Last summer I blogged about my affinity for OpenTable and how I’ve used that site/app to find great places to eat when visiting unfamiliar cities.

A recent visit to State College, Pa., renewed my faith in OpenTable. Two weeks ago my husband and I were in that area to pick up our car, and we thought it would be a nice gesture to take some family members out for lunch. I pulled up the OpenTable app on my iPhone, saw that the best-reviewed eatery in the region was Zola New World Bistro, and made an instant reservation. The meals we had at Zola were spectacular, and the establishment’s hip interior design made a lasting impression. We had a great experience. Our family had a great experience. Thank you, OpenTable. However, this was a moment of redemption for OpenTable after a grave disappointment in the fall. A friend and I decided to try out a brand new restaurant that I found on OpenTable. My plan was to write an eTested review for Global Traveler’s e-newsletter. (Which you receive weekly, right?) The experience was so cartoonishly atrocious that not only did I abandon all thoughts of a review, but I don’t even want to mention the establishment by name in this blog, fearing that it might help its search engine placement or name recognition. The expensive, well-presented food was rancid (my friend fell ill later that night), and took over an hour to be served with no appetizers or salads. There was a rip in my seat that was covered with duct tape. There were so many flies that we wondered aloud if we’d inadvertently ended up in the Amityville Horror house. The only thing missing was a waitstaff headed by Grover from Sesame Street. The pièce de résistance came two days later, when the restaurant called to tell me that their computer had gone down the night of the meal, and they were unable to charge my credit card at that time. The restaurant had to look up my contact info via OpenTable to take a credit card payment by phone! I posted a negative but fair review of the experience on OpenTable. It was the first truly bad experience I’ve had using the site, and frankly I thought I was providing a valuable service for other OpenTable users. My bad review was not an isolated incident. At least four other bad reviews appeared within the same week. A week later, all of the negative reviews had been deleted. I was very disappointed to see that OpenTable removed the reviews. Although I realize that dining establishments pay to be listed on OpenTable and they may fear negative feedback will hurt business, part of the site’s draw is that verified paying customers determine the real value of the restaurants. Cosmic karma won this round, because as of last week, the awful restaurant is no longer listed on OpenTable. It either removed itself to curb the negative attention or it was banished by OpenTable due to complaints. The establishment’s profile remains accessible on my account, and I can see that additional bad reviews were posted. I’m thinking the restaurant pulled the plug, but I guess I’ll never really know. I’m still a little upset that OpenTable put the restaurant ahead of users in this situation, but the magnificent meal at Zola New World Bistro made for a fine consolation prize. — Patty Mahlon, director of digital media