Written by the Removal Lab team.
Saturday was full. Monday morning there is a two star OpenTable review saying the fish made someone ill, with no report to you, no call and no complaint at the table. Can a restaurant get that taken down? Sometimes. OpenTable review removal is possible when a review breaks the OpenTable Terms of Use, which ban content such as defamation, threats, conflicted reviews and claims of health code violations. Removal Lab checks the review against those terms for free and replies within one business day. There is no upfront payment on qualifying cases. You pay only if OpenTable removes it.
This guide to OpenTable review removal is for restaurant owners and managers. We have kept it to what OpenTable itself publishes. Where OpenTable does not publish a detail, we say so.
How OpenTable review removal works
OpenTable says reviews on its platform come only from guests with a completed reservation. Diners who book through OpenTable are invited to review after they eat. On live restaurant pages the reviews are labelled as coming from verified diners who have dined at the restaurant.
That closed system means the classic fake review from someone who never visited is rarer on OpenTable than on open sites. Most OpenTable review removal cases are about content, not about whether the visit happened.
The rules sit in Section 17 of the OpenTable Terms of Use, titled Reviews, Comments, Communications and Other Content. OpenTable reserves the right, but not the obligation, to monitor, remove or edit what users post. It also says it may not regularly review submitted content. In plain terms, OpenTable will not always spot a problem on its own. Someone has to point it out clearly.
Which OpenTable reviews can be removed
Section 17 says user content must not be illegal, threatening, obscene, racist, defamatory, libellous or pornographic. It must not infringe anyone’s rights or be spam or political campaigning. It adds a line that matters to every kitchen: content must not contain health code violations, giving foreign objects in food and food poisoning as examples.
The same section sets rules about who may write and why. Here is how those rules show up in restaurant reviews.
| OpenTable term | What it looks like | Strength of an OpenTable review removal request |
|---|---|---|
| No health code violation claims | “There was glass in my salad.” “I got food poisoning here.” | Worth reporting. The Terms list both as examples. |
| No reviews of a restaurant you own or work for | A rival’s chef or manager reviewing your restaurant | Strong when the link can be shown |
| No reviews of a restaurant run by a friend, relative or competitor | A competitor’s family member posting a low score | Moderate to strong with evidence |
| No compensated reviews | A review written in return for payment or a free meal | Strong with proof of the deal |
| No false email or impersonation | Someone posing as another diner or as your staff | Strong with evidence |
| Not defamatory or libellous | States as fact that staff stole, assaulted or committed a crime | Depends on the evidence |
| Not threatening, obscene or racist | Threats, slurs or crude abuse | Strong |
| Not purposely false | Describes a dish, room or event that does not exist | Strong with your menu or floor plan |
| No political campaigning or spam | A slogan or advert with nothing about the meal | Strong |
The Terms also say user content should be unbiased and objective. That is a high bar in principle, but OpenTable does not say it removes reviews for being one sided. We would not build a request on that line alone.
The health claim review
A review that says a diner got food poisoning or found something in their food is often the most damaging one a restaurant gets. OpenTable’s Terms name both as examples of health code violations that user content must not contain.
That gives you a clear point to raise in an OpenTable review removal request. It does not mean the review will come down automatically. OpenTable decides. Your request is stronger when you can also show that no complaint was made at the time, that no illness was reported to you and that your food safety records for that service are in order.
If the diner did raise a genuine concern, deal with that first. A real food safety issue needs a real answer, not a removal request.
Replies may now be public
When OpenTable first launched replies in GuestCenter, its announcement said replies would be private and would not appear publicly. Live restaurant pages we opened in October 2026 show replies from restaurant management under reviews. Write every reply as if the whole internet will read it.
How to report a review on OpenTable yourself
OpenTable does not publish a public step by step guide for restaurants to report a review. Its Terms give it the right to remove content. Its guide for owners advises reporting a problem review through the platform itself. In practice, OpenTable review removal looks like this:
- Copy the exact review text, the diner’s display name and the date.
- Pick the single Terms of Use rule it breaks from the table above.
- Gather your evidence, such as the reservation record, staff rotas or the menu for that date.
- Contact OpenTable restaurant support through support.opentable.com, or speak to your OpenTable account manager if you have one.
- Ask for a review against Section 17 of the Terms of Use and quote the line that applies.
- Keep a copy of everything you send.
If the review copies your photos or your own published text, Section 24 of the Terms sets out a separate copyright notice. It must be in writing and include a signature, the work, where the copy appears, your contact details, a good faith statement and a statement under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate. OpenTable gives copyright@opentable.com as the address. It says it cannot act without all the required information.
What evidence helps OpenTable review removal
Strong OpenTable review removal requests rest on records you already keep.
- The reservation. Party size, time and table can show a review describes a different visit.
- The menu for that date. If the review names a dish you did not serve, show it.
- Staff rotas. If the review names a server who was not working, a rota with the name helps.
- Food safety logs. For a health claim, temperature checks and incident logs for that service.
- Links between reviewer and rival. For a conflicted review, anything public that shows the connection.
- Any offer or demand. For a compensated or pressured review, the message itself.
Keep diner personal details out of anything you send beyond what OpenTable needs to find the review.
What OpenTable will not remove
Most low scores are not candidates for OpenTable review removal. These usually stay up.
| Review says | Likely outcome | Why |
|---|---|---|
| “Service was slow and the room was loud” | Stays | Opinion about the visit. OpenTable even rates noise. |
| “Overpriced for what you get” | Stays | Opinion about value, which OpenTable asks diners to rate |
| “The steak was overcooked” | Stays | Opinion about food |
| A low score with a short, polite comment | Stays | No rule broken |
| “I found a hair in my pasta” | Possible | Foreign objects in food are a listed health code example |
| A review by a rival owner | Possible | Reviews of a competitor are not allowed |
OpenTable restaurant pages show ratings for food, service, ambience and value, plus a noise level. Individual reviews show overall, food, service and ambience scores. Complaints inside those categories are what OpenTable asks diners to judge. OpenTable review removal does not touch them. Our page on what we cannot remove explains how we handle those cases honestly.
Replying to an OpenTable review
When OpenTable review removal is not an option, reply. OpenTable says restaurants can respond inside their OpenTable dashboard, through GuestCenter or OpenTable Connect. OpenTable also offers AI assisted reply drafts. It says diners may opt out of reply notifications or report abuse of a reply. That last point is a reminder to keep every reply polite.
A good reply thanks the diner, takes the concern seriously and invites them to contact the restaurant directly. For a health claim, say you take food safety seriously and ask them to get in touch so you can look into it. Never argue about what they ate.
How long OpenTable review removal takes
There is no published timeline for OpenTable review removal. OpenTable gives none for review complaints either. Anyone who promises one is guessing. We tell you what has happened when it happens.
What to do if OpenTable says no
If an OpenTable review removal request is refused, check whether you raised the right term with the right evidence. A request that only said “this is unfair” can sometimes be made again around one clear rule. If nothing new exists, reply and keep the reservation book full. Every completed booking is another chance at a review from a happy diner.
The same diner may also have posted on Google, Yelp or TripAdvisor. Each has its own rules. See review removal for restaurants and hotels, Yelp review removal, TripAdvisor review removal and how to respond to a negative Google review. If a review makes false claims of fact, our defamation removal page explains when a legal route makes sense.
How Removal Lab works
- Send the link. WhatsApp, email or the two field form. Two minutes, no long questionnaire.
- Free policy check. A specialist reads it against the platform rules and tells you honestly whether it qualifies.
- We build and file the case. The right policy, the right channel, the evidence attached. We handle the appeal too.
- Pay only when it is gone. No upfront payment on qualifying cases. If the platform says no, you owe nothing.
What we will never do
- Promise a removal. The platform decides, not us.
- Post fake reviews or pay anyone to delete a review.
- Pressure, threaten or try to identify a reviewer.
- Charge an upfront fee on a case that does not qualify.
See how our process works and how pricing works.
Get a free OpenTable review check
Send the restaurant page and the review. A specialist replies within one business day.
Frequently asked questions
Who can write an OpenTable review?
OpenTable says reviews come only from guests with a completed reservation. Its restaurant pages label them as reviews from verified diners.
Can OpenTable remove a review that claims food poisoning?
It can. The OpenTable Terms of Use say user content must not contain health code violations and give food poisoning and foreign objects in food as examples. OpenTable makes the final decision.
Can a competitor review my restaurant on OpenTable?
No. The Terms of Use bar reviews of a restaurant owned or run by the reviewer’s competitor, employer, friend or relative.
How do I report an OpenTable review?
OpenTable does not publish a public report button for restaurants. Contact OpenTable restaurant support or your account manager and cite the Terms of Use rule the review breaks.
How long does OpenTable review removal take?
OpenTable does not publish a timeline. We update you as each stage happens and never invent a date.
What does OpenTable review removal cost with Removal Lab?
The check is free. On qualifying cases there is no upfront payment and you pay only when OpenTable removes the review.
Sources: OpenTable Terms of Use, OpenTable guide to finding and managing reviews, OpenTable: restaurateurs can respond to diner reviews, OpenTable reputation management and A live OpenTable restaurant page. Removal Lab does not work for OpenTable. Every decision is made by the platform.