DinnerBroker in the News

PCToday.com
Beat Downtime Boredom
September 2005

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National Restaurant News
Operators see pros, cons in online-reservations boom
February 28th, 2005

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The Wall Street Journal
'Sorry, We're Booked': The Restaurant Slump Ends Rebound Means Fewer Deals But Discount Sites Remain; 15% Off at the '21' Club
March 30, 2004

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ABC News - KGO TV San Francisco: 7 On Your Side
Dining Out With A Discount
May 27, 2003

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Nation's Restaurant News
Using Web for discounting clicks with digital diners
May 19, 2003

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ABC News - KABC TV Los Angeles
Restaurant Secrets Revealed
May 8, 2003

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The Wall Street Journal
Elite Restaurants Are Resorting To Discounts -- Under the Table
February 6, 2003

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The Wall Street Journal
Cutting Your Dinner Tab
October 5, 2002

The Problem: Restaurant prices are taking a bite out of your wallet -- are there any bargains in the world of fine food?

The Solution: The Early Bird special is showing up at fashionable restaurants. DinnerBroker.com lists hundreds of high-end spots that will knock up to 30% off the tab if you eat before 6 p.m. And some even extend the markdowns throughout the evening.

The list includes names like Le Titi De Paris in Chicago, Oyster Bar and Restaurant in New York, Sel de la Terre in Boston and mc2, a hot spot in San Francisco. You make reservations on the site and the discount is automatically applied to your bill.

Yahoo Internet Life
50 Most Incredibly Usefule Sites
Make a Restaurant Reservation
July, 2002
There's one thing worse than going out to dinner and waiting two hours for a table: going out to dinner and never getting a table at all. Save yourself a headache and book online. For discounted meals at whatever time's available, reserve at DinnerBroker...

The Wall Street Journal
A Slump in Snooty Restaurants
Makes It Easier to Pull Strings
June 19, 2002
THE HIGH-END restaurant business is in a slump, and that presents exclusive eateries with a new challenge: how to get you in the door without giving the impression they actually want you.

The industry's growth rate is at its lowest level since 1991, with a paltry 1.4% gain projected for this year, according to the National Restaurant Association. As a result, even the nation's snobbiest eateries are rolling out some tactics that give mere mortals a shot at a table without waiting weeks. Top restaurants from MK in Chicago to San Francisco's Frascati just started offering reservations on Web sites such as Dinnerbroker.com, which lets users book tables at fancy restaurants online. read more...

The New York Times
Today's Special? Discounts All Around
September 5, 2001
"Other restaurateurs, not just in New York, have joined a discount reservation service. Dinner Broker, a company that went online about a year ago (www.dinnerbroker.com) with a system of off-peak restaurant discounts (and also the flip side, surcharges for hard-to-get prime-time reservations), now has about 300 restaurant accounts in more than 36 American cities, and in Toronto, Vancouver and London. 'When we started, about two- thirds of our business was for the premium reservations, but it's changed and now about 80 percent of it is discounts,' said Ben Dehan, the chairman.

Conde Naste Traveler
Bright Sites
March 2001
"When you're desperate to snag a table at a hot spot, try this site - Many restaurants save tables for DinnerBroker users. It can cost up to $30 per booking, but if you wait more than 15 minutes, your fee is refunded. And if you book a table during an off-peak time, there's no charge and you could receive a discount..."

The Industry Standard
Real Questions for Virtual Reservations
February 2001
"Companies are infusing greater value into their reservations services with improved search functions, deep discounts, points programs and fee-based seating options - all the right reasons to kick the phone habit and go online. DinnerBroker.com provides scarce reservation time slots to customers (for a fee of $5 to $10 per seat). DinnerBroker.com also offers 20 percent to 30 percent off the bill for meals served at off-peak hours. "During a market downturn, we expect discounts to become even more important for upscale restaurants," says DinnerBroker CEO Ben Dehan..."

San Francisco Magazine
Top Tables for a Fee
November 2000
"Friends had told me there were two sure ways to land a table at a happening restaurant, and neither involved dressing up as Willie Brown. I could slip the maitre d' a fifty. Or I could work my connections - to the Internet. And so it was, on a recent Friday afternoon, that I hooked up with DinnerBroker.com, a San Francisco-based virtual concierge..."

USA Today
Site slips maitre d' cash for late reservations
September 2000
"Forgot your anniversary again? A new Web site wants to help you get that last-minute reservation at some place special - but it will cost you. DinnerBroker will help you get same-day reservations at some of the most coveted restaurants in major cities by virtually slipping the maitre d' some cash - anywhere from $10 to $30, depending on the restaurant..."

