How to Use ChatGPT to Find Great Restaurants for Clients (and What’s Coming Next)

First: what can ChatGPT do right now?

ChatGPT is great at understanding natural language, which means you can type in a restaurant request like you’d say it out loud, and get back intelligent suggestions.

For example:

“Can you recommend a few good restaurants for a business lunch near Covent Garden that are quiet, not too formal, and have vegetarian options?”

It’ll respond with a shortlist, including reasons for each one, such as atmosphere, menu highlights, even links to reviews or booking sites.

Recently, OpenTable integrated with ChatGPT, which means it can now search availability directly and offer booking links in real-time (currently for certain regions like the US and UK). You still need to click through and book, but it saves a lot of faffing around.

How to get the best results from ChatGPT

Like most things with AI, the better your input, the better the output.

Here are a few prompting tips to get stronger responses:

• Include the occasion: client dinner, anniversary, team lunch, etc.
• Be specific about location: don’t just say “London” but narrow it down to the area.
• Mention preferences: cuisine, dietary needs, noise level, view, etc.
• Add details like date, time and party size for real-time availability via OpenTable.

Example:

“I need a relaxed but high-end Japanese restaurant in Soho for 3 people this Thursday at 7pm. One guest is gluten-free.”

ChatGPT will usually return a well-organised list with descriptions, and if OpenTable is enabled, it may include availability or direct booking links.

A few practical ideas for VAs:

• Use ChatGPT to brainstorm a shortlist quickly, then check availability yourself.
• Ask it to compare options if you’re deciding between two places.
• Use it to prep your client, e.g., “Write a short description of this restaurant I can paste into a client’s calendar.”
• Check for dietary menus or private dining spaces in one go, instead of trawling through websites.

It’s a great tool for your assistant work, especially when time is tight.

But… ChatGPT has its limitations

It’s important to know where the boundaries are, especially if you’re using it for client work:

• It can’t make bookings for you – it can link you to OpenTable, but you’ll still need to confirm.
• It doesn’t know your client’s preferences – everything is based on what you type in.
• It sometimes suggests places that don’t fit or are out of date, so always double-check.
• It can’t message or notify guests – you still have to handle the admin around the booking.

So while ChatGPT is amazing for ideas and research, it’s not yet the full solution.

What’s coming next?

This is where things get exciting.

A new AI restaurant booking assistant called Vessa is launching soon, and is built specifically to handle the restaurant booking process from start to finish, with you and your clients in mind.

Vessa can:

• Chat naturally on WhatsApp, phone or email
• Recommend tailored options based on preferences and past behaviour
• Handle the entire booking
• Notify your clients or guests
• Learn over time what works for different people or occasions

Vessa acts like a helpful, food-savvy colleague who just gets it, and who saves you loads of time in the process.

Want to be one of the first to try it?

Vessa is launching soon, and the waitlist is now open.

Join the waitlist here to be first in line and get 1 year of free Premium access when he goes live.

If you book restaurants for clients regularly, this could be a real game-changer for your workflow, and for your time!