OPEN TABLE
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Barrie’s Il Buco is featured on Canada’s Most Romantic Restaurants list. According to a recent survey conducted by OpenTable, Ontarians crave romance with 60 percent longing for romantic gestures. However, 74 percent of Ontario residents admit to procrastinating when it comes to booking Valentine’s Day reservations.
For those looking to up the ante in the romance department, OpenTable has compiled key insights and tips to help Valentine’s Day diners make the most of their romantic endeavors:
- Start locking in those reservations ASAP: According to OpenTable reservation insights from last year, most Valentine’s Day reservations are made, on average, ten days in advance leading up to the holiday.
- Michaels and Sarahs are the leaders in OpenTable bookings for Valentine’s Day: Data reveals that Valentine’s Day reservations on OpenTable are most represented by romantics with these names, followed by David and Jennifer.
- Singles Won’t Commit to Valentine’s Day Dates Ahead of Time: When it comes to respondents that identified as “single”, 42 per cent would not accept a date more than three weeks in advance and 37 per cent say they have procrastinated making plans specifically to wait for a better date option.
- Embrace your inner Night Owl: In Canada, the most popular time for dinner reservations on OpenTable for Valentine’s Day is 6:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Booking a later dinner means you can grab an apéritif somewhere nearby before enjoying a seat at your restaurant of choice.
- Go on a double date. Seriously: Last year, 86 per cent of Valentine’s Day reservations on OpenTable were made for two. Pro-tip: many restaurants offer four-top seating, so grab your best friends for a double date and lock in a table for four instead!
- Get inspiration from OpenTable: thirty-six per cent of survey respondents procrastinate making Valentine’s Day restaurant reservations because they don’t know where to go. Browsing OpenTable’s diverse list of restaurant options will help diners find the perfect date spot that suits their appetite.
The 100 Most Romantic list features restaurants from 31 cities across 7 provinces. Ontario tops the list with 46 establishments, followed by Alberta with 21, British Columbia with 15 and Quebec with 13. Rounding out the list are restaurants from Nova Scotia (2), Manitoba (2) and Saskatchewan (1).
While steakhouses and Italian cuisine are the most popular Valentine’s Day dining spots, this year’s list reflects Canada’s culinary diversity and flare. Some of the eclectic restaurants that stand out for their ambience, locavore meals and service across the country include Tide & Vine in the romance capital of Niagara Falls, the stylish and relaxed environment of Bundok in Edmonton and the charming farm-to-table gem forage in Vancouver.
“Planning the perfect Valentine’s Day can be stressful, so we’ve rounded up the most romantic dining options from coast to coast,” said Matt Davis of OpenTable Canada. “We’re alleviating the pressure of finding the right romantic restaurant and leaving it to diners to take it from there.”
OpenTable’s 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in Canada for 2020 list is generated solely from diner reviews collected between December 1, 2018, and November 30, 2019. All restaurants with a minimum "overall" score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. The overall score is made up of unique data points, such as overall diner rating, user klout, total number of reviews and regional overall rating. Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of reviews for which "romantic" was selected as a special feature.
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