupons. The Groupon machine has and will keep on growing as corporations will continue to be interested in their reach and power as not only a group discount site but a media player.
With that said, I predict the landscape of local restaurant deals will change in the coming months. We will see less sites. The larger sites and the most creative marketers will prevail. The sites that aren’t focused and lack differentiation will go the way of the roughly 60% of restaurants that close within three years of opening.
Do you agree? What do you think will be the next big thing for local restaurant discounts?
Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream, Ices – The Treats of Summer
The frozen dessert landscape has changed remarkably in recent years. While I am happy to welcome many creative new additions to the marketplace, I also enjoy the time tested traditional ice cream and other frozen treats like lemon ice. Here is my guide to frozen treats.
Frozen Yogurt
Over the last three years we have seen the proliferation of expensive “premium” frozen yogurt in NYC… it started with Pinkberry, then came Red Mango. Even though Pinkberry arrived to NYC first, it is well documented that Red Mango started before Pinkberry.
From there, copy cat after copy cat. The funniest one I noticed a couple of years ago was Red Cherry, which has since gone out of business. Red Cherry doesn’t make sense. Red Mango works because mangoes are not red. Pink Berry, the same thing, there is a chance that a pinkberry exists, but you are more likely to come across a blueberry or a blackberry. There are plenty of red cherries…
Another relatively prominent expensive yogurt place is BerryWild.
Maybe some of you will disagree, but for me there’s very little difference between the three… I feel the yogurt all tastes relatively the same. All charge about the same and have similar topping offerings.
The Pinkberries of the world have almost totally displaced an old NYC favorite, TastiDelight. I never really enjoyed Tasti-D. While we used to order Tasti-D, the premium price for a styrofoam cup of this stuff always bothered me more than paying a premium Pinkberry or Red Mango that at least come with fresh fruit toppings.
Another frozen yogurt category is “weigh and pay.” We have these places that bank on the human instinct to not be able to control themselves. There’s 16 Handles and Phileo Yogurt (by way of Philadelphia, could you tell?), which my friend calls “yogurt land.” Both offer lots of machines featuring tart and not tart flavors. They let visitors take what they want, top it with healthy toppings or candy, weigh it, pay (enough to buy gallons of yogurt from the grocery store), then enjoy.
Recently I went to Jersey and visited Bischoff’s. Since 1934, Bischoff’s has been serving up ice cream sundaes in the same way. My family has been going to Bischoff’s for three generations. My dad, who grew up in Teaneck, used to take dates there in High School.
While I enjoy fro yo as a grab and go treat in the city or the mall, it is nice to sit down and have real ice cream. We asked and they don’t even have frozen yogurt at Bischoff’s! Take a look at these two sundaes that cost a total of $16! There were four of us and we couldn’t finish either one of them.
A City Ice Cream Favorite – Mister Softee
Summer is here and you know what that means….we will see Mister Softee on every other block in the city. According to the Mister Softee website, Mister Softee is the largest franchiser of soft ice cream trucks in the United States. Mister Softee is light soft serve ice cream – creamy with lots of air. Lots of creative ways to enjoy, including the double cone. Don’t forget to dip your cone in chocolate, strawberry, etc. Check out some Mister and Ms. Softee Profiles on Midtown Lunch.
On the topic of Mister Softee, please keep in mind that not all Mister Softee trucks are created equally. If you are in the mood for Mister Softee, please look at the truck carefully. If it doesn’t specifically say Mister Softee, it isn’t (meaning, they buy cheaper, less enjoyable product and try and sell it for the same price). Check out this 2008 article on Mister Softee Knockoffs.
Real Mister Softee
Clearly not Mister Softee!
If I find some better examples of fake Mister Softee trucks, I will update. There are plenty out there, believe me.
Lemon Ice (and other flavors)
There is only one King and he’s from Queens.
I have been enjoying the Lemon Ice King of Corona my entire life but the establishment has been around for twice as long as me (over 60 years). Read my full review.
La NewYorkina Modern Mexican Ice Pops
It was a hot day, I was thirsty and in the mood for something sweet. I had enough Mister softee and fancy frozen yogurt for the week. I walked into the Hester Street Fair, and the answer was looking at me. La NewYorkina “modern mexican ice pops.” Such a simple and refreshing idea.
