There ain't no such thing as a free lunch? Think again. OpenTable gets 3 Thumbs Up.

Whenever I encounter a product or service that saves me both time and money, I have to award it the coveted 3 Thumbs Up designation. That’s right, why stop at two? In fact, theVC Scale of Love ranges from "The Finger" (yep, the middle one) which resides on the unhappy end of the spectrum all the way to "3 Thumbs Up" on the happy happy joy joy end of the scale. Just to put in into perspective (and, don't worry, I will post more about theVC Scale of Love in the future), Bernie Madoff Investment Securities is the poster child of a firm that has earned itself The Finger. On the contrary, OpenTable is a terrific service that scores 3 Thumbs Up.

I know, many of you are already familiar with OpenTable. After all, it’s one of those tech boom stalwarts that launched in 1999 (back in the Internet Golden Ages) and has been around ever since. If you are already a fan, then I won't be offended if you skip down to the last paragraph of this posting. Otherwise, allow me to set a scene that will open your eyes to this amazingly simple, yet effective service.

You are sitting at work on a Friday afternoon and your boss is hounding you to complete the TPS reports (click to see the video). You mind is wandering to that first icy cold, happy hour, adult beverage and you get a text from an old college buddy – “wifey and i r in town 2nite. dinner at 8? u choose.” Your boss saunters by, peers over the cube and taps his watch. In a strange turn of events, the normally mundane task of calling 40 different restaurants to track down that illusive Friday night, last minute reservation is oddly more appealing than completing thoseTPS reports. However, you do value that paycheck. In a quick effort to secure a reservation you log onto OpenTable.com. Voila - 4 simple steps and 2 minutes later you've landed a reso at the hottest new gastropub (really, despite the Pepto sounding name, they're the hottest new things these days), and an email notification with all the details has been sent to your friends. All you had to do was:

• Select a location - OpenTable represents more than 10,000 restaurants in 8 countries, so there is a good chance your local is covered.
• Refine your search - If you desire, narrow it down by neighborhood and cuisine, or even a specific restaurant name.
• Select date, time and party size - No explanation needed here.
• Pull the trigger - You'll be presented with a comprehensive list of available restaurants. Browse reviews and menus before making your choice.

It's that easy and the time savings are obvious. Now, here comes the free lunch. OpenTable offers Dining Rewards for each completed reservation. Typically you'll earn a $20 certificate after 20 reservations (each is usually worth 100 points). However, be on the lookout for the bonus 1000-point reservations and you'll speed up that run to a free lunch.

If all of that isn't grand enough for you, at certain times throughout the year OpenTable promotes Restaurant Weeks, partnering with local dining establishments to offer special three-course, prix-fixe meals at terrific prices for both lunch and dinner. Many of these are currently underway, so click here to see the current participating cities. In some cities, this event even supports a local charity. In San Francisco it's called Dine About Town and prices range from $21.95-$34.95. In New York it is called Restaurant Week, donations are made to City Harvest and prices range from $24.07-$35.00 (a steal in NYC). So, ditch thoseTPS reports for a few minutes and check out OpenTable.

UPDATE: OpdeTable is filing for an IPO - http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/30/opentable-files-for-ipo-and-reveals-its-finances/. Best of luck to them in this market!