• 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
21
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 erino20
Louisiana
1 review
4 helpful votes
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December 9th, 2016

Don't get sucked in by the "good deal". Yes you pay $4 for $25, but then you must buy $75 worth at the restaurant or website, and you can't use multiple codes.

Thumbnail of user johnm329
Florida
1 review
3 helpful votes
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July 17th, 2014

Within minutes of placing my order with Restaurant.com for a Special Wine purchase, my AmEx card was billed, even before I received the "Certificate" from Restaurant.com; upon attempting to redeem my purchase, the site indicated the certificate number no longer applied; then my efforts resulted in being informed I was being charged additional money, shipping and tax, for the purchase when Restaurant.com did not mention the additional costs; I immediately called and was told "NO REFUND IS EVEN GIVEN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES; YOU WILL RECEIVE A CREDIT ONLY TO YOUR ACCOUNT WITH RESTAURANT.COM.

I ask: Would anyone ever want to do business with a nationally-recognized name knowing they will NEVER issue a credit to you under any circumstance? This man thinks not. I suggest: Stay away from Restaurant.com UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. What they did to me was grossly unfair; deliberately misrepresenting in not issuing an immediate refund.

Thumbnail of user brooksh19
Illinois
1 review
5 helpful votes
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January 21st, 2016

I received the card from my daughter as a gift, I dont know how much she paid, but the reataurants are 3rd or 4th tier eaterys, places I dont go to. I dont know how much the restaurants paid to get listed on Restaurants.com & now i find out I have to buy the the gift cards too. They make $ 3 times. Jennifer was right the website sucks, you have to log in every time you change a page. I"m cutting up this freekin $100.00 card.

Thumbnail of user mehdif5
Utah
4 reviews
10 helpful votes
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September 29th, 2015

I got an email that you can get restaurant coupon each 25$ for only 3$ I bought 2 for my wife and I, When I Printed the coupons it said you need to pay 50$ to be able to use these coupons. I called them and they told me no refund. I am too mad. They are liar. DO NO TRUST THEM. DO NOT EVEN GO TO WWW.RESTAURANT.COM, they tell ao many lies to convince you buy one of their hell coupons.

Thumbnail of user jaimed
South Carolina
17 reviews
64 helpful votes
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July 23rd, 2011

You really have to be careful with this site, I do use them but this isn't a charity they have to make money somehow as do the restaurants. I am in NC and there are hundreds of places to choose from, I prefer to use them at places I've eaten before or a smaller place I'd like to try.
There is a great restaurant that I pass every day never used them before I found them on restaurant.com, they don't do the coupons anymore but I had no problem using mine, even though they were a year old.

Just be sure to read all the small print, the rules differ for each deal, many for example are only to be used for dinner when prices are higher, or you have to spend more than you usually would before you can use it, and 90% of restaurants expect you tip on the pre discounted rate even when they charge an 18% gratuity because you're using a coupon(not much of a deal there).
Regardless of the rules there are great deals to be found just sign up for email and you will get coupon codes to make it easier to find one.

Thumbnail of user margieb1
Indiana
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 13th, 2013

Don't work for Restaurant before you read fine print. Don't waste your money. They should pay you to work for them. Example Restaurant, com policy "9. Termination. The IC will continue to participate in the IC Program on a month to month basis until terminated upon written notice by either party with or Without Cause. RDC may also terminate the IC's participation in the IC Program, at any time in its complete discretion, or as otherwise stated in these ICProgram Terms. Upon termination, the IC will no longer participate in the IC Program and must cease all usage of RDC Marks and materials Cost Fees Independent Consultant (IC): $289 (?) or Independent Consultant Manager (ICM): $1289 (?)

Thumbnail of user cristinab8
Texas
1 review
13 helpful votes
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July 6th, 2015

Am the owner of one of the restaurant name here. And i havent put any offer in this website and i get customer tellig me about the discount name here under my restaurant name 107 taqueria this is a scam. I didnt allowed any offers or discount coupons.

Thumbnail of user laicid
Ohio
1 review
10 helpful votes
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January 12th, 2016

I bought a couple of $10 gift cards that I then used at a Mexican restaurant nearby. No problems the first time. I even bought into a promotional offer for five $25 gift cards fur $25 after that visit. The second time that I went to the Mexican restaurant, months later, they didn't want to accept it and even said they had no idea what it was. Now that made me mad enough, considering that they'd taken one before, that the manager agreed to accept it but that this was "a one time courtesy". That's more than you get from restaurant.com. It's best to call the restaurant you want before you even select the gift certificate. I've emailed this website over so many places refusing to take them, mostly with confusion over what restaurant.com even is. I recently moved and was super excited to see a pizza place just minutes away that accepted them as dine in, and they even let me do carry out instead. But I only got to use one $10 before they stopped accepting them. Now I'm trying to exchange the gift certificate that I never got to use, but the website won't let me. I have over $100 in credit still and it's not looking good. So far I've just about broke even when you compare what I paid directly to restaurant.com vs what I've been able to use. And it's a lot of fun trying to get them to combine gift cards into something usable. It's a lot of automatic replies before you actually get a person to respond that will fix them same day. I imagine that, maybe, if you live in a metro area with lots of restaurants and new places popping up constantly, this could be worth while. But I will never give them another dime.

Thumbnail of user megant95
California
1 review
5 helpful votes
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December 9th, 2019

This is not a deal of any sort. There are way too many limitations on these. I got a $50 gift card which I paid $50 for so my sister n law and her hubbs could go wherever they wanted- haha jokes on me. You can only use it in $10, $5, $25 etc increments in which case you have to spend a minimum at the restaurant out of pocket plus it DOES NOT INCLUDE ALCOHOL, TAXES, TIP, and most of the restaurants will only let you use you voucher Mon- Thurs or at lunch time. Also, there's no contact number to talk to customer service. It's a crock of $#*!. Don't waste your time. If spent hours and hours trying to make something of the $50 I spent.

Thumbnail of user seanm143
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 25th, 2017

Just horrible u have to spend fifty bucks to get 25 buck's of ur meal with the gift card so I purchased a couple decided that I didn't want them and they tell me no refunds they r a scam

Thumbnail of user saml170
Florida
1 review
5 helpful votes
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May 9th, 2018

I wonder even more about a company when the use people to up the obvious poor rating Larry G. The customer service is horrible the restaurants are tacky and over priced.

Thumbnail of user ab732
California
1 review
5 helpful votes
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September 19th, 2020

I feel bad for the person who bought this for me as a gift. A friend told me the company makes money because most people never use the cards because they are such a hassle. One restaurant I called today even got angry at me when I asked it they accept the certificates. This is only useful if you go to a restaurant a lot, and then only as a discount. It is in no way a gift. To use the card, you have to spend at least as much as the amount redeemed, and none of the restaurants listed were places I'd really want to go.

Also, it's very inconvenient: you can't just use the card, you have to print out a redemption page from the website. Or maybe there's an app, but would you trust these people to put their app on your phone? Their website also works poorly, for example, you have to search several times before it will stop giving an error message that there are no restaurants near you, when in fact there are, and their website (eventually) lists them.

I asked them to delete my account (we'll see how that goes) and I'm just going to throw away the card. Not worth it.

Thumbnail of user thomasb13
North Carolina
1 review
3 helpful votes
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March 7th, 2011

Restaurant owners beware. They issue coupons and will not let you out of contract. This goes on and on to no loss on their part. Use Groupon or anyone besides Restaurant.Com

Thumbnail of user jennifers330
Hawaii
1 review
10 helpful votes
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February 6th, 2017

Yes there's fine print and it only pops up after you are finished with your meal at a restaurant and it comes time to redeem your certificate. Gift cards are NOT certificates don't be fooled. I had a fifty dollar GIFT CARD from restaurant.com. I embarrassingly took my husband to one of their listed restaurants for his birthday. Thinking I had at least 50$! Of course AFTER THE MEAL time to pay and they say sorry you have to redeem our certificates with your gift card. OK FINE LETS DO THAT. Sorry you can only purchase increments of 25$. OK FINE I SAY, i have 50$ so let's do two certs which equals 50$. SORRY they say you can only use one certificate per party per visit. WTF?! So I have fifty in a gift card for
Restaurant.com and u are forcing me to use only 25$ of it. Wow! I had to drop way more money than expected on that dinner and totally embarrassed.

Thumbnail of user craigs50
Maryland
1 review
10 helpful votes
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September 7th, 2015

First, I received a $100.00 Restaurant.com gift card from a client. I went online and located those restaurants participating in this program near me that looked good. I found one and they only had $25.00 gift card increments so I ordered 4 of them. But those 4 gift cards could not be combined for use in one visit. And even if you used them for 4 separate visits, they could not be redeemed more than one coupon per month.

Second, after several days of trying to get in touch with Restaurant.com, I was finally able to switch my 4 $25.00 gift cards into 1 gift card for $100.00. Then to find out that my GIFT required me to spend a minimum of $100.00 out of pocket to qualify to use the $100.00 coupon. Ended up spending $150.00 to redeem the $100.00 gift card for a total of $250.00.

Third, participating restaurants fall into 3 categories: Brand new, Old but slipping badly, and About to go out of business. My experience was the old but slipping establishment.

If you are seeking terrible food, negative surprises around every corner, and a souring relationship with whoever you give, or receive, one of these GIFTS from, go for it. But if you're normal, Domino's can be there in 30 minutes for a more pleasant experience.

Thumbnail of user kathleenw395
Arizona
1 review
3 helpful votes
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December 29th, 2019

From what I hear, after having this card rejected, is that this business does not pay restaurants, they do not reimburse for unusable cards. BIG, BIG RIPOFF... time for a report to BBB and Chamber of Commerce. This rip must be stopped!

Thumbnail of user susanb198
Illinois
1 review
5 helpful votes
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August 9th, 2016

Before I get accused of not reading the fine print, I did, I read it all. I purchased a certificate on Groupon after looking on the restaurant.com website. The deals looked good, such as $10 for a $25 dollar restaurant gift card. I purchased the groupon but when I entered my redemption code, all of those deals went bye bye. Here's an example of my choices...$25 for a $25 gift card. That is no bargain, especially when you consider the $50 minimum at the local restaurant. Now, I agree, I did not pay the full price for $100 worth of credit on Restaurant.com so all in all, it would have been a deal... EXCEPT... not only did the deals change, after I redeemed $35 of my $100, my account all of a sudden showed a 0 balance. RIP-OFF. I emailed using the address on their site, but have received no response. I called the number Groupon gave me and it just lets me sit on hold for eons. Don't waste your money... I guess if it sounds too good to be true, it really is. My mistake, just trying to keep you from making it too.

Thumbnail of user joshm414
Georgia
1 review
6 helpful votes
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September 4th, 2019

Jump through these hoops, hold your tongue to the right, rub your belly and pat your head ALL while you put your sensitive information out there for everyone to see. WAY TO COMPLICATED AND IT MAKE FOR A BAD EXPERIENCE AT ONE OF MY FAVORITE EATING SPOTS. Don't waste your time and just cut a coupon off a piece of paper.

Thumbnail of user khemaa
Texas
1 review
2 helpful votes
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June 10th, 2016

El Coqui, San Antonio, Texas does NOT honor the certificate you buy from Restaurant.com, claiming the Restaurant.com has not set up the account with them. So call the restaurant you would like to buy a certificate for BEFORE you purchase the "so called" discount certificate.

Thumbnail of user danas73
California
1 review
4 helpful votes
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December 8th, 2016

I bought a package of FIVE $25 restaurants.com gift cards on restaurants.com. When the gift card came, the back of the card says that it can only be redeemed on theidealmeal.com. WTF is th idealmeal.com? I didn't buy a gift card for that site. When I went on theidealmeal.com site the prices for the restaurant certificates were HIGHER than the prices on restaurants.com! Not to mention, many of the restaurants have a $100 minimum purchase amount. This means I cannot use my $25 gift cards because they do not allow you to use multiple gift cards in one purchase.

THESE CARDS ARE USELESS.

I'm beyond disgusted that I wasted my time and got scammed by these charlatans. How is this scam site still in business?

Thumbnail of user emoe
California
1 review
11 helpful votes
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September 18th, 2010

It is a ripoff! Most of the restaurants on the site do not honor the certificates. Some restaurants have even offered me a discount just for my inconvenience, but still would not honor the coupons. After some "words" with the managers, I come to find out that Restaurant.com scams most of these restaurants into an free ad deal where the restaurant would be able to control the terms of the coupons, then Restaurant.com does not allow the restaurant to make any changes thereby voiding the contract terms. The restaurants drop out of the program but Restaurant.com will continue to sell the coupons knowing the restaurant will not honor them. My strategy is to call the restaurant first and ask if they still honor the coupons, some say no, most say yes. Buy only the coupons from restaurants that will say yes without hesitation! Restaurant.com will not give you a refund! I learned that the hard way. Don't blame the restaurants from dropping out, seems like this company is alittle shaddy!

Thumbnail of user denisef41
Michigan
1 review
2 helpful votes
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May 19th, 2017

This website is very misleading and, overall, a complete scam, I tried to get my money back when I realized all the conditions, but they refused to give me a refund and were extremely rude

Thumbnail of user stephanief203
Nebraska
1 review
2 helpful votes
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October 17th, 2019

So if my headline didn't give it away, this company is trash. They harass you every single day multiple times daily. I've asked for 6 weeks everyday to be taken off the list. Today, I called them and asked to speak to a supervisor. The supposed supervisor came on and asked why I'm so bothered by a phone call. When I asked to be taken off the list he laughed and hung up on me. I called back again, I was hung up on. I called again and spoke to someone who seemed nice and I basically begged to be taken off of the list. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

If I could give zero stars I would. I've threatened legal action. I've threatened their lives and their families lives at this point. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE EITHER AS A CUSTOMER OR A CLIENT.

Thumbnail of user cherit3
Michigan
1 review
8 helpful votes
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December 26th, 2015

Worst deal around! Even if a restaurant is listed most of them will still turn you down... My restaurant did this for a very short period and lost tons of money and had unhappy customers!

Thumbnail of user gatorb
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 13th, 2018

Deals for good restaurants are somehow sold out when you try to exchange certificates of restaurants that no longer participate. Many participating restaurants are in sketchy areas or tourist traps.

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