First Table vs EatClub: Which discount restaurant app is best for diners?

EatClub discounts are more dynamic; think Uber surge-charging in reverse. On any given day, restaurants choose how much of a discount they’re willing to offer (up to 50%, but we’ve noticed 35% is more common) within a specified dining window. You book the deal but not the table. If the restaurant fills up before you arrive you may have to wait (though most restaurants only release deals when they have plenty of capacity).

On a random recent Wednesday in Auckland, Culprit’s $125 tasting menu was $62.50 per person for a 5pm booking via First Table. On EatClub, Baduzzi was offering a 35% discount for arrival between 8 and 9pm.

EatClub allows free cancellation before the start of the arrival window and says fee penalties “tend to be reserved for users who repeatedly don’t show up to keep it fair for everyone”. If you’re more than 15 minutes late to a First Table offer, “the deal is off”.

Always. But especially on First Table, where “special conditions” abound. They vary from restaurant to restaurant and are easy to find on the app but it does pay to check - we spoke to a pescetarian who booked a Japanese restaurant without realising the discount didn’t cover fish dishes.

Enchiladas in Gore, lamb korma in Russell, smashed avo on toast at Waikanae Beach – First Table appears to have seats in almost any town near you. EatClub launched with 250 venues but is (so far) restricted to Auckland and Wellington.

First Table requires you to mention you’re using the platform on arrival (so maybe get there ahead of your date). Discretion is a big part of the EatClub sell. Customers pay using a digital card and even the restaurant doesn’t know you’re on the app. (If your phone is not also your wallet, you can still claim a discount – it’s just a bit more complicated.)

You’re going out for a meal, not meal-prepping for an entire week.

Depends on the platform. An EatClub discount applies to the entire bill – drinks, sides, tomahawk steaks, et al. First Table’s half-priced offer excludes drinks (and often requires a minimum beverage purchase) and, as mentioned, some restaurants list special conditions that exclude some menu items.

First Table’s upfront customer service fee varies depending on how many people you’re booking for (we haven’t seen anything higher than $15 total) and restaurants don’t pay to be on the platform. EatClub charges customers a 2.9% transaction fee (with a minimum payment of 20 cents) and restaurants pay a commission on the demand it drives to their venues.

A septuagenarian writes: “It is unfair to know that just by turning up very, very early a diner eats for half the cost the loyal customers that come later pay. It is highly unlikely those early diners will return and become regulars. Greedy seagulls taking the choice bits with no conscience. I also think it devalues everyone’s experience.”

A 20-something says: “I’m at the age where I don’t have the capital to care. I don’t actually have the money ... I don’t feel any shame because I feel like people on the whole have stopped going out. If you can convince all your friends to go to dinner and then you get it half price, it’s so exciting. I have felt bad when there are five of us and because it’s half price we go mental and order heaps. Sometimes I feel like the restaurant feels like we’re using them.”

“First Table was actually a lifesaver for us last winter. The reality is you have full-time staff to pay regardless of whether you’re busy or quiet. On a slower evening, I’d much rather have a table dining at 50% off than have that table sitting empty while still paying the same wages ... we also found that guests were generally really appreciative of the opportunity.”

“EatClub and First Table? They’re a predatory model. The people running them have no skills that are applicable to the industry. They take other people’s hard work and dedication, offer it at a discount, and clip the ticket for themselves. It also trains diners to eat out only when it’s cheap, at a time when plenty of restaurants are closing because it isn’t cheap to run one. I think restaurants are better off choosing their own path.”

According to First Table’s website, it all began with a cut-price early dinner at a French restaurant in Queenstown. Tech entrepreneur Mat Weir saw an opportunity to solve slow starts to evenings at scale. In Thailand, he spent 12 intensive days creating the booking system that he initially shopped around New Zealand from a relocation campervan. Meanwhile, across the Tasman, nightclub manager Pan Koutlakis was trying to figure out how hospitality could more dynamically respond to last-minute cancellations or unexpectedly quiet nights. Long (Covid-interrupted) story short, EatClub was born. Today, it partners with Mastercard and British chef Marco Pierre White, who was reportedly lured into a 5% ownership share when Koutlakis sent an unsolicited email to every famous chef he could think of.

“Restaurants have always done deals,” White told reporters, restaurateurs and social media influencers at the recent EatClub launch. It was held at Auckland’s Cassia, where White enjoyed two serves of the excellent lamb chops, held up a flip phone that was almost certainly incapable of connecting to the internet, and cited everything from two-for-one meal deals to “drink with purchase” promotions as historic evidence of the world’s ongoing fascination with free food.

From the EatClub launch press release: “Much like an airline seat or hotel room, an empty restaurant table is a highly perishable inventory. An empty table on a Tuesday can’t be stored and resold on a Friday. EatClub gives venues a way to create demand in those moments without changing their menu pricing or compromising the experience for full-paying customers.”

From First Table’s website: “First Table is a restaurant discovery platform that incentivises diners to book tables at restaurants during off-peak hours. Our unique model charges diners, not restaurants, making it completely free to list your restaurant on our website. All you need to do is make the First Table offer available for a minimum of one table per night on your quiet days.”

We reckon First Table is great for people who want to plan – you can book in advance, your table is guaranteed and the only catch is you have to tell someone at the counter that you’re dining with a discount. EatClub favours the spontaneous – it suits walk-ins and risk-takers who are looking for good deals but don’t necessarily want to declare that intention to the world.

Kim Knight joined the New Zealand Herald in 2016 and is a senior reporter on its lifestyle desk.