The IT Nerd

Grab your sunglasses and appetites! With patio season in full swing, OpenTable, today announced the 100 Best Outdoor Dining Restaurants in Canada for 2017. These awards reflect the combined opinions of more than 515,000 restaurant reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 2,000 restaurants in Canada.

The official start of summer is almost here and Canadians can take advantage by indulging at some of the best outdoor dining experiences across the country. From the panoramic views of Grapevine Restaurant & Patio at Gray Monk Estate Winery in Kelowna to the vibrant rooftop of The Chase in Toronto, this second-annual list features outdoor tables from coast-to-coast to suit any occasion. Including restaurants with multiple locations, Ontario has the greatest number of restaurants featured with 44, followed by British Columbia with 27 and Alberta with 16. Québec has eight restaurants recognized, while Manitoba has five. Nova Scotia is also represented on this list.

“Canadian patio season never lasts as long as we want. With this list from OpenTable, locals and tourists can spend less time hunting for the perfect spot to grab a drink or share a meal and more time soaking up the beautiful weather,” said Ziv Schierau, Head of National Accounts for OpenTable Canada. “From West Coast estate wineries to Rocky Mountain retreats and al fresco urban escapes, this list showcases some of the country’s best outdoor dining destinations this summer.”

The 100 Best Outdoor Dining Restaurants list is generated solely from more than 515,000 restaurant reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017. All restaurants with a minimum “overall” score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of reviews for which “great for outdoor dining” was selected as a special feature.

The complete list may also be viewed at https://www.opentable.com/m/best-outdoor-restaurants-in-canada. Diners can also read more about the 100 Best Outdoor Dining Restaurants in Canada by visiting the OpenTable blog.

OpenTable is making it easier for restaurant owners and managers to keep a pulse on their business while on the go through its GuestCenter iPhone app and notifications to the Apple Watch.

The iPhone app enables restaurateurs to make informed business decisions wherever and whenever by providing them with the data, insight and tools needed to keep their operation running smoothly.

Initial data indicates the iPhone app is gaining traction fast with high user adoption and engagement. The app is opened on average nine times per day by each user and more than half engage with it daily.

The key benefits of the iPhone app include:

• Business insights on the go. Understand how many diners have been seated, upcoming reservations numbers and when peak dining times are, all at a glance. Get valuable insights everyday as well as being able to monitor key dining holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and New Year’s Eve.
• Ensure service is properly prepped. Know which tables are VIP, larger parties or which diners may be celebrating a special occasion. Ensure the front of house team are prepared for any changes to service that may be needed to ensure great hospitality for special diners or for key annual dining dates.
• Manage reservations and guest book. Make new reservations, review guest notes or details and update the status of diners on the move.
• Notifications to the Apple Watch. Be alerted when a VIP has been seated, a reservation has been amended or cancelled and when new bookings are made.

The iPhone app is the latest innovation to GuestCenter, OpenTable’s flagship cloud-based hospitality product for restaurants worldwide, available on iPad and web. GuestCenter has been designed and custom-built from the ground up to help restaurants optimize their service and benefit from data-driven insights to ensure their restaurant runs as efficiently as possible. The unique technical architecture of the product ensures its reliability as well as enabling the rapid delivery of new features and upgrades.

GuestCenter integrates restaurants’ real-time availability on the OpenTable network, which seats more than 21 million diners per month across more than 40,000 restaurants around the globe. To learn more about the iPhone app for GuestCenter, vist our YouTube channel.

OpenTable is introducing a new way for diners to search and make restaurant reservations directly through Facebook Messenger. With OpenTable’s bot for Messenger, diners around the globe can make reservations at more than 40,000 restaurants worldwide directly from within Messenger through the new Chat Extensions feature.

OpenTable’s bot for Messenger makes planning a meal with friends even easier by enabling diners to search and suggest available restaurants to friends as well as make reservations through the bot without leaving Messenger. It’s an easy, collaborative way to pick the perfect spot for a friend’s birthday dinner, a special occasion or an upcoming trip.

How to make a reservation:

• From any Messenger conversation, select the OpenTable bot by tapping the Chat Extensions icon(+) on the bottom left of the Messenger app.
• Pick an available restaurant to recommend and share with friends.
• Once a collective restaurant decision is made, instantly book a table.
• Share the restaurant reservation confirmation with friends.

OpenTable, the world’s leading provider of online restaurant reservations and part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), today announced details of major updates to its flagship restaurant management product, GuestCenter.

Designed to focus on availability and customization of the restaurant floor, the new functionality of GuestCenter gives restaurateurs greater control over the number of diners they welcome through their doors and where they seat them. This includes when they accept large party reservations and how they structure specific times within service, ensuring they can seat more diners more efficiently.

The update also enables restaurants to show availability for non-traditional seating. Opening up bar-side, high-top, counter and outdoor areas for reservations gives maximum choice to diners over where they are seated.

The key benefits of the GuestCenter product updates to restaurants include:

• Even greater control over the diner flow through each service period
• Categorization of table types to create additional availability by making bar-side, counter, high-top and outdoor seating bookable
• Define large party size seating times for bigger groups at times when the restaurant can best accommodate them
• Customization of shift periods within a service to offer different availability by peak and off-peak times

GuestCenter is OpenTable’s flagship cloud-based hospitality product for global restaurants. The product has been designed and custom-built from the ground up to help restaurants optimize their service and benefit from data-driven insights to ensure their restaurant runs as efficiently as possible. Available on iPad and desktop, GuestCenter provides restaurants with marketing and table management tools, enabling them to take round the clock, real-time reservations from diners across the world.

GuestCenter enables restaurants to surface real-time availability to the OpenTable diner network, which seats more than 21 million diners per month across more than 40,000 restaurants around the globe.

Here’s a video of GuestCenter in action:

OpenTable today announced the findings of a new survey, revealing most Canadians (73 per cent) believe using a mobile phone too much while dining out for Valentine’s Day is a romance deal breaker. Conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of OpenTable in December 2016 among 1,012 Canadian adults, the survey found that being rude to restaurant staff, bad table manners, political talk or mention of an ex are also romance deal breakers. Additional findings of the survey include that 68 per cent of Canadians plan to dine out to mark the romantic holiday this year, and most Canadians (81 per cent) think it’s acceptable to throw caution to the wind and break their diets when dining out for Valentine’s Day.

The mobile generation gap

While the majority (63 per cent) of Canadians say it’s never acceptable to use a mobile phone when dining out for Valentine’s Day, there are differences of opinion between generations. The majority of Millennials (59 per cent) find it acceptable to use a mobile phone when dining out for the holiday, while only 18 per cent of Boomers believe the same. Those from Generation X fell in the middle, at 43 per cent. In fact, many Millennials indicated that it’s acceptable to use a mobile phone during a Valentine’s Day meal to take a selfie or photo with their date (36 per cent), take photos of food/drinks (24 per cent) and to check/respond to messages (22 per cent).

Manners matter

In addition to excessive mobile phone use, other romance deal breakers include being rude to restaurant staff (70 per cent), bad table manners such as loud chewing and/or elbows on the table (65 per cent) and talking about an ex (64 per cent). When it comes to discussing politics, the generations seem to be divided, with 46 per cent of Boomers believing it’s a romance deal breaker when dining out for Valentine’s Day and only 29 per cent of Millennials saying it’s taboo.

Diets take a hiatus

The survey also found that Canadians may already be making exceptions for any weight-loss goals they may have set for the New Year, with roughly four out of five (81 per cent) indicating it’s acceptable to break a diet when dining out for Valentine’s Day.  

Additionally, many Canadians won’t be letting the winter weather ruin the opportunity to dine out, with more than two-thirds (68 per cent) indicating they are planning to dine out at a restaurant in celebration of Valentine’s Day this year, including 47 per cent of singles.

Sparking new romance

Interestingly, many Canadians think dining out for Valentine’s Day shouldn’t be limited to those in long-term romantic relationships. Nearly half (47 per cent) of Canadians say it’s acceptable to go out for a meal for Valentine’s Day after dating for less than one month — however only 19 per cent say it’s acceptable for a first date. 

Making meals special

When asked what a date could do to make a Valentine’s celebration at a restaurant more special, over half of Canadians cited dressing up more than usual or arriving early with flowers and/or a gift (52 per cent each), and nearly half (47 per cent) indicated arranging for a special table at a restaurant could help boost the romance.

It seems most Canadians would like to keep romance alive beyond this day of love, with three quarters (75 per cent) indicating they would like more spontaneous Valentine’s Day-style dinners throughout the year.

Dinner do’s and don’ts

While chivalry may not be dead, ordering on behalf of your dinner date is a practice of yesteryear — only 23 per cent of Canadians indicated they would like someone to order on their behalf if they were dining out for Valentine’s Day. However, most Canadians (70 per cent) believe sharing a dish when dining out for Valentine’s Day is a romantic gesture.

For ideas to spark romance and inspire your Valentine’s Day plans this year, check out OpenTable’s recent list of the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in Canada for 2017, or find more tips and trends for Valentine’s Day on the OpenTable Blog.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, OpenTable, the world’s leading provider of online restaurant reservations and part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), today announced the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in Canada for 2017. These awards reflect the combined opinions of more than 480,000 restaurant reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 1,900 restaurants in Canada.

This year’s list highlights the most romantic restaurants spanning nine provinces across the country from the intimate and artful Bishop’s in Vancouver to historic gem The Press Gang in Halifax. Including restaurants with multiple locations, Ontario boasts the greatest number of restaurants featured on the list with 46 establishments, followed by Alberta with 27, Québec with 12, British Columbia with 12, Nova Scotia with four and Manitoba with three. The list also includes restaurant destinations from New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as Saskatchewan.

In addition to announcing the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in Canada, OpenTable today released data that reveals how Canadians make reservations and dine on Valentine’s Day. These findings are based on reservations made for February 14, 2016, in Canada through OpenTable.

OpenTable Canada Valentine’s Day Findings

• Last year, 45 per cent of Canadian diners waited until the week before Valentine’s Day to make their reservations.

• Mobile bookings continue to rise, as 42 per cent of Valentine’s Day reservations made last year in Canada were booked using mobile devices — an eight per cent increase from the previous year.
• Italian cuisine proved to be the most popular when choosing a restaurant to dine at for Valentine’s Day last year, followed by Steakhouses, Canadian cuisine, Seafood and French cuisine.

The list of the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in Canada is generated solely from more than 480,000 restaurant reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between December 1, 2015 and November 30, 2016. All restaurants with a minimum “overall” score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of reviews for which “romantic” was selected as a special feature. 

OpenTable, the world’s leading provider of online restaurant reservations today unveiled the 50 Best Steakhouses in Canada for 2016. The list reflects the combined opinions of more than 300,000 restaurant reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 1,800 restaurants in Canada.

Highlighting both traditional steakhouses and novel takes on the concept, the complete list features restaurants across the country and includes 19 Okanagan Grill + Bar in West Kelowna, Jacob’s & Co. Steakhouse in Toronto and Cut Steakhouse in Halifax. Nine of the 50 winning restaurants have multiple locations across the country. They include The Keg Steakhouse + Bar and Hy’s Steakhouse, among others. Including restaurants with multiple locations, Ontario leads all provinces with 27 winning restaurants, followed by Alberta with 13, Québec with nine and British Columbia with six. Also included on this list are Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.

The list of the 50 Best Steakhouses in Canada for 2016 is generated from more than 300,000 restaurant reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between October 1, 2015, and September 30, 2016. All restaurants in the “steak” cuisine category with a minimum “overall” score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to their overall food rating.  

Based on this methodology, the 50 Best Steakhouses in Canada according to OpenTable diners can be viewed at http://www.opentable.com/m/best-steakhouses-in-canada-2016. Diners can also read more about the 50 Best Steakhouses in Canada by visiting the OpenTable blog.

OpenTable has announced new functionality that will enable diners to search, discover and make reservations at restaurants across the globe in their local language through OpenTable’s web and app properties.

The global booking functionality brings together more than 38,000 restaurants across its network globally, including renowned global dining hotspots such as Berlin, Dublin, London, Mexico City, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto and Vancouver. Languages currently supported include English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese. The launch also brings together all of OpenTable’s separate country apps into one multi-language global app.

In addition to being able to discover and book restaurants around the world, Canadian diners will be able to manage their global bookings through their local OpenTable account.

The new functionality provides increasing opportunities for international restaurateurs on the OpenTable network.  With all restaurants, appearing on all sites, in all languages, they will be discoverable to a growing audience of discerning diners.

OpenTable currently seats more than 20 million diners per month across its global network.

OpenTable has announced the launch of its redesigned OpenTable iOS app, enabling diners to more easily discover and book great dining experiences, from the hottest new restaurants to neighbourhood gems.

The redesign features a new Discover tab, which allows travelling and local diners to discover more with a single tap by connecting them to new dining experiences, ranging from trending cuisines and popular restaurants to OpenTable locals’ favourite picks.

The content presented on the Discover tab factors in elements like availability, popularity, proximity and personal favourites. It enables quick visual browsing of categories to get recommendations that will satisfy any taste. The recommendations are especially handy for local diners eager to explore something new and for travellers hoping to sink their teeth into amazing culinary experiences. New categories in the Discover tab include:

• New & Hot – Recently opened restaurants with high popularity score
• Most Popular – Restaurants with the highest popularity scores
• My Favorites – Diner’s favourite restaurant list
• Special Features – Restaurants perfect for every occasion ranging from romantic to kid-friendly
• Near Me Now – Nearby restaurants with immediate availability
• Dinner Tonight – Restaurants with availability that night

OpenTable’s Discover tab is currently rolling out gradually for English-language iPhone users of the OpenTable app in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. Android support will be launched shortly. In addition to the new features of the redesign, diners can still use OpenTable’s quick and easy search functionality.

To find out more about OpenTable’s newest discovery-focused app features, click here.