Restaurants, cafes and other places of communal dining and leisure have undoubtably suffered over the past few years. Many establishments have been forced to cut costs in whatever ways they can.

However, it seems that with the help of new technology, restaurants can thrive once again. EatClub is a world-first app that allows restaurants with empty tables to immediately upload last minute deals that you can redeem.

Sydney Observer spoke with EatClub cofounder and CEO, Pan Koutlakis, to find out more.

What is it that makes dining out special?

There are a few elements that I believe make dining out so special. The food and the service are the obvious things that come to mind and it is true that they play a crucial role. Something that is more often overlooked is the atmosphere. The fit out, the energy of the room but most importantly the people, the diners. As a guest in a restaurant, you play a crucial role in the experience for your party and everyone else at the restaurant. Nothing quite beats dining at a venue with a great atmosphere and everyone having fun!

How can we get people excited about dining out, or how can we get them to consider dining out more regularly?

Most venues don’t have trouble filling their seats and creating atmosphere during peak times on a Friday and Saturday night. This isn’t the case for other times and days of the week though. Off-peak times and days are not good for a restaurants bottom line and it’s not good for the experience of the diners that do go to the venue during these quieter times.

At EatClub, we encourage restaurants to think about different days in the week in a similar way to how tourism businesses think about the seasons. Mondays and Tuesdays are off peak days like Winter might be for a beach destination. Restaurants can utilise lots of strategies to attract diners on these off-peak days. Special menus, entertainment and of course price! EatClub provides venues with an easy and reliable way to fill tables during off-peak days and times helping them make more money but also building atmosphere which improves the dining experience for everyone.

Do you think by encouraging more people to dine out with apps like yours, we can grow a thriving restaurant and café culture?

Apps like EatClub encourage diners to head out for dinner over cooking or ordering takeaway at home. We aim to turn what might be a once-a-week experience into something our users do 2-3 times a week. 73% of EatClub customers claim to eat out twice as much since discovering the app with 54% believing the eat out three times as much or more. 84% of these customers will also try a venue that they wouldn’t have tried without EatClub. These numbers really illustrate the impact EatClub can have on the dining scene in Australia.

Head to https://eatclub.com.au/ to