• Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com

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Overview

Restaurant.com has a rating of 1.2 stars from 864 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Restaurant.com most frequently mention gift card, customer service, and minimum purchase problems. Restaurant.com ranks 337th among Restaurants sites.

  • Service
    107
  • Value
    107
  • Shipping
    48
  • Returns
    74
  • Quality
    93
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
0
Negative
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17
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How would you rate Restaurant.com?
Top Positive Review

“Up to 50% off on a meal, once a month per restaurant. Read the rules.”

Paul G.
12/9/15

So you see all these bad reviews of Restaurant.com. I took advantage of a great deal. 100 - $50 cards for $500 from Citi Easy Deals. That $4500 of free food Just avoid these assumptions: 1) It's not off any restaurant. Get a Visa Gift Card if you want that. Enjoy your fees. 2) It's not a free meal. It's up to half off the total bill. You can use the remainder elsewhere. 3) It's one use per restaurant per month. Not getting 1/2 price sushi every weekend. Goto a different restaurant tomorrow. 4) You have to log into the app to find the card to redeem. Yes it shows your name. Got to log in anyway. That bugs me! Lose one Star. 5) Let the server tap the screen to redeem. You will hit one of these the first time through. After that it's discount city. Got my food budget in line through some hard times.

Top Critical Review

“A scam”

richard t.
11/1/24

The entire experience was a scam in conjunction with a travel service. Was promised $100 in Restaurant coupons for attending sales presentation. Spent hours on the phone, with email, and online trying to obtain four $25 restaurant certificates. Never received any certificates and gave up.

Reviews (864)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

gift card (158) customer service (125) gift certificate (113) credit card (32) phone number (19)
Thumbnail of user kaylener1
Mississippi
1 review
10 helpful votes
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March 1st, 2015

We got our "gift certificates" from making a purchase of at least $75 at Motherhood Maternity. We searched the store to find items we really didn't need to hit that amount because receiving $50 in gift cards to restaurants sounded logical. The choices of restaurants are lame and there is only about 1 or 2 options local otherwise you have to drive over an hour to find one of the restaurants listed. We used our first one at a bar/restaurant that does not serve good food at all. It was a joke - only served pizza and appetizers. We had to spend at least $50 to get the $25 off. So we bought two pizzas to take home and a bunch of appetizers. NOT worth the money at all and this whole service is a rip off. Wish I could give less than a star.

Tip for consumers:
Do not use this site.

Value
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user taram67
Kentucky
1 review
8 helpful votes
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July 27th, 2017

If I could give them a -10 I would!
It says no where when purchasing the certificates that you can only use 1/purchase. I purchased 100.00 worth of certificates for a restaurant while on vacation only to be told I can use 1 25.00 certificate/visit and even per month!
WTF am I going to do with the other 75.00 I have there.
It doesn't explain this until after the purchase has been made! GO TO HELL RESTAURANT.COM
I'm on vacation and nearly broke my bank buying the certificates then had to still pay 100.00 for my meal!

Thumbnail of user chrisw2694
New York
1 review
2 helpful votes
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August 21st, 2023

Be advised, they will take your $9.95 processing fee and then, only then you see the restaurants and the limited ridiculous offers to save money. One one was even in my area, and most of them are pizza, or food I would never eat. Plus, After logging in, I cant even get them to return my request to cancel my subscription.
Dont take the bait. This is a terrible promotion.
Chris Wiedemer

Thumbnail of user kh222
Pennsylvania
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 19th, 2013

The website is impossible to navigate - I tried going on and exchanging a certificate that I had purchased because the restaurant no longer honors it, and I could not get into my account. There's no help button, there's no way to contact them with a question. And, using their certificates really doesn't save you money. Do NOT purchase anything from restaurant.com! It's a complete waste of your money.

Thumbnail of user fredp46
California
1 review
5 helpful votes
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July 17th, 2016

We unfortunately received 2 certificates. Be careful, most of these coupons require a minimum purchase of twice the certificate amount and some of the restaurants opted out of the program. If you do use it, just be careful. Call ahead and read the fine print. Not very convenient though.

Thumbnail of user sharonj87
New Jersey
2 reviews
22 helpful votes
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March 18th, 2019

In my area, local business have quit accepting vouchers from restaurant.com. The remaining businesses available to redeem vouchers is few and far between or for establishments I would eat from. This is a waste of time and money. Gift vouchers were a package gift card for dinner and movies.

Thumbnail of user lillyo1
Missouri
46 reviews
93 helpful votes
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May 8th, 2013

I like this site... When you get comfortable using it you will love it. Also. I recommend that you must live in a big City... Otherwise... it wont be too many options to choose from... but the site works well.

Thumbnail of user rhondac111
Alabama
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 2nd, 2019

This is probably the most annoying thing I've ever done. Downloaded the app, unable to navigate it. It was impossible to find anything because the window was huge and couldn't shrink it. Okay, went to the PC to the website. Again the most ridiculous attempt to locate a simple restaurant somewhere near me. It would not go to any location except New York and I am in Florida. I gave up. Have two 25.00 "gift cards" or coupons from my bank that are absolutely a waste of time.

Thumbnail of user stevem142
Arizona
1 review
7 helpful votes
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October 31st, 2014

The complete lack of any customer service and the website's constant failure to hold information makes this the worst possible way to spend you time or money.

The certificate I got for $100 was deleted at least 6 times and I have only been able to use it once.

RUN! RUN! RUN AWAY!

Tip for consumers:
RUN! RUN!! RUN AWAY!!!!

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user helenl72
Texas
1 review
8 helpful votes
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October 31st, 2016

I exchanged my United Mileage for pieces of trash! We went to one restaurant and the owner said she never authorized to be on restaurant.com and won't accept my coupon. I exchanged the amount to another restaurant on the list. I got smart and called ahead before I went only to find out they don't take the coupon, too! Then why is the restaurant still on the list? There's also no decent places to choose from. I should of just redeem magazines instead of useless certificates!

Thumbnail of user johna209
Arizona
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 12th, 2013

I bought a $75 gift certificate for a restaurant and took the whole office to a nice luncheon. When we got there the restaurant said they didn't accept these certificates for lunch.

I'm very aware of the rules and limitations on all of the restaurant.com certificates and specifically looked for this limitation. On all other restaurants that have a dinner only limitation it specifically says "not valid for lunch" or "dinner only". This was not the case for this restaurant.

When I notified restaurant.com they said too bad, we'll credit your account. I didn't want a credit, I want my money back. Sorry... if you didn't read our 9 page legal contract, but please try again. I guess next time I should contact an attorney before I make a $30 restauranat.com purchase. That's not gonna happen because I will NEVER make another purchase from Restaurant.com.

Thumbnail of user matth1417
Georgia
1 review
3 helpful votes
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October 2nd, 2015

All I can stay is that dealing with these idiots is the worst experience I have had regarding food since I got food poising for Subway, and that was only slightly worse.

I guessing that they stopped using phones numbers because of the horribly discussing peasant accents that they have...

Your money is better spent at Groupon or one of the other sites...

F-U Restaurants.com you are deserving of an IRS audit!

Thumbnail of user cynthiak7
New York
2 reviews
22 helpful votes
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September 25th, 2018

United Airlines offers a Restaurant.com diner's certificate as a way to extend the expiration of miles. I bought one several years ago for 500 miles. Am now looking into using it. But am finding out that I need to spend $50+ in order to use the $25. That was not my understanding when I first bought the certificate with miles. Apparently, I am not the only one having problems with this certificate. 81% of the reviews on Sitejabber.com gave Restaurant.com 1 star and called it a "scam".

I just spoke with MileagePlus customer service and got my 500 miles credited back to me which was the correct thing to do.

But shame on you, United Airlines, for continuing to offer such a scam product.

Thumbnail of user andrewl673
New York
1 review
4 helpful votes
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December 30th, 2019

Tried it for the first (and last time). The restaurant does not accept their app certificate (Indian Spice House in Buffalo). Restaurants.com is a ripoff in that they don't check to see if they are working with dishonest restaurants like this one that say they accept certificates but don't

Thumbnail of user timb647
Illinois
1 review
8 helpful votes
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May 14th, 2020

These certificates can save you a lot of money and have saved me a lot over the years if used properly.

The main thing that I learned when planning on using these is to ALWAYS call the restaurant you are going to attend. Either they will say YES or NO. And always get the employees name that confirms if they say they will accept coupon.

After learning to do this small action before going out for dinner I have had great success with this company.

Thumbnail of user terrik50
Ohio
1 review
5 helpful votes
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August 9th, 2018

I purchased gift certificates for various restaurants, one of which went out of business. At one restaurant, the manager said they had pulled out from associating with that business, so my gift certificate was useless. I received notification that another restaurant had gone out of business and that I could exchange my gift certificates for a gift card. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I try to "exchange," the site encounters a problem and advises me to try later. Later has not yet come.
Save your money and pass their offers up.

Thumbnail of user maryr492
Massachusetts
1 review
0 helpful votes
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October 30th, 2018

I ordered 2 certificates for a restauant in Hudson MA. The restaurant stopped taking the certificates. There were no other decent restaurants that took these certificates. Restaurant.com would not refund my $

Thumbnail of user taiwoa8
New York
1 review
5 helpful votes
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December 26th, 2019

Some of the restaurants will not accept the certificates. I called 5 or 6 restaurants in my area and they said they don't accept the certificates. Customer service gave me a hard time to get a refund for the four certificates that I purchased.

Thumbnail of user bills126
New Jersey
1 review
5 helpful votes
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May 20th, 2015

Here was the latest big deal from restaurant.com:
"72 Hour Special: $40 for a $1000 Hotel and Resort eGift Card Featuring Hilton Hotels World Wide"
Well, I followed the link that let's you check availability and discount price. I found a place I want to stay. The price was $159.00/night. If I buy the card for $40, then I can use it four times. This time, I could get $40 off the price with a 2-night stay. So I come out even on first use. Pay $40 extra to get $40 back. But, wait, I look up the rate on the Hilton web site, and that rate with AAA discount is only $143.00.

So, why would I bother paying restaurant.com?! I say, "Meh!" 2 stars. I would make it one star, but in theory I could save a bit more by using the card the second, third and fourth times. But when it comes right down to availability and REAL price, this trouble is hardly worth it.

Thumbnail of user pamb20
Georgia
1 review
8 helpful votes
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July 31st, 2015

I went to a restaurant where the food should have been no more than $10 or $15 had I paid cash. I brought the $25.00 gift card and I feel like the waitress inflated the prices of the food and drinks so that she could use the entire $25.00 card. They also placed a restriction that I could not order take out but that I needed to dine in. The restaurant.com ap is awkward to use and it kept freezing on us. I felt like it was a waste of time and effort, not a great value. In my opinion, just use cash or credit and save yourself the added frustration.

Thumbnail of user pattyl8
Connecticut
1 review
8 helpful votes
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December 11th, 2014

If I could give a -1 I would. I have been a member for a few years and due to travel, family obligations and other events have not been able to use certificates before they expire. I have so many times to exchange certificates and am so frustrated to constantly encounter "out of stock" notices. I have even logged on the day when a certificate has allegedly been restocked and none available... what kind of bate and switch company is this? This company sucks!

Tip for consumers:
do not bother..... Few offerings and constant "out of stock " or dishonored deals. I am sorry I ever signed up.

Thumbnail of user jakec27
Tennessee
1 review
6 helpful votes
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October 24th, 2014

I believe at one time restaurant.com was a useful tool, but that is no longer the case. Hardly any restaurants seem to participate anymore, at least in northeastern Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. There are a handful of restaurants listed in Philly, in the far northeast.

The other consistent problem is going to a restaurant listed as participating on the site and AFTER REDEEMING only to find out the owner no longer accepts the vouchers.

I assume the company will fold soon, unless it is successful in very specific areas.

Products used:
vouchers

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user nats27
Florida
1 review
4 helpful votes
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April 9th, 2015

The site is just absolutely awful. I forgot my password, and trying to get it reset is a struggle.
First, can't do it from a phone or iPad, gotta be a pic.
Second, once you get the email and manage to get it reset, the site will tell you that is too many attempts at login. To try again later! I've never seen so many stupid things in a single site EVER.
Don't buy anything from it, you'll never be able to redeem it!

Thumbnail of user ranid1
Michigan
6 reviews
19 helpful votes
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August 3rd, 2015

Let's say you purchase a $10 certificate for $5. Well, the minimum purchase required at the restaurant is $20. So overall, you are only saving $5 off of $20, and of course the certificate does not cover tax or gratuities -- not worth it unless you were going to order at this restaurant any way.

I bought a certificate for Mongolian BBQ. When I called the restaurant, they said they did not accept this. Restaurant.com did NOT give me a refund, only store credit.

The selection of restaurants available if you are not in a big city like New York, Chicago, DC, etc. is poor

The website is difficult to use and does not have great support.

Also, some restaurants will have their own rules for redeeming that certificate, that aren't explicitly stated on the certificate itself. Not usable towards delivery, take out, on alcohol, etc.

Thumbnail of user clarencej3
Illinois
1 review
5 helpful votes
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October 6th, 2015

Thought this was a great idea but when I went to use it, I discovered you have to pay again for the discount. It's like paying an initial fee to join a discount club like Groupon for the privilege to buy coupons for the discount. Only Groupon is free to use.

I'm so unhappy I was tricked into buying three. I thought I'd give this to my adult kids to use as a gift. I ended up not telling them about it at all once I used it several times and found it only to be a pain. The bottom line is after paying for the certificate and then paying for a particular restaurant, you don't really save much at all.

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