Dining Around with Gene Burns - Part I
February 11, 2006
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GENE BURNS, host:
KGO time now is 12:39 on DINING AROUND WITH GENE BURNS.
Joel Riddell and I were having a conversation the other day we were talking about last-minute Valentine's Day reservations--a next-to-impossible feat because it's a busy day in the restaurant community, and unfortunately a lot of people either forget or put it off and then, in a panic mode, they try to find a place to go to dinner. And Joel and I both thought of the same thing, opentable.com.
I mention OpenTable to people and I still have some people out there who have not heard of it. So it's important that you know about this great resource.
I remember just a few years ago there was a media launch lunch at One Market, and we went to the lunch and they had a computer there and they were debuting OpenTable and it was interesting. But I'm not a techie type, so I didn't fully understand the implications of opentable.com.
Since that time, I have used it myself and I have recommended it to others. And it really is an incredible resource--not only to try to get a last-minute reservation for Valentine's Day--and this is probably the only place you could without having to make 50 telephone calls--but also for many of the services that are available on opentable.com.
So we are joined by the vice president of marketing for opentable.com, Jaleh Bisharat, and on the board of directors as well, to talk about OpenTable.
Jaleh, welcome to DINING AROUND.
Ms. JALEH BISHARAT (Vice President of Marketing, opentable.com): Thank you.
BURNS: Nice to have you with us.
Ms. BISHARAT: Thank you.
BURNS: When did OpenTable start?
Ms. BISHARAT: In 1998.
BURNS: 1998.
Ms. BISHARAT: That's correct.
BURNS: And was it one person's idea or did a group of people come up with this idea?
Ms. BISHARAT: It was one person's idea, but it quickly caught on. Much like travel sites like Expedia or Orbitz, this idea of being able to search across restaurants in order to find a table where you might want to dine according to when and how many in your party and so on was a really natural one for the Internet. So it's been growing like a wildfire.
BURNS: Yeah. Now I know you can make reservations for restaurants here in the city. Where else can you make reservations, because you're in some other areas as well?
Ms. BISHARAT: Oh, absolutely. First of all, we have 500 restaurants throughout the Bay Area. But we're in every state in the union except for four. We're also doing really well in London. So, for people who are traveling to New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, OpenTable has over 4,500 restaurants throughout the world actually.
BURNS: So how do you--let's say I wanted to make a reservation at Per Se in New York, and obviously I'd start early. But would I go to opentable.com and then is there a way to go to New York?
Ms. BISHARAT: Absolutely.
BURNS: Yeah.
Ms. BISHARAT: You would go to opentable.com, select NewYork. If you know exactly where you want to dine, you can just click on Per Se and click reserve, and with a click of a mouse, you get your reservation...
BURNS: Right.
Ms. BISHARAT: ...assuming there's an available table...if you're not sure that you do want to go to Per Se--you just want to make sure that you go to a restaurant in a certain neighborhood of Manhattan--you can just indicate when you want to dine, how many there are, which neighborhood you're interested in, hit a button called "search" and it will give you a list of restaurants that have available tables at the time.
BURNS: Now, how many of those parameters can the searcher put in?
Ms. BISHARAT: Virtually every parameter that anyone has ever been interested in--
BURNS: Right.
Ms. BISHARAT: ...we provide it, so...
BURNS: You could do like type of food, style as to casual or formal, hotel/non-hotel, neighborhood...
Ms. BISHARAT: The primary interest tends to be location, or anything as broad as an entire city...
BURNS: Right.
Ms. BISHARAT: ...or as narrow as a neighborhood...
BURNS: Right.
Ms. BISHARAT: ...the type of cuisine, price range is another big one...
BURNS: Oh sure.
Ms. BISHARAT: So those are really the main ones that people tend to search by.
BURNS: Could I go on the site--for instance, let's say I'm not exactly sure where I want to go, here or New York or wherever, but I am absolutely certain I want to eat at 7:30. Can I put that parameter in and find out who's got a table at 7:30?
Ms. BISHARAT: Absolutely. That's exactly how it works. That's the benefit of the system. That way you're not calling 25 restaurants--
BURNS: Yeah.
Ms. BISHARAT: ...seeing who has a table at 7:30...and on Valentine's Day, as you know...
BURNS: Oh.
Ms. BISHARAT: That's a particularly important time of year to do it this way.
BURNS: Yeah, it's brutal. And then of course you make your reservation. So you not only find what's available, but you can make a reservation for a table.
Ms. BISHARAT: You're making a reservation, and that reservation is popping into the restaurant's computerized reservation book. It's guaranteed; you'll get an immediate e-mail confirmation. If you want to invite someone else, you can click a button and send an invitation to another person who might be joining you.
BURNS: Really? Wow.
Ms. BISHARAT: So the whole thing is computerized and mad every, very simple.
BURNS: So there's no worry about, 'You made the reservation with OpenTable, but we didn't know about it and the letter didn't arrive in time.' It's all instantaneous.
Ms. BISHARAT: All instantaneous, and it's a live connection to the restaurant's reservation book. It's the same reservation book the maitre d' is using should you call.
BURNS: Oh, really? Interesting.
Ms. BISHARAT: So you are looking at the exact same table the maitre d' is looking at when you make that reservation. It's completely guaranteed.
BURNS: So what about the musical question, are there any tables left for Valentine's Day in San Francisco?
Ms. BISHARAT: Actually, I ran a search about an hour ago and there still are.
BURNS: Is that right?
Ms. BISHARAT: Now I would not advise you to wait.
BURNS: No. Please don't wait.
Ms. BISHARAT: If you've forgotten to make your reservation, go to opentable.com right now. But there are a few nice tables still available.
BURNS: Wow.
Continue to Part II
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