If you've tried booking a table at a sought-after restaurant in New York or Miami lately, you might have noticed something shift. The usual suspects—Resy, OpenTable, the restaurant's own website—now have company. DoorDash, the delivery app most people use to order takeaway, is now in the business of getting you a seat at the country's most exclusive dining tables.
For years, restaurant reservations seemed like a solved problem. Resy and OpenTable dominated the space, with occasional friction over which app had access to which restaurants. Now, the landscape is fragmenting rapidly. DoorDash launched its reservations feature in late 2025 after acquiring SevenRooms, the technology platform that powers direct bookings for thousands of restaurants. The move has set off a cascade of responses from competitors scrambling to protect their turf.
What makes DoorDash's entry different isn't just that it's a new player. It's how the company is using its existing muscle to compete. DoorDash holds about 67% of the US food delivery market share, giving it access to tens of millions of users who already use its app for takeaway. The company sweetens the deal by offering DoorDash credits (redeemable on future delivery orders) when diners book through its reservations feature. For DashPass subscribers, the company dangles access to exclusive tables at hot restaurants during prime times.
That's enough to get restaurants' attention. At New York hotspots like The Corner Store and The Eighty Six—exclusive, hard-to-access establishments—DoorDash has secured listings where some tables are only available to DoorDash users. The company has also arranged one-off exclusive dining experiences bookable only through its app, like eight-course omakase menus in Miami and truffle tastings in New York.
But here's where things get messy. The word "exclusive" is rapidly losing meaning. Industry observers note that many of the same tables appearing on DoorDash also show up on Resy and OpenTable at the same times. What actually distinguishes the platforms isn't availability; it's rewards. Book through DoorDash, you get delivery credits. Book through Resy with an American Express card, you get membership perks linked to your card benefits. OpenTable offers its own loyalty points.
Restaurants, meanwhile, are being pulled in multiple directions. The reservation wars appear set to intensify this year, as delivery apps, established platforms, and credit card partnerships all compete for access to high-demand restaurants. Some establishments manage inventory across several platforms simultaneously. Others have signed exclusive deals with a single provider, betting that the financial incentives (and yes, payments from platforms to restaurants do happen) justify the commitment.
One legitimate concern surfaces when you step back: Does fragmentation actually serve diners or restaurants well? The ecosystem now requires restaurant-goers to monitor multiple apps—Resy, OpenTable, DoorDash, direct booking links—to find availability and compare rewards. For restaurants, it means juggling more software, more operational complexity, and more pressure to prioritise which platform gets their best tables when.
What DoorDash and its competitors have clearly understood is that food delivery was always just part of the dining story. The real prize is capturing the entire relationship: where people discover restaurants, how they book, what they spend, what they order, and what rewards bring them back. The integration with SevenRooms gives DoorDash access to rich data about diners—their preferences, whether they've ordered delivery from that restaurant before, whether they're local or visiting. That data has real value for restaurants trying to personalise service and build loyalty.
For Australian diners, this story is still mostly happening overseas. DoorDash is US-focused, and the reservation wars are centred in American cities where apps like Resy have built strong presences. But the trend is worth watching. As platforms everywhere seek to own more of the customer relationship, the coming years will likely see similar battles play out locally. The question isn't whether one app will dominate—it's whether the proliferation of platforms ultimately makes booking a table easier or harder than it was before.