How one group scales hospitality with OpenTable

“We’ve built our foundation on hospitality,” says Director of Operations Aimee Anderson. That shines through in their guest experience—and as Buck & Honey’s expands, maintaining that level of care across every location is a top priority.

“We want every guest to have the same experience, whether they’re in Monona or Mount Horeb,” adds Assistant Director of Operations Emm Schaub.

We sat down with both leaders to hear how they’ve scaled Buck & Honey’s—and learned about OpenTable’s role in helping the team stay organized, deliver personalized service, and bring new guests through the door.

Why OpenTable? Because it drives results

When Buck & Honey’s opened their newest location in Mount Horeb, the team briefly tried another reservation system—but it didn’t measure up. “It was very clunky. It didn’t do what we needed it to,” says Aimee. They quickly returned to OpenTable—and haven’t looked back.

Today, OpenTable is embedded in their day-to-day at each location, serving as an operational tool and a guest acquisition engine. “Our OpenTable discovery covers are pretty big,” says Aimee. “OpenTable helps bring in guests who might not have thought of Buck & Honey’s. A lot of diners are loyal to OpenTable, and that’s where they go to find where to go next.”

Running smoother shifts—and supporting their team

Managing the moving parts of four busy restaurants is no easy feat, but OpenTable helps keep everyone on the same page. “The first thing our opening manager does is check OpenTable,” says Aimee. “They look at how many reservations we have and how many servers are scheduled and customize the floor plan around those details. It’s how we stay organized.”

That structure doesn’t just keep service running smoothly—it supports the team, too. “We put a lot into our culture here,” says Aimee. “It’s really important to us that our team is happy.”

Features like flow controls and server rotation make it easy for the team to pace service and distribute tables fairly. “Our servers rely on the cover count to balance the load,” says Emm. “Even if it’s someone’s turn in the rotation, they’ll check to see who’s had more tables and adjust.” Those on-the-fly adjustments help keep the team happy and focused on the guests.

Guest insights that help them go the extra mile

“Celebrating Wisconsin hospitality is what we love to do,” says Aimee—and the guest insights they get from OpenTable make that easy.

“Having tags like birthdays, celebrations, and VIP available at a glance is really useful,” says Emm. “We have little frames made up that say, ‘Happy Birthday’ or ‘Happy Anniversary,’ and we put those on the table before the guest is seated,” adds Aimee. “It’s a little extra touch that OpenTable allows us to do.”
The visibility, insights, and efficiency the team gets from OpenTable translate to real value for Buck & Honey’s. “The work that OpenTable takes off your plate—organizing the details and bringing guests through the door—is well worth the investment,” says Aimee.