The restaurant reservations wars shows no signs of slowing down | CNN Business

When Mona Panjwani opened One40 Rooftop, an upscale restaurant in lower Manhattan last year, one of her first big decisions was choosing the reservation platform. She knew the right choice could help attract attention in a competitive dining scene during a tough economic environment. “This is my first restaurant in the city, and I’m starting to build my own hospitality profile,” Panjwani told CNN, so she’s relying on these platforms for exposure. Restaurant owners like Panjwani are caught in the middle of a growing battle of new and established reservation platforms vying for their business. The two dominant players for more than a decade, OpenTable and Resy, are now facing a wave of fresh competition from high-end services and even delivery apps — all trying to win lucrative bookings at exclusive establishments. That’s all the more critical as customers dial back eating out: Nearly 40% of Americans said they’re visiting restaurants less frequently to save money, according to a recent YouGov survey. For more than a decade, the battle for online reservations was fought between OpenTable and Resy. OpenTable, which launched in 1998, largely had a stranglehold on online r