SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 7, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new survey by OpenTable, Inc. (Nasdaq:OPEN) (www.opentable.com), a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and guest management solutions for restaurants, this Valentine's Day is poised to be a busy one for restaurants with nearly 90 percent of respondents saying they plan to celebrate by dining out.   

"When Valentine's Day bookends a weekend, it's typically good for restaurants and diners," said Caroline Potter, Chief Dining Officer for OpenTable. "With Valentine's Day falling on a Monday, diners have four days — Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday — to enjoy a romantic meal with their loved ones. Plus, 'Valentine's Day Weekend' provides more opportunities to secure reservations at the most popular romantic restaurants."

While February 14 is the day of choice for 39 percent of respondents, many will celebrate another day:

• 30 percent plan to dine out on Saturday, February 12
• 15 percent plan to dine out on Sunday, February 13
• 4 percent plan to dine out on Friday, February 11
• 12 percent plan to dine out on more than one of these days to celebrate

It also appears the recession's grip may be easing on OpenTable diners. More diners are planning to dine out for Valentine's Day this year and, of those who dined out last year to celebrate, the majority plan to match their 2010 dining tab or step it up a notch:

• Approximately 90 percent plan to spend more or about the same amount as last year
• 58 percent plan to spend $100 to $200
• 12 percent plan to spend over $200

For those looking for a bigger night out this year, romantics in the nation's capital won't be freezing their spending plans.  Of the diners who said they plan to spend more this year than last, the highest percentage of respondents hailed from Washington D.C. (25 percent), followed by Baltimore (24 percent) and Miami (23 percent).

On the flip side, many North Carolinians are looking to scale down the festivities this year. The highest percentage of diners planning to spend less this year than last year hail from Charlotte and the Raleigh-Durham/Chapel Hill  region (tied at 16 percent), followed by Seattle (15 percent).

While 70 percent of diners planned to book comfortably ahead of time, nearly 19 percent will wait until the week before Valentine's Day. For diners still searching for the right restaurant, OpenTable.com provides Diners' Choice Top Ten Most Romantic Restaurants lists for each metro region and access to specials and menu details for February 14.  For more information, please visit www.opentable.com/valentines. Diners can also find more tips and trends regarding Valentine's Day on the "Dining Check" blog at OpenTable: http://blog.opentable.com.

About OpenTable, Inc. 

OpenTable is a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants. The OpenTable network delivers the convenience of online restaurant reservations to diners and the operational benefits of a computerized reservation book to restaurants. OpenTable has more than 15,000 restaurant customers, and, since its inception in 1998, has seated more than 175 million diners around the world. The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and the OpenTable service is available throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. OpenTable also owns and operates toptable.com, a leading restaurant reservation site in the United Kingdom.    

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CONTACT:  Tiffany FoxOpenTabletfox@opentable.com

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