Concept · Reservations and partner rides

OpenTable On My Way

Leverage OpenTable and Uber's partnership to help diners plan a ride to their reservations.

Corey Brown · ProductAn independent concept built from public sources. Not affiliated with OpenTable or Uber. The restaurant, times and prices are illustrative.
  1. 1 · Schedule in Uber
  2. 2 · OpenTable reminder
  3. 3 · On the way

Reasoning

The problem

Diners book dinner in OpenTable and sort out the ride in Uber, usually right before they leave. The two companies already partner, yet OpenTable doesn't know how the diner is getting there and Uber doesn't know when they need to arrive.

The restaurant feels it too. The host has a list of names and no idea who is actually on the way, so when a guest is late they guess whether to hold the table or give it away.

The idea

On the day, Uber suggests when to leave and opens a ride already filled in with the restaurant and an arrival time before the reservation. OpenTable's reminder then shows the reservation and the ride together.

If the diner opts in, the host stand sees their arrival time, and it updates if traffic slips. That's a second win for the restaurant, which can decide whether to hold a table with real information instead of a guess.

The metric

Ride attach rate on reservations. This is an engagement and experience play, so the first question is whether diners find it useful enough to schedule the ride. It also shows the value of the Uber partnership, because every attached ride is a diner choosing to ride through it.

Secondary, tables held versus released at the host stand, and late arrivals and no-shows compared with similar reservations without a ride.

What I verified

  • OpenTable and Uber announced a strategic partnership in 2025 covering the US, Canada, the UK, Mexico, Australia and Ireland.
  • Diners can reserve an Uber ride inside the OpenTable reservation journey, and get a ride offer after reserving.
  • Uber Eats added a Dine Out tab powered by OpenTable reservations.

What I couldn't

  • How often diners tell a restaurant they're running late today, by text or a call outside OpenTable.
  • What the host stand shows today about arrivals.
  • How many diners have linked Uber to OpenTable, and how many arrive at dinner by rideshare.

What I'd do first

Size the audience before building anything. How many diners have linked their Uber account, and how many of them book reservations?

Then work with Uber to match existing rides to reservations, for example rides that drop off at the restaurant within an hour of the booking. If plenty of diners already do this by hand, the feature makes an existing habit easier. If very few do, it isn't worth the effort yet.

Risks and how I'd test them

  1. Diners don't want another prompt.A day-of nudge only helps diners who weren't going to sort out the ride on their own. For everyone else it's one more notification. Test with a small group and observe attach rates and notification opt-outs to see whether diners actually find it useful.
  2. The audience isn't big enough.If too few diners have linked Uber or arrive by rideshare, the feature can't move much for OpenTable. The sizing work above answers this before any build.
  3. Diners may not want the restaurant to see their arrival.Sharing is opt-in, sends the arrival time and never a map, and stops once they arrive. Track how many diners turn it on.