I asked what the most popular flavor was, and Fanny, one of the propieters, served me Mango con Chile (Spicy Mango). The $4 pop was filled with large mango chunks. The chili made for an occasional bursts of spice. If the pop isn’t spicy enough for your taste, Fany offers seasoning to sprinkle (like you would pepper flakes on a pizza).
Other flavors include:
- Fresa-Strawberry
- Tamarindo Fresco- Fresh Tamarind
- Horchata- Cinnamon Rice Milk
- Jamaica- Hibiscus
- Pina con Menta- Pineapple Mint
- Nuez- Pecan
Fanny explained that she makes the pops after hours in a local wholesale bakery after 7pm during the week. It is a simple process from the cutting of the fruit, to the freezing. literally what you see is what you get. Check out these Facebook pics of the process.
At this point, they are getting ready for the Hester Street Fair each week. I see no reason why this concept can’t go bigger with a food truck or even a well positioned storefront.
Find La Newyorkina at the Hester Street Fair, every Saturday and Sunday,
10am to 6pm.
In Summary…
There is a right place and a right time for frozen treats and we certainly have a lot of options in the NYC Metro area… Enjoy! Please comment below on any of your favorites that I missed.
New York City Street Fair Food Guide
It’s that time of the year. Last weekend as I walked my way through NYC, I stumbled across three New York City street fairs.
This guide will go through NYC street fair food options. I will divide street fair food into three categories.
- Food I look forward to eating at each fair
- Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences (i.e indigestion, a lost tooth)
- Pleasant surprises
Hopefully this guide will help locals and tourists alike to navigate NYC street fair food options.
Food I look forward to eating at each fair
I will pick up some pickles if, for some reason, I have no pickles in my fridge.
Kettle corn: I most likely won’t buy this, I have plenty of equally enjoyable Orville Redenbacher at home, but I will try a free sample.
Sticking with corn, how can you go wrong with fresh corn? I like how most use the grill to char the corn.
Another corn product is the sweet corn arepa. How can you go wrong with melted mozzarella and sweet corn?
Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences
This may be controversial but I never want a candy apple during the summer. Candy Apples are a Fall food for me. I am also afraid that I will lose a tooth when I bite into the hard shell.
Dirty hands making falafel balls and frying in oil on a dirty street, no thanks. The same applies to Zeppoles. I will sometimes try a spinach pie though.
Fear of indigestion, continued…
No desire to have one of those smoothies. How could they possibly wash all that fruit with no running water? They also use the same dirty blenders all day! If you do happen to be by a fair when it’s closing they may sell bananas and other unused fruit for next to nothing. That I will go for!
I may have a crepe or two in Paris, but not on a NYC street…
Pleasant surprises
I would try a lobster roll at lunch time!
As the summer goes by, I will add some pictures of some of the pleasant surprise food options that I come across.
Street Fair Calendars:
Beware of, But Don’t Ignore Restaurant Discounts
Internet based restaurant discounts are very popular these days. Here are the basics on the sites I have found that are offering the deals and how you can benefit most from these restaurant deals.
The Landscape of Restaurant Deals
1. The Group Discount - These group discount sites offer more than restaurant deals but you will find restaurant offers several times a week. You typically pay $15 – $25 for $30 – $50 off the check. This idea was made popular by Groupon. In recent months, some more have come to the market with thoughtful group discounts, including Scoop St and Living Social. Then there are others like BuyWithMe and Tippr that fall short by providing discounts on the leftover scraps. Gotta love when Tippr included deals to eat chocolate, workout at a health spa, and a visit the dentist in the same email!
2. Restaurant Only Deals – Blackboard Eats (BBE) offers free discounts (usually 30% off) for new restaurants and “hidden gems.” They send their emails at 8:30 ET approximately three times a week. If it’s a deal you like, just click the button and take the code provided to the restaurant for the deal. I find Blackboard Eats has the best deals at the best places most often. Another restaurant only deal site, VillageVines (VV) is “invitation only” and typically charges $10 to get 30% off. In my experience, the VV deals and restaurants are not as good as BBE.
3. OpenTable - Don’t forget about those 1000 points reservations on OpenTable. When you cash in the points, 1000 points is the equivalent of $10. The 100 point reservations also add up to valuable reward certificates!
Seeking out the Best Deals
With all these “generous” offers out there, I often wonder how can I resist paying $20 for $50, etc.
