We used Open Table (for the last time) this evening. We made a 6 pm reservation at The Grand Marlin on Pensacola Beach for March 21, 2025. I had asked for a 7 pm reservation, but Open Table said they didn’t have anything open for that time. So we secured the reservation for 6. We arrived at the restaurant tonight 15 minutes early for our reservation. The hostess said they had our reservation but there would be at least an hour wait. To add insult to injury, a lady came up behind us with the same number of people (3) in her party, and they told her it would also be an hour wait. She didn’t have a reservation. With the technology available these days, the restaurant should have called us or emailed us (they had all of our contact information), to let us know we wouldn’t be able to get in until 7:15. This would have been perfect if they had let us know beforehand. But we got no notice. I’m sure Open Table will blame the restaurant. The restaurant blamed Open Table (saying Open table issued too many reservations). I’m not sure whose fault this was (I’m also writing a negative review for the restaurant), but this was ridiculous. Again, Open Table had all of our contact information, and could have easily alerted us. Fortunately, we called Drift (a much much better restaurant than The Grand Marlin) and they were able to get us right in (without the need for a reservation). As I said, we will never eat at The Grand Marlin again. More importantly, we will never use Open Table again. Please use Resy. They are so much better. Good bye, Open Table.
