When comparing Yelp vs OpenTable, the Slant community recommends Yelp for most people. In the question“What are the best Android apps for finding a place to eat?” Yelp is ranked 3rd while OpenTable is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Yelp is:
Lets you know what the dishes actually look like, not what it looks with an Instagram filter on.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Large collections of candid customer photos
Lets you know what the dishes actually look like, not what it looks with an Instagram filter on.
Pro Search filters allow a lot of customization
"Most Reviewed" for popular restaurants, "Highest Ratings" for well-received restaurants, use the # of reviews the popular restaurants as an anchor for had to evaluate the restaurants with the highest ratings. For example, if popular restaurants have ~1000 reviews, then well-received restaurants with >4.5 stars and >200 reviews is pretty good. A restaurant with 5 stars an 20 reviews might not be as solid.
Pro Huge repository
It's hard to find any food-related business who doesn't have a page on Yelp. (If it doesn't, that's a bad sign)
Pro Review keywords are helpful for menu must-orders
If enough people have posted reviews repeating the same key words (e.g. tiramisu), Yelp will highlight them. A good sign of something you should definitely order if it's your first time at the restaurant, or something that the restaurant does particularly well.
Pro Reservation system authenticates every reviewer
In order to write a review, you must have had gone the restaurant, and your review is marked with the exact date you went.
Pro Separates rating into food, service, and ambience
Allowing users to easily distinguish between fancy, but not so tasty restaurants, and vice versa.
Pro Easy to find affiliated restaurants
Pro Collections of customer photos
Thanks to integration with Foodspotting, there are a lot more photos than before.
Cons
Con Best Match is rarely the best match
The best match is usually the result of some continuous feedback loop of recommending the same set of restaurants to people over and over again, instead of the best restaurants in the area.
Con Android app lacks certain features
The iOS app allows you to use all the filters of the desktop site, but users can't sort by most reviewed or highest rating on Android devices.
Con Awkward photo presentation
They show from oldest to newest, even though the newest photos are more relevant. The desktop version of Yelp also has an old photo display system where you have to click to reveal each page of photos.
Con Reviewers haven't always gone to the place they've reviewed
Con Ratings tend to run high
The same restaurants will typically get between .51 points higher on open table, the audience usually gives between 45 stars as long as there weren't major flaws. This is partially do to the fact that service/ambiance plays a larger role in the ratings than other platforms. Since most restaurants that take reservations value service/ambiance, the ratings are skewed upwards.
Con Photos are not in chronological order
They appear to be random.
Con Low price cutoff
$50 and over is the highest price rank, which doesn't help much when comparing prices at sit-down restaurants.
Con Limited to sit-down restaurants that take reservations
Leaving at most casual places, cafes, bakeries, etc.