A reservation platform whose star ratings come only from verified diners — but the restaurants it lists are also its paying customers, and some pay to rank higher in search.
What it's really for A restaurant-reservation marketplace; ratings come from verified diners, and paid promotion affects placement, not the score.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its diner-verified ratings and 'Diners' Choice', not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
Restaurants pay OpenTable a monthly subscription (roughly $149–$499) plus per-cover fees of about $1–$2.50, and can additionally pay for "Promoted Results" advertising that boosts their position in diner search results (labeled "Promoted"); however, paid promotion affects search placement, not a restaurant's star rating or Diners' Choice eligibility, which remain based on verified diner reviews.
Source →- Operating since
- 1998 (28 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- A two-sided restaurant reservation marketplace where diners book tables for free and restaurants pay subscription plus per-cover fees, with star ratings and "Diners' Choice" lists built from reviews by verified guests who completed a booking.
- What they do
- It lets diners reserve tables and rate their experience, and aggregates those verified reviews into star ratings, Diners' Choice badges, and curated "best of" lists for restaurants.
- What to watch for
- The restaurants you're browsing are OpenTable's paying customers, and by its own disclosure some pay for "Promoted Results" to appear higher in search — so ranking order reflects advertising as well as diner ratings, even though the review scores themselves are not for sale.
- Composite score
- 3.10 / 5.00 → grade B-
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- Diners' Choice qualification requires an overall star rating of 4 or higher (national) based on accumulated diner reviews, plus a minimum threshold of 20 total reviews and 10 completed reservations within a rolling time period (365 days national, 120 days regional). Reviews come only from verified guests prompted to rate after every completed OpenTable reservation. Source: OpenTable Support — Diners' Choice Awards →
- Restaurants pay OpenTable a monthly subscription ($149 Basic, $299 Core, $499 Pro) plus per-cover fees of roughly $1–$2.50 for diners who discover the restaurant via OpenTable's network; restaurants only pay for seated diners. Source: EatApp — OpenTable Pricing 2026 →
- Restaurants using OpenTable marketing products like Boost or Bonus Points may appear higher in search and be designated by a 'promoted' tag; OpenTable states relevance remains the top factor and that it only charges for seated diners, never impressions or clicks. Source: OpenTable — Promoted Results / search disclosure →