Restaurant.com is a great way to save money. I think a lot of the negative reviews are by people who clearly didn't understand what they were doing. But any way you spin it you still save a ton of money. It's pretty easy to get a $50 restaurant.com gift certificate on eBay for at most $5, more often cheaper. You then apply that $50 credit to your account on restaurant.com...then you can use it to by vouchers for restaurants in your city that participate, in some cities even large chains participate. They sell vouchers ins 10, 25, 50, etc increments and that's 10, 25, 50 dollars towards a meal at that restaurant. However you have to spend a minimum at the restaurant depending on how much your voucher is, $10 normally requires spending $15, $25 requires spending $35, and $50 requires spending $100...they tell you this before hand, also they ask you to add 18% gratuity to the value of the meal, people normally do that anyway and most times it's not added automatically (groupon often has that same requirement). One catch, when you use a gift certificate you don't get the deal they have, which would be $4 for a $25 voucher, you pay $25, but that $25 certificate cost you $2.50(at most), you're still winning.So lets say you use your $50 credit towards a $25 gift certificate to "favourite restaurant" that requires you to spend $35 there plus tip...you spend, total $18.80 for a $35 dollar meal...How other people think that that is a scam or a ripoff is beyond me...Read full review
There are less than 10 restaurants available I can use these at and none are places I would go to. By reading about it before purchasing it sounded like there would be lots and lots of the nicest places. It ends up those were only reviews for places they don't have. I got it for a very low bid and it was still a waste of money.
Verified purchase: Yes
I bought the Restaurant.com gift card from a charity auction, and I wanted to support the cause. I knew by checking the card's website that there were only two restaurants I liked in my town that would take the certificates, but that was enough to convince me to purchase the card. I found out afterwards that you can't take the card into a participating restaurant and use it like a gift card. You have to use the card to purchase certificates online that you can take to the restaurant(s). That locks you in to those restaurants. Plus you can only use one certificate a month at the same restaurant. With so many discounted deals available from Group-on, Living Social, etc. I wouldn't buy a Restaurant.com card again.
So these are not $500 to spend on restaurants. They're access to $500 worth of coupons that are all half off. For example you have a $25 coupon then you have to spend $50 in order to use it. So essentially it's a half off coupon. I bought and said oh crap but where I live they have certificates for a bar I like so it worked out. Do not buy without looking at the available restaurants on the site or you will be unhappy like the 1 star reviews. What is sold is what is described although portrayed a bit more grand but essentially this is what is advertised.
Verified purchase: Yes
I've used many of these. You basically end up with 50% of your meal at the end, because if you have a $10 gift card, you will have to spend $20 at the place. But still great deals!!!!! Ive been to somw really cool places, and really nice places!
Verified purchase: Yes