Restaurant.com

Wondering if anyone still uses them?

Bessie Bessie
Sep '18

Not in a very long time. I have seen some restaurants post signs that say they don't honor them which is ridiculous. They used to have good deals.


I got one tonight for Marleys, went for dinner, certificate was for lunch, lol. I was actually to turn an old one that I never used, in for a new one. It looks like there are still some places that participate. I was curious if anyone still used them.

Bessie Bessie
Sep '18

So I logged into my Restaurant.com account & see that I still have one's to use! Awesome - I hope I can still redeem them!


Luca, you can click on it and it will let you exchange it for another restaurant, that’s what I did.

Bessie Bessie
Sep '18

You have to really read and understand the actual offers on Restaurant.com. Bessie..the one for Marleys was only for lunch and even if you went for lunch...you had to have at least a $30 meal there when you did use your certificate. I am finding that in the Entertainment Book as well. A lot of the coupons in the book are saying (somewhere on the coupon, that you have to look hard to find) that it is only good on weekdays..

joyful joyful
Sep '18

Joy, the $30.00 was not the problem, the lunch part was, LOL. It was right on top of the certificate, plain as day. I read all the fine print and missed the obvious.

Bessie Bessie
Sep '18

We still use them. However, there aren't too many restaurants on there local to us anymore.

Calico696 Calico696
Sep '18

I know what you are saying, Bessie, but my point is there should not be any stipulations or times or days that you could use a Restaurant.com certificate or Entertainment Book coupon or any of the other price off coupons out there today...Just let me buy a coupon that is good any day of the week...anytime of the day..no matter how much you spend there for your meal when you go.....

joyful joyful
Sep '18

joyful - I disagree. Restaurants have every right to have stipulations on offers. This helps them gain business at times when they are slower. For example, some can't be used on Friday or Saturday since those are busier days for many restaurants and they don't need to "lure" people in with offers.

It's no different than the pizzeria down the road that offers 2 large pies and a big bottle of soda for $12 on Tuesdays nights only. How many people regularly order pizza on Tuesday nights? I know I never have.

Calico696 Calico696
Sep '18

It is what it is; a coupon expressed as a set of rules that allows you to try perhaps a restaurant or offering that you might not normally try for less than full price.

They target small business or "anti-chain" establishments like our Main Street.

Over the years, the website has gotten much better, including a nifty phone ap. I have actually used the phone ap to exchange and add on the fly as I have been sitting in a restaurant. Bet they thought thet old man was uber cool on that one :>) Just flash em the phone and they do the rest.

The "constraints" are restaurant-selected, no doubt from a large list that R.com has available when they sign up. And between the rules and the customer, therein lies some of the rub. Since many coupon users choose not to read, but further choose not to unveil (as required) the coupon before the meal, a great disturbance in the force can often occur at meal's end between customer expectations and restaurant coupon rules. This, in turn, makes the establishment either post many funny signs about usage. Ultimately either owner, customer or both get pissed off enough that the owner stops offering them.

So, just about everyone around here stopped using them except Marley's, and, as you noted, just for lunch. I have had many a wing for less because of R.com... Mamma's used to offer them, they would sell out 24-hours after they came up the web

If you use them, read them, follow the rules, ask your server before you start (they are usually somewhat flexible), they can help you navigate, and enjoy. Perhaps if we use them nicely, more establishments will see the advantage of having samplers try their wares instead of heading over to TGIWedsday's or whatever chain is in fashion because it's national, it's familiar, whatever.

And yes, you can trade them, exchange them, email them to your kids..... But, again, read them, follow the rules, and be nice..... I would love to see more places around here use them, we have the restaurant diversity that R.com usually thrives in. Sometimes if visiting another city, I will print a bunch, just in case. No problem with exchanging the ones I don't use later. But it's fun to eat for less at nice places I might not otherwise try.

strangerdanger strangerdanger
Sep '18

Thank you for the explanation, strangerdanger. It helps me understand the concept a lot better...

joyful joyful
Sep '18

Has anyone exchanged a restaurant certificate for a restaurant.com card rather than another restaurant-specific certificate?
Wondering how that works -- and if the value of the card has to be used all at once -- ie can you use a $25 card to purchase a $10 certificate and a $15 certificate?

happiest girl
Sep '18

AFAIK, Restaurant.com GCards are only used to buy GCertificates for restaurants on the Restaurant.com website, You can't use them at a restaurant directly.

For example, if you pay $10, you get a $25 GCard that you give as a gift. The gift recipient can then go on Restaurant.com and redeem it for a $25 GCertificate to any restaurant on their site. Note that the "face value" on the GCard corresponds to the face value of the GCertificate. IOW, that $25 GCard isn't treated as cash where you would be able to buy two $25s and a $10 like you could with $25 cash.

Simple, right?

ianimal ianimal
Sep '18

@ ianimal: Simple? Just about as clear as mud!!

joyful joyful
Sep '18

If I thought I could buy 2 $25’’s and a $10 for $25......I would let my wife handle the cash ;-/

Strangerdanger Strangerdanger
Sep '18

Everything is a discount....

You buy "R.com" bucks for less bucks than you spend in US dollars.. Like you spend $10 US bucks, but they give you a $25 R.com card, only spendable on R.com. Think of it as $25 R.com bucks, not US dollars.

Now, for those $10 US dollars, you can select $25 R.com dollars worth of R.com restaurant coupons, which also give the holder xx% off on a meal.

So $10 US bucks to get $25 worth of R.com coupons, each of which get you xx% off on a meal. It's like double-dipping.

My problem is when they started, the $10 US bucks was more like $2 and I went deep so I got a boatload of them, which I figured I could use over time. KIds never used them and then all the restaurants around here started dropping out. Luckily I know lots of people in better R.com areas so I gift a lot. But it will take me years to drain this swamp: want to buy some, at a discount :>) kidding.

strangerdanger strangerdanger
Sep '18

hi, Gara's Pizza in Pburg takes them. he is very nice.

Adair Moore Sattely Adair Moore Sattely
Sep '18

Thanks, again, strangerdanger, for explaining it exactly the way it is.. ( You had to have been a school teacher in your past life!).. .It is our choice if we want to participate with this Restaurant.com program now or not and I am opting out. I also am doing the same with the Entertainment book. Each year for the last 20 years we have purchased that book (Restaurants in NJ North area edition).. It worked great for many years with a good selection of restaurants to go to in Hackettstown..However, each year now there are less and less restaurants participating that are located in Hackettstown, Washington, or nearby towns..When you are lucky enough to find a few that are In.this book ( $25 to $30 a book) it.has very few places in the Hackettstown area in them and most that do you can only use your discount on weekdays.. Schools and organizations used to sell these books as fundraisers....I find now by watching the local newspapers and Our Town and other such publications that you can pick up at the restaurants, Money Mailer, etc. you can find discount coupons in them and save a bit when you eat out.. .

joyful joyful
Sep '18

There are some area restaurants that offer good weekday (no coupon required) deals. One that comes to mind right now is Apple Mountain's 2 for $20 on Wednesdays. You pick an appetizer to share and then two entrees off the limited menu for $20. They also have 1/2 price glasses of wine on Wednesdays.

Calico696 Calico696
Sep '18

thanks for the thread, I took a look. I don't have that many left, so that's a good thing.

Only Marley's in town, I will be there for lunch soon :>)
8 choices at 15 miles out
36 choices at 20 miles out ---- Stroudsburg and Phillipsburg are the hot spots.

So, I guess I will be trying Stroudsburg for dinner soon. See, it works ---- I would have never gone there otherwise !!!!

Too bad since the website is pretty good now, not the hardship I went through before 2010. All in all, I have saved some money, gone to places I wouldn't normally go, and it's all been good. Once I run out of coupons, I will still always have a few because, even though we are light around here, Stroudsburg's not that far to sample new cuisines.

strangerdanger strangerdanger
Sep '18

stranger -- you can exchange if you want to --- either choose "redeem now" and switch your certificate for another restaurant, or, choose "redeem later" and get the card which you can use at any time.
See the website.
I too bought several in 2010 when I got $25 certificates for $2.

happiest girl
Sep '18

How ignorant, these discounts are to gain clientele. These discounts are not for everyday use. They are to get clients into the restaurants and hopefully come back again and again at full price.


Why go back at full price when you can get a discount. That is what I would call ignorant.
People who go regularly to a participating restaurant can continuously get the certificates. I even get email alerts when restaurant.com restocks certificates to the restaurants I have bought for in the past.

happiest girl
Sep '18

This is the purpose. If you are benefiting from it for regular use, well so be it. Just be aware that this is not the intent but they can't stop the outliers.


LOL Ijay.

The actual intent of restaurants participating in restaurant.com is multifaceted.

It's primary purpose is to fill empty tables, whether with new patrons, or repeat customers. Certificate users have to spend a required specified amount to use the certificate, and often under certain time restrictions, so the restaurant therefore is making a profit either by a larger bill or by filling the restaurant at off hours.
*Case in point* --- joyful, who was not allowed to use her certificate because she went for dinner instead of lunch ---- so Marley's got all her money, and now she has to go back again to use the certificate for a lunch meal.

It also attracts larger parties so the specified monetary amount required is met -- so this in itself generates more profit for the restaurant.
It gives the restaurant more online presence than just it's own website.
It generates customer feedback which also puts their restaurant out there for people to notice.

Mama's in Hackettstown for instance has a discount card for anyone to use. It's purpose is to gain continual patronage instead of someone going to another restaurant.

Maybe you shouldn't use any Colgate toothpaste or Marcal paper product coupons anymore --- if you think coupon incentives are only for new users.

LOL

happiest girl
Sep '18

I see that the Brass Rail is "new" on Restaurant.com. I will have to pick up a couple certificates for there. The last time we ate there, hubby complained about the prices. LOL

Calico696 Calico696
Sep '18

Check these rules before you buy Cal: no surprises.

Ijay: in the computer world it is easy to curtail the service to one coupon per email, ip address, etc. But R.com allows multiples to be bought.

One per customer would make the service useless in most towns. Especially this one. IOW, if I can’t come back on a coupon, O’m not going to begin with.

Strangerdanger Strangerdanger
Sep '18

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