# OpenTable review reply templates for restaurants > Six OpenTable review reply templates written for restaurants — the mechanics OpenTable actually enforces, the review shapes restaurants actually get, and wha… _Updated 2026-08-15 · By Elizabeth Davis_ Source: https://happyreplies.com/templates/platform/opentable/restaurant ## TL;DR On OpenTable, reviews only come from diners who actually honoured a reservation, so the reviewer identity and the booking record are both known to you. For restaurants that means warm, first-person, and named. Answer the service beat the diner described, not the menu in general. ## Overview Restaurants collect a specific set of review shapes, and OpenTable handles replies differently to every other platform you are on. This page pairs the two: the mechanics of replying on OpenTable, the complaints restaurants actually receive, and six templates you can adapt in a couple of minutes. ## What OpenTable does with your reply - Reviews only come from diners who actually honoured a reservation, so the reviewer identity and the booking record are both known to you. - You can reply privately to the diner or publish a public response — private is the default and often the better choice. - Ratings are broken out by food, service, ambience, and value, so the reply should address the sub-score that dropped. ## What Restaurants reviews complain about - Cold food or a split sauce - Long waits at the pass on weekend service - Allergen handling - Service charge surprises on the bill - A specific server named in the review ## Tone Warm, first-person, and named. Answer the service beat the diner described, not the menu in general. General manager or owner by first name. ## Policy Do not reference a diner's booking history or spend in a public response. ## Templates ### Rave, special occasion > _Review:_ Booked for our anniversary and the whole night landed. The burrata was outstanding and Sofia looked after us all evening. > _Reply:_ Hi Priya — an anniversary night that lands makes ours too. I'll pass the burrata note to the pass and the Sofia note to Sofia herself. — Sam, owner ### Cold main > _Review:_ The pasta arrived lukewarm and the sauce had split. > _Reply:_ Hi Alex — lukewarm pasta with a split sauce is a kitchen failure, not a bad night. I've been back through the hot-hold times with the pass this morning. If you will give us another go, reply here and I will look after it personally. — Sam, owner ### 45-minute wait > _Review:_ Waited 45 minutes for a starter on a Saturday. > _Reply:_ Hi Nadia — 45 minutes for a starter is well outside anything we would call service. We were a cover down that night and that should not have been yours to absorb. — Sam, owner ### Allergen slip > _Review:_ I told them I was coeliac and the bread came out on the shared antipasti plate. > _Reply:_ Hi Chris — a shared plate on a coeliac order is a hard fail. I have re-run the allergen brief with the whole floor and moved gluten-free orders onto separate service ware. Please get in touch directly so we can close it out properly. — Sam, owner ### OpenTable-specific: the mechanics reply > _Review:_ Decent enough, but I have left this feedback before on OpenTable and nobody responded. > _Reply:_ Hi Sam — thank you for coming back to this. Ratings are broken out by food, service, ambience, and value, so the reply should address the sub-score that dropped. That is on us to use properly, and from this week every restaurant review here gets a named reply. — Sam, owner ### Escalation without a public argument > _Review:_ Worst experience I have had with any of the restaurants around here. Avoid. > _Reply:_ Hi Jordan — a review this strong deserves a proper conversation rather than a paragraph in public. Please email me directly and I will go through it with you line by line. Whatever we find, I would rather fix it than debate it here. — Sam, owner ## FAQ ### How quickly should restaurants reply to OpenTable reviews? Within 24 hours for anything below four stars and within a few days for the rest. Ratings are broken out by food, service, ambience, and value, so the reply should address the sub-score that dropped. Consistency matters more than speed alone — a visible response rate reassures the next reader as much as any single reply. ### Can I get a bad OpenTable review removed? Only if it breaks the platform's content policy — fake, off-topic, defamatory, or containing personal data. A review that is simply harsh is not removable, and the reply is the tool you actually have. Do not reference a diner's booking history or spend in a public response. ### What should a restaurant never put in a OpenTable reply? Do not reference a diner's booking history or spend in a public response. Beyond policy, avoid re-litigating the facts in public: readers score the tone of the reply, not who was right. ### Should the reply be signed by a person? General manager or owner by first name. An anonymous reply from "the team" reads as automated to the exact audience you are writing for, and it removes the accountability that makes a service-recovery reply work.