Food-Tech!

In today’s world, everyone is attached to a mobile device. Chances are you are reading this article on one. Statistics show that seven of 10 people in the United States that have a cell phone are using a Smartphone—a phone that's capable of browsing the Internet.

Using a Smartphone of course has its many benefits: instant access to social media, news, e-mail, instant messaging, banking and more. You can even buy movie tickets and pay your bills on most mobile devices.

What most people don’t know is that you can also book a dinner reservation on such a device as well! OpenTable is a free application available in both Apple’s App Store (to be used on all iOS devices such as iPods, iPhones & iPads) & Google Play Store (for other devices such as Droid Phones and Android Tablets & more).

With a free account, users can then search for a type of cusine to chow down on, find a restaurant by name, or simply allow OpenTable to GeoTag your location and show you available tables in the area.

In addition to making reservations, the OpenTable app offers customer reviews, restaurant addresses and phone numbers, directions, and parking options. Users also have the ability to build favorites lists of their most frequented restaurants. 

For example, here are a handful of restaurants in food-crazy Collingswood where you can skip the phone and punch in your reservation:

The best thing about OpenTable is that you aren’t fighting to get through to busy restaurants on the phone. Just boot up the app, pick a place and time slot, and go. 

You can then walk into the restaurant, tell them your name and the time you booked for, and tell them you used OpenTable. Seconds later you are sitting down. No waiting, no hassle, no mess! Plus you get to look like a VIP in front of everyone else (Pro Tip right there). 

There’s also an option to build a favorites lists of all the places you go frequently. A point tracking system allows you to build up points for every reservation you make, and the restaurant confirms that you attended via its Dining Rewards Program. 

Rewards are offered in the form of $20, $50, and $100 OpenTable restaurant credits for every 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 OpenTable points accumulated, respectively.

Each reservation usually nets 100 points; some restaurants participate in specials to make their reservations count for as much as 1000 points apiece. (EPIC POINT VALUES, BATMAN!). The MY PROFILE function tracks your totals.

So stop reading this and go book your next dinner date with OpenTable NOW!

Gabe Fletcher is the owner of 1GeekMedia.com - Experts in Social Media Management, SEO Marketing & Web Design.

Find him online at http://www.1GeekMedia.com or on Facebook @ facebook.com/1GeekMedia or on Twitter @1geekmedia.