Time
Fully Dot-Committed
September 2000
"Getting a reservation at a ritzy restaurant used to be a time-honored test of one's social clout. Not anymore. A new service called DinnerBroker.com is selling dinner reservations over the Internet. Need a primo table tonight at San Francisco's swank La Folie restaurant? It's yours for 20 bucks. The better the table time and the fancier the venue, the more you pay..."

Industry Standard
New Ideas: Table for $40? Right this Way!
September 2001
"Forget slipping a sawbuck to the stuffy maitre d' for a seat in a packed restaurant. DinnerBroker.com is taking online reservations a step further by offering prime-time tables at upscale joints for a premium, often up to $40 per reservation. It's not all bribery, though. Flexible customers willing to eat at, say, 5 p.m. on a Tuesday are rewarded with a discount off their meal. With trial runs under way in San Francisco and Los Angeles, DinnerBroker will soon open for business in New York. CEO Ben Dehan says he needs to sign up about 1,000 restaurants to be profitable..."

Newsweek
Getting Out: Back on the Table
August 2000
"How much would you pay to secure a hard-to-get table during rush hour at a hot new restaurant? Fifteen bucks a seat? That's the going rate at DinnerBroker.com. Launched last month, the service will sell you a last-minute reservation for a per-seat fee that's added to your bill. On the flip side, DinnerBroker also offers discounts, averaging 10 to 30 percent, for tables at off-peak times, like Wednesday night at 5:30. The service, which currently works with 46 restaurants in California's Bay Area, touts Masa's, La Folie and Betelnut as examples of participating eateries in super-high demand..."

Nation's Restaurant News
Web Sites Vie to Bring 'Dynamic Pricing' to Restaurants
August 2000
"In a quest to bring airline-like dynamic pricing and elementary yield management to the restaurant industry, a trio of new e-businesses have set up shop on the world wide web...San Francisco-based DinnerBroker.com is a reservation system that straddles both ends of the price sensitivity spectrum. It offers diners willing to pay extra for a table at prime time in a hot restaurant access to the table, while also giving bargain-hunters an incentive to book a table during non-peak hours..."

Washington Post
Web Hostess Reserves Tables
July 2000
"A San Francisco company, launched Tuesday, promises to secure prime time reservations at the city's hottest restaurants for diners willing to pay an extra $5 to $15 per head. "Our Goal is to give consumers the freedom not to have to plan everything months in advance, but still give them the option to dine at top restaurants," said Doug Collister the company's Vice President of Restaurants..."

Wired Online
Hungry? Buy Your Reservation
July 2000
"The privately funded company gives the food connoisseur or forgetful appointment-maker the opportunity to buy same-day reservations at a number of fine-dining hotspots. For $5-15 per person, customers can make reservations up to two hours before the scheduled seating time. DinnerBroker splits the premium fee with the restaurant. "The last-minute sense of urgency is what we're trying to focus on," DinnerBroker CEO Ben Dehan said..."

Forbes Online
New Web Site offers 'Hot' Restaurant Reservations
"Call it the Internet version of bribing the maitre d'...[DinnerBroker] promises to secure prime time reservations at the city's hottest restaurants for diners willing to pay an extra $5 to $15 per head. DinnerBroker throws in a twist, however - offering diners willing to eat at non-peak hours a discount of 10 percent to 30 percent off their dinner bill."

San Jose Mercury News
Web Site Serves up Rarest Reservations
July 2000
"If you call these restaurants a month in advance, you could probably get these tables yourself. But if you want it at the last minute, you probably won't get it," said Ben Dehan, DinnerBroker's chief executive. "What you'll get from the restaurants is 'No, we're full.' or 'Can you come in at 10 pm instead?' We want to give consumers a chance to choose when they want to pay more..."

San Francisco Examiner
A Good Table at The Last Minute
July 2000
"The concept is one that drives virtually every other segment of the business world besides restaurants: Dynamic Pricing...the airlines do it all the time. Dehan says, "When you buy a plane ticket, you expect to pay more for the last minute reservations and less for advanced reservations..."

San Francisco Chronicle
Cyber Dining: Dinner Reservations for a Price
July 2000
This week DinnerBroker unveils a restaurant reservation system that is essentially the online version of slipping the maitre d' a $20 bill. Desperate diners in search of a last-minute reservation log onto the site, then plug in the time and day they want to eat. Up pops a list of restaurants that have set aside tables exclusively for DinnerBroker..."

SF Weekly
Side Dish
July 2000
"There's a new player in the world of online reservations, and it's aiming to revolutionize the way restaurants view themselves...DinnerBroker.com is bringing this supply-and-demand idea to the restaurant industry...There's bound to be some consumer and business resistance to the system, but I think it's an idea long overdue for our industry."