Set up to reopen

For a successful reopening, you’ll want to make sure your books are open, your staff is ready, and guests know about your offerings and the measures you’re taking to ensure a safe dining environment.

• Top tips on reopening your restaurant
• Find the tools you need to get back online and offering reservations on OpenTable

• Adjust your floor plans and table types to accommodate capacity limits and space guidelines per your local regulatory mandates
• Confirm that your special days, availability, and shift settings are up-to-date
• Prevent crowding by opening an online waitlist that guests can join remotely and be notified when their table is ready
• Decide which services make sense for your restaurant and notify people about dine-in and/or delivery or takeaway options 
• Rehire and retrain staff (see educational OpenTable videos and tips), make sure to include any new safety and sanitation protocols
• Verify user access of technologies and edit or remove if needed
• Keep organised with this comprehensive reopening checklist
• Watch our webcast recording of “Restaurant Reopening 101: Guidelines and best practices”.

Get the word out

Diners are ready to put their pots and pans away and come back to your restaurant, but they first need to know you’re open. Make it easy for people to discover you and find updated information about your restaurant.

• We surveyed nearly 10k OpenTable diners globally about what safety measures are most important when it comes to dining out again, here is what they had to say
• Think about marketing on the cheap. Ramp up your marketing using these practical and budget friendly tips
• Put the word out on social with your digital marketing kit
• Update your hours of operation, menus, and delivery /takeaway information, if anything has changed (see how to update your OpenTable profile) 
• Customise and resend booking confirmation emails to ensure guests are aware you’re open for business (remember: OpenTable automatically confirms reservations through text and email)  
• Re-engage you regulars by your downloadable guest list

Stay on top of guest concerns

Establish clear safety and sanitation procedures and create a safe and welcoming environment by preparing your staff to respond to questions from guests.

• Use masks and gloves to keep staff and guests safe
• Be empathetic to guest preferences (e.g. changing seats, avoiding waiting areas, changing dishes or glassware)
• Share talking points with staff for anticipated questions. Shift notes can keep them top of mind
• Reduce physical contact with disposable menus and single-use condiments
• Increase sanitation by creating employee sanitation measures  like masks and gloves, and keeping hand sanitiser at the entrance

Evolve your operations

As your business continues to evolve, your operations and supply chain will likely shift. Keep track of what’s working for you and your peers.

• Track how you’re doing by looking at your reports in OpenTable
• Stay updated with government mandates and resources available
• Contact your vendors and suppliers to let them know of any changes in demand 
• Continue to learn from peers in the industry (tune in to our weekly In it Together webinars) 
• Consider adding additional revenue streams such as meal kits, takeaway, delivery, and grocery items

The state of the restaurant industry

As cities, states and countries begin to reopen their doors, understand how the industry begins to come back. We’ve summarized week-over-week data from restaurants on our platform and update it daily.

See the latest in the data center