Three Apps to Help You Avoid Lines on Valentine's Day

Posted By Stephanie Faris

BreakingModern — You bought the roses. You searched all over town for the perfect gourmet chocolates. And now all you need is a romantic dinner for two at the best restaurant in town. Unfortunately, everyone is headed there right now, too. Valentine's Day In recent years, more restaurants have grown savvy to the fact that couples don’t want to spend the entire evening on a wait list. They’ve begun offering reservations and call ahead seating options, even when they don’t normally do so. But technology has another answer. More apps seem to emerge each year that make dining out easier, especially on the day of love. Lee Senderov, the chief marketer for Shopular, a leading mobile shopping tool (available for Android on Google Play and Apple iOS) says,

“Mobile apps that geo-target consumers in the moments when they are literally on the merchant’s doorstep (with amazing seasonal offers and savings) will be a real game changer this Valentine’s Day … It’s all part of our growing culture of on-the-go digital convenience that is transforming the way people shop, dine and take in the retail experience — especially during the rush of a popular holiday gift season.”

Here are three apps that stand to change the dining-out game in 2015.

No Wait

This app has two sides. The restaurant-facing side lets casual-dining restaurants manage waits using an iPad. In addition to eliminating paper-based processes, No Wait provides analytics and eliminates the need to assign pagers for participating restaurants. On the customer-facing side, users simply download the free app for Android on Google Play or Apple iOS, open it up and see a list of member restaurants in the area. The list includes live wait times at each restaurant. Once you’ve chosen where you want to dine, you can add yourself to the list and watch your progress on the list in real time.

Open Table

At any time, a user can search local restaurants and find an open table. The app contains a wide variety of casual-dining and fine-dining establishments for even some of the smallest cities, giving it an advantage over many of its competitors. You can use the app days in advance to book a reservation at a restaurant, or you can wait until the evening of Valentine’s Day to find an open table nearby. Reservations can be made from the Open Table website, as well as through a free app for Android on Google Play or Apple iOS. Valentine's Day

BarEye

While BarEye is a great concept, like many apps, it launched in major cities first. The app started in Tallahassee before expanding to New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Austin. Once downloaded (for free) to a device via Android on Google Play or Apple iOS, BarEye can be used to buy drinks for the user or other people at popular bars throughout the city. If you plan to head out for dinks before dinner, BarEye could be a great way to impress your date by ordering drinks and paying without waiting for a bartender. As part of your Valentine’s Day preparations, make sure your phone is stocked with apps you can use to get a table quickly. Instead of waiting with a crowd of people for a table, you can use technology to go directly from your car to a table without delay.

For BMod, I’m Stephanie Faris.