Why reservations platforms* pay restaurants
An explainer.
It took some time, but reservations industry leaders finally ‘fessed up to offering restaurants money to sign on as partners. Restaurants are incentivized to hold tables for high-value guests, compensated through event sponsorship or marketing programs, and, sometimes, simply doled out incremental cash over the course of a contract.
No reservations platform wants to own this narrative, but most admit just a small fraction of America’s restaurants actually get paid. (I get the sense if you put the leaders of these companies in a room together, they might agree to abandon the practice entirely… or at least rein it in.)
Since terms of individual deals vary and are bound by non-disclosure agreements, it’s impossible to generalize this phenomenon. But the dynamic is changing the relationship between restaurants and their tech providers, and that’s definitely worth discussing. This post gets in the weeds, my very favorite place to be. Thanks for reading!
Late last year during a work trip, I was switching between the London Underground and Overground when a source called me. I’d never believe how much a restaurant group in New York was paid to help launch DoorDash’s new reservations platform, they said.
I ducked against a wall in the busy station and the source shared an eye-watering sum. I knew immediately that my source was right about at least one thing: I didn’t believe it.
“Holy sh*t,” I said, my American affect far too loud and aggressive for the buttoned-up British rush hour. Heads turned and I waved a hand to assure concerned commuters I was fine. Over the phone I asked, “Are you sure?” over and over.
The number — high seven figures — was an order of magnitude higher than any I’d heard before. Resy and OpenTable had been openly beefing for years at that point, one-upping each other as they poached partner restaurants and wrote checks to top partners. I’d heard plenty of chatter of big money — like, low-seven-figure deals — paid to secure high-profile restaurants under years-long contracts. I had not heard of any deal that approached this sum.
Since that day in London, I’ve heard whispers of more big paydays tied to exclusive reservations contracts that stretch into eight figures, but I’ve sadly never seen a signed contract containing final terms. Without that level of proof, this indie journalist (literally) can’t afford to misreport the financial details, so I’ve left them out.
As a public company, DoorDash’s finances are a matter of public record. Still, it’s impossible to find any proof of large payments to partner restaurants inside its balance sheets; the company is so massive that a huge payout by reservations industry standards amounts to a rounding error for the delivery behemoth. For context, DoorDash spent $746 million on sales and marketing in just the first quarter of 2026. Last year, it spent just under $2.5 billion on companywide sales and marketing efforts.
For purposes of this newsletter, though, let’s assume it’s true, that DoorDash is cutting checks far higher than any of its established competitors to win more restaurants.