Should vegan restaurants keep OpenTable if first-party covers school nights?
Quick answer
Keep the listing for discovery until first-party actually covers the night. Point Google reserve and the site button at an owned reserve URL for school nights you can staff. Put dietary notes on that path, not in a 40-character OpenTable field. Fill fees from your invoice. Do not invent a cover rate. Do not delist this week. Do not buy a portal promo to fill Tuesday. School-night offers live in weekday covers. Delivery mix lives in delivery-app mix. Kitchen facts live on the kitchen policy URL.
Vs other Intelligence guides
| Guide | Job |
|---|---|
| Delivery-app mix | DoorDash and Uber Eats commission vs first-party pickup. Not the reserve button. |
| Weekday covers | School-night family bundle. That test skips marketplace. This page is which button books the night. |
| Direct vs OTA | Hotels and retreats. Not restaurant covers. |
| Vegan restaurant Google listing | Category, chips, menu URL. Reserve link is one field. This page is OpenTable vs owned. |
| Kitchen policy | The URL dietary notes should point to. Not the booking mix. |
| This guide | Keep the listing, own school-night reserve, freeze dietary notes, no invented cover fee |
OpenTable here means any third-party reserve widget: OpenTable, Resy, Tock, TheFork. Fill [portal] with the one on your invoice. Do not invent a typical cover fee or a typical take rate.
Three reserve jobs
In-app vegan browse is the portal storefront. Delist and you vanish there. Google reserve is Maps: GBP, hours, the reserve link you choose. First-party is the URL that can carry kitchen policy, kids-plate fence, and a deposit you actually collect. Keep the store open. Cut paid boosts. Move school-night repeats onto a URL you own.
| Job | Keep live | Change this week |
|---|---|---|
| Portal discovery | Listing on. Hours, vegan vs vegetarian, party size match the floor | Pause promoted placement and percent-off covers. Do not delist. |
| Google reserve | Hours, photos, Posts, review replies | Reserve link to first-party for nights you can staff. See Google listing. |
| Owned school nights | A URL a guest can complete without the portal | Dietary note plus kitchen policy URL. Bundle fence from weekday covers stays first-party only. |
Steal this invoice worksheet
Numbers below are a worked example. Replace every cell from POS and the portal invoice. Do not publish a savings percentage. Do not copy a cover fee from another restaurant.
| Line | Formula | Worked example | Your cell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portal covers, last 4 weeks | POS, that widget only | 40 | [portal_covers] |
| School-night covers on that widget | Tue-Thu, same window | 12 | [school_night_portal_covers] |
| Invoice take | Monthly plus cover plus promoted, last invoice | $180 example | [invoice_take] |
| Take per portal cover | invoice ÷ portal covers | $4.50 example | [take_per_cover] |
| First-party processor | Your card fee on owned deposits | Fill | [pay_pct] |
| Owned reserve live? | Guest can book without the portal | Yes or no | [owned_reserve] |
| Dietary note on owned path? | Policy URL in the confirm | Yes or no | [diet_note] |
The $180 and $4.50 cells are worksheet labels, not a vegan restaurant benchmark. If [owned_reserve] is no, stop thinning the listing. Time labor in the break-even calculator if a host still has to recast every portal note.
Dietary notes stay on the owned path
| Need | Portal field | Owned path |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen type | Too short. Guests invent "100% vegan" | Link the policy URL in the confirm |
| Allergens / fryer | Special request, often unread | Same protocol as the page. Chef escalate phone |
| Kids plate / school-night bundle | A promo SKU the portal will keep running | First-party only, with a kill date |
| Honey / wine | Not a drinks list | Policy row, not a portal adjective |
Do not mark a vegetarian table vegan to win the filter. See menu claims.
Offer fence (not a portal Tuesday percent)
| Move | Allow | Kill |
|---|---|---|
| School-night bundle | First-party, dated, costed. Weekday covers kit | OpenTable exclusive. Kids-eat-free on the portal |
| Promoted placement | Pause while you score the worksheet | Buying the Tuesday slot with a public percent |
| Deposits / no-show | The rule you actually collect, named on the owned URL | A portal no-show fee you cannot explain at the door |
| Delist | Only after first-party volume is real and GBP reserve works | This week, to "save commission" |
Go / no-go
| Call | When |
|---|---|
| No-go | Delist this week, no owned URL, invent a cover fee, portal percent on Tuesday, pause GBP, dietary protocol only in the special-request box |
| Go | Invoice worksheet filled, owned reserve live, GBP reserve link on nights you can staff, listing stays on, promoted paused, policy URL in the confirm |
| Partial go | Keep the listing. Move Tue-Thu only. Friday-Saturday can stay on the portal until first-party holds the weekend host. |
Rent discovery. Own the school night.
The portal is a directory you pay per cover. Google is a directory you maintain. Neither is a reason to discount Tuesday.
Template fields and 7-day run
| Field | Fill with | Do not invent |
|---|---|---|
[portal] | OpenTable / Resy / Tock / TheFork / other | A second widget "for discovery" |
[invoice_take] | Last invoice, all-in | The sales deck cover fee |
[owned_reserve] | Yes once a guest can finish without the portal | A PDF menu as checkout |
[school_nights] | Nights POS already shows as slow | Friday because the portal is busy then |
[policy_url] | Live kitchen policy | A Maps-only answer |
[gbp_reserve_link] | First-party for those nights, or still portal if owned is no | A mismatch with the door |
- Day 1: Export last 30 days of portal vs first-party vs walk-in. Fill [portal_covers], [school_night_portal_covers], [invoice_take].
- Day 2: Turn on or fix owned reserve. Fill [owned_reserve]. If it is no, stop thinning promoted placement.
- Day 3: Put [policy_url] in the confirm. Kill "100% vegan" in the portal blurb if the kitchen is mixed.
- Day 4: GBP reserve link for [school_nights]. Hours true. One Post if you already run the weekday bundle, with the kill date, no percent.
- Day 5: Pause promoted placement. Leave the listing on.
- Day 6: Host card: portal guests still seated; school-night bundle rings first-party only.
- Day 7: Score mix vs the prior 30 days. No-go if you delisted or if dietary notes still live only in the special-request box. Pickup apps stay in the delivery-app ladder.
Frequently asked questions
Should vegan restaurants keep OpenTable if first-party covers school nights?
Keep the listing for discovery until first-party actually covers the night. Point Google reserve and the site button at an owned URL for school nights you can staff. Put dietary notes on that path. Fill fees from the invoice. Do not delist this week. Do not buy a portal percent to fill Tuesday.
Is this the same as cutting DoorDash?
Same idea, different button. Delivery-app mix is takeout commission. This page is the reserve widget. Keep both listings until the owned path is real.
What cover fee should we put in the sheet?
The all-in take on your last invoice, divided by portal covers if you need a per-cover cell. Do not copy another restaurant's number. Do not use a sales-deck cover fee as the plan.
Can we run the school-night bundle on OpenTable?
No for the test weeks. The bundle is first-party, dated, and costed. A portal exclusive teaches Tuesday as a discount aisle.
Where do allergy and vegan-kitchen questions go?
On the kitchen policy URL, linked from the owned confirm. The portal special-request box is not a protocol.