I'll be honest: Ordering takeout is convenient AF. However, it's definitely not the same as socializing with friends over dinner and drinks at your go-to restaurant. I get it, though. Dining out can be really expensive, which makes it a special "now and then" kind of thing. However, one particular restaurant app wants to change that. More specifically, the Seated app for dining out will literally pay you to go out to eat. With that being said, forget about takeout for a few nights and invite your buds out to dinner.
If you haven't heard about Seated yet, allow me to catch you up. In short, the new app will reward you for eating at its partnered restaurants if you book your meals through the app. When I say "reward you," I mean it'll give you actual money that you can spend at a handful of different brands that Seated is affiliated with. Some of those brands include Amazon, Lyft, Starbucks, Apple, Target, Zara, Sephora, and so many more.
Brice Gumpel, co-founder of Seated, talked to Elite Daily about the app's rewards. He says, "For every reservation you make on Seated at one of our partner restaurants, you — as a consumer — get a certain amount of money back in the form of Seated dollars. Basically, they’re just points that can go be redeemed in our Seated Store."
In order to get those Seated dollars, you'll have to go through the booking process on the Seated app. Thankfully, that's super easy to do.
First things first: You'll need to download the app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices. Once it's on your phone, you'll need to go through a few steps and sign up for the service. (One of those steps includes providing your location so that the app knows where to search for nearby restaurants.) When you're all signed up, you'll be able to explore restaurants in your city that are partnered with Seated and make a reservation through the app.
As you're scrolling through restaurants, you'll see a reward percentage underneath the restaurant's name. That's the percentage of your check that you'll get back after you dine at that particular place. FYI, some spots offer up to 30 percent of your check back, which is a huge deal. In order to score that money, you'll need to take a photo of your receipt and upload it into your app. At that point, Seated dollars will accumulate in your account.
When you're ready to spend that cash, you can visit the Seated Store in the app and choose between "Everyday Purchases" or "Experiences." It's that simple.
So, what's the catch? Believe it or not, there isn't one. One of the main goals behind Seated is to bring social interaction to the forefront. Gumpel says, "We believe that dining is the last true form of social, in-person entertainment." He continues, "What we’re trying to do is make it a little cheaper for people to go to these amazing restaurants — go there more frequently — and get paid to do it."
What's even cooler about the app is that there's a wide variety of partnered restaurants included. Gumpel says,
There are Michelin-rated restaurants down to you local hot spots. We have bars, we have cocktail lounges. We have very expensive restaurants, and we have very cheap restaurants. It’s a very wide range, but the reason for that is because we want to be able to satisfy all of the different dining occasions.
In other words, whether you have a date planned or a pizza night on the calendar, Seated has you covered. In order to find participating restaurants in your major city, download the Seated app and get hungry.