I have learned from experience that not all deals are the same. The key to getting the best deals from these sites is understanding that 7 out of 10 of the restaurants are offering a discount because they have to (please keep in mind 7 out of 10 is an estimate and is not scientific in any way).
Most of the restaurants offering deals aren’t getting crowds and they think that an influx of thousands into their already struggling establishment will fix it all. The way to figure out which 3 out of 10 are worth it is to do your research. Some suggestions:
- Don’t be fooled by the cherry picked reviews in the write-ups on these sites. The restaurants pay to offer the discounts and the websites offering them will write up whatever will make the restaurant look good to sell more.
- Do a Google search, look at what others are saying.Don’t buy a deal or make a reservation if the restaurant is not recommended by a friend or by seemingly credible reviews from others online.
- Do make sure you are not falling for one of the OpenTable “tricks” by reading my guide to getting the most from OpenTable.
Here are a few of the recent gems I have found:
- $20 for $50 Worth of Fine Mexican Cuisine at Crema - Groupon
- 58% Off Sushi & Shabu-Shabu at Shaburi Restaurant – Scoop St. (my review of Shaburi)
- 30% off lunch or dinner at Dinosaur Bar B Que – Blackboard Eats (my review of Dinosaur)
- $20 for $50 Worth of Cuisine and Drinks at The Orchard – Groupon
- $25 for $50 to Spend on Mediterranean Cuisine at Pera - Living Social (my review of Pera)
- 30% off brunch or dinner at Perilla - Blackboard Eats
On the other hand, I bought two $7 for $15 at Mantao Chinese Sandwiches and ended up asking Groupon for my money back because the food was inedible.
Happy searching! And, if you are not interested in working to find the best discounts for NYC restaurants, just keep following Jay’s NYC Restaurant Reviews I will always post the best deals!
Guide to OpenTable Reservations
- Not all restaurants are on OpenTable – While it’s easy to rely on OpenTable’s over 12,000 restaurants throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Japan for every time you go out, you would be missing out on many other great restaurants if OpenTable was your only source for dining inspiration.
- Don’t fall for the restaurants that have a number in their name – Like the plumber that chooses the name “aaaplumbing” to show up first in the Yellow Pages, many restaurants do the same. A prime example of this is NYC restaurant “1 Nocello,” a restaurant that would be lost in the shuffle if not for that “1″ in front. Strange that there is no 1 in front on Nocello’s website.
- Beware of confusingly similar restaurant names - These are three totally different restaurants with varying levels of quality: Baraonda, Barbarini, and Barbounia.
- OpenTable goes beyond your home city – Take advantage of OpenTable when traveling to other cities, both domestically and abroad.
- Maximize points by using the OpenTable site – Always make reservations on the OpenTable.com website or mobile site, if you reserve using Open Table on a restaurant’s website, you will most likely not get points for your reservation.
- If it seems too good to be true, it usually is - Be careful with 1,000 point reservations (1,000 points is equal to $10). While these reservations are compelling and the points add up to valuable reward certificates faster, the restaurants that offer these points tend to the ones that will do whatever it takes to fill up tables. They also tend to be pricier places.
- Get every reservation you can - Don’t forget to make last-minute reservations with the Open Table mobile app. Even if you are around the corner from the restaurant and you know there will be plenty of tables, it doesn’t hurt to put in the reservation and cash in on the points.
- OpenTable is not the only source for reviews – Cross reference with other review sites – While OpenTable has done a good job amassing reviews, there are plenty of other sources for valuable reviews, including jaysnycrestaurantreviews.com, Zagat, Grub Street, Eater, etc..
- Let your preferences be known – Be sure to put your preferences in the form when making your reservation, whether it’s someone’s birthday and you would like a candle in the cake or you would like a particular table, it can’t hurt to write it in.
- Ignore calls from restaurant hosts and hostesses - I never have understood why restaurants have their hosts and hostesses call you a few days before to confirm your Open Table reservation. When you make a OpenTable reservation, you are doing it because don’t want to deal with (and should have to deal with) time-wasting calls. So, if a Friday call comes in midday from an unfamiliar 212 number, it’s most likely your restaurant calling with an unnecessary confirm. You ignore it. With that said, be sure to actively manage your reservations on the OpenTable site.
Do you have any more tips? Please comment below.