I Know the Chef
This diner-focused app lists only restaurants it has evaluated to make sure they meet its standards. You select a restaurant, time and number of diners; the app responds with a confirmation right away, or provides the odds that a table will become available later.
COST $25 for a 10-day trial, $75 for three months. An “elite” annual package costs $1,250. Elite users get perks like priority on waiting lists, access to a special group of restaurants and the help of a live reservations manager.
WORTH NOTING You have to cancel reservations yourself. So far, its services are limited to New York City, Los Angeles and Miami.
Resy
The Resy app and website boast that you can make a reservation with two taps on your phone (although a couple of scrolls may also be required). Resy works with over 1,000 restaurants in more than 80 American cities. It has attracted the most high-end restaurant defections from OpenTable.
COST Free, but you have to enter credit-card information or Bitcoin to complete reservations for many of the more expensive restaurants. Each restaurant makes its own rules about fees for reservations or no-shows.
WORTH NOTING Reservations can be canceled from the app or an email that Resy sends as a reminder.
Yelp Reservations
On this app and website, reservation options appear when you pull up reviews of any of the 4,000 or so restaurants that have signed on with Yelp. Enter your request, then swipe and click on the reservation time you want. As you view Yelp reviews, a filter allows you to find the restaurants that take reservations via Yelp.
COST Free.
WORTH NOTING You can get money back on meals by giving Yelp your credit-card information and using that card to pay.
Reserve
Enter a request, and this app shows the restaurants it has listed that have what you’re looking for. Press the specific time you want, then enter your name, phone number and email address.
COST Free.
WORTH NOTING The number of restaurants that use Reserve in each market varies widely, with more in Chicago and Boston and fewer in, say, New York. Though its 850 clients include many top restaurants like Blue Hill and Le Coucou, tables are rarely available in prime hours. Reserve also shows several restaurants that have no tables available, which can be annoying.
Nowait
This is the reservation app every parent has waited for. Owned by Yelp, it features only restaurants that don’t take reservations and instead rely on a waiting list, like a Chili’s at the local mall. Nowait shows how long the wait is at various casual restaurants, and allows you to reserve a spot on a restaurant’s waiting list without going there.
COST Free.
WORTH NOTING The app sends a polite reminder to your phone when it’s time to start heading to the restaurant.
Spotluck
Like Nowait, the Spotluck app isn’t interested in hot restaurants. Its goal is to fill seats in local places using an algorithm that incorporates the day of the week, time and weather, among other things, to calculate what kind of discount it would take to motivate a diner to eat out.
COST Free.
WORTH NOTING You spin a virtual wheel (only one spin allowed each day) that randomly selects a restaurant and attaches a discount of up to 30 percent for a meal there. If you want to eat elsewhere, you may select one of the other restaurants shown and get a smaller discount there. A recent spin on a Monday in Midtown Manhattan came up with a 25 percent discount at the Croton Reservoir Tavern, but also offered 10 percent off at Boccone and 20 other places in the area.
Allset
This app and website allow you to choose a restaurant, order a meal, pay for it and pick a time to eat it. When you show up, your meal is ready. The goal is to help restaurants get diners in and out in less than an hour.
COST Free.
WORTH NOTING Allset, which serves nine American cities including New York and Los Angeles, is aimed at the business lunch crowd. You can ask friends to join you via the app, which also suggests a tip.