Yelp Now Offers Fully Integrated OpenTable Restaurant Reservations
February 10, 2011
A little earlier today, the Yelp app for iOS moved to v5.1, which now integrates the OpenTable restaurant table reservation process directly into the app.
Use Yelp to find a nice restaurant that appeals to you and your friend's or friends' interests, tap Make Reservation, choose the date, time, and number of people that will be dining, enter or simply verify your contact information, and confirm your complete reservation.
I'm not one to go out to eat often, however, this sounds like a really convenient feature to me -- or at least it did. I had a very tough time finding a restaurant that allowed for OpenTable reservations, although there are some big chain and nicer eateries in the area. Therefore, unless your favorite food hangouts are up to offering the service, you'll likely be reserving your table via the old-fashioned calling method anyway.
That's not such a terrible thing, but it would be nice to have this service expand a lot further. Anyway, it's still a welcome addition, and will undoubtedly prove very useful for those who eat out at establishments that do provide the ability.
Yelp's overall feature set includes:
• Search for banks, bars, cafes, gas stations, restaurants, and other businesses near you
• Narrow your searches by neighborhood, distance, price, and what's open now
• Get directions to, quickly call, bookmark, and share your favorite restaurants, bars, and more
• Browse reviews to read what's great (and not so great) in your city
• Add Quick Tips, photos, and draft reviews for your favorite businesses
• Augmented reality with Monocle. Overlay business information onto the world around you
Yelp is a free universal app compatible with iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or later.
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