DoorDash is revolutionizing restaurant access through exclusive reservation deals, outpacing rivals in the high-stakes battle for coveted dining spots.
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Manhattan, New York: The Eighty-Six is one of Manhattan’s most exclusive restaurants.
The steakhouse has only 11 tables, serves expensive foods like caviar and aged cheese, and limits who can get a reservation. Taylor Swift reportedly dined there wearing a Miu Miu skirt.
What may surprise people is that you can only make reservations at The Eighty-Six through DoorDash, an app that started by delivering burritos to people’s homes.
After buying a restaurant tech company last year, DoorDash is now competing with other apps to control access to the best restaurants in America. They offer exclusive tables to people who use their app.
So far, DoorDash has made deals in 13 large U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago. New York restaurants like Or’esh and The Corner Store will only take reservations through DoorDash.
High-end restaurants in Miami such as Cotoa and Sparrow Italia also use DoorDash for reservations. This competition for restaurant seats grew after the COVID-19 pandemic and shows how wealthy people want special experiences.
Other apps like OpenTable work with credit card companies to offer dining credits. Resy, owned by American Express, also creates special restaurant experiences for cardholders.
But DoorDash is moving faster than anyone else. They already control the largest food delivery service in America and use that power to get exclusive restaurant partnerships.
In just Manhattan, over 200 restaurants now offer only certain tables, times, or reservations through DoorDash. The company wants to become the main app that connects people with all restaurants.