OpenTable begins adding a 2% service fee to some transactions, including no-show fees
Restaurants can pass the new 2% fees to the customers or pay it. Prepaid dining experiences are subject to the surcharge.
OpenTable has begun adding a 2% service charge on transactions made through the reservations site, including no-show penalties, deposits, and prepaid dining experiences such as special events.
An OpenTable spokesperson said the restaurants can absorb the 2% charge or pass it along to customers. The fee is part of what OpenTable called an overhaul that began rolling out to most U.S. restaurants in the second half of 2025, with the remainder scheduled for early 2026.
As before, patrons are not being charged directly for ordinary reservations; the restaurants continue to pay OpenTable to use the platform as part of their service agreement.
“Online payments are important for restaurants and, together with our restaurant partners, we’ve learned that they help reduce no-shows, improve cash flow, and increase revenue,” the OpenTable representative said. “By applying a standard service fee structure across all transaction types, we can continue to support new tools that help restaurants protect and unlock revenue.”
In the last 18 months, OpenTable has been ramping up its presence, aggressively luring hip restaurants away from competing services such as Resy and Tock.
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At Pizzata Pizzeria & Birreria on East Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia, co-owner Davide Lubrano said the restaurant recently turned to OpenTable in an effort to control persistent no-shows.
With just 48 dining-room seats split between two floors — plus a 12-seat bar that is first come, first served — missed reservations ripple through Pizzata’s service.
“What was happening is that we were turning away walk-ins, and then the reservation wouldn’t show up,” Lubrano said. “We ended up losing tables, basically.”
Pizzata just began requiring a credit card to hold OpenTable reservations, which call for a $15-per-person no-show fee.
But Pizzata is generous about it. Lubrano said customers get a 20-minute grace period, along with three reminder texts and a courtesy call. “If you don’t respond to the texts and don’t answer the call, that counts as a no-show, and that’s when the charge applies,” he said. “But if you answer and say you need to cancel, there’s no charge.”
As for the new 2% fee that would be tacked on to the $15 no-show charge, Lubrano emphasized that OpenTable and not the restaurant is assessing it.
He added that diners who prefer to avoid entering a credit card online can still call the restaurant directly. “You can always call us and avoid a credit card fee, and we put a reservation in for you,” he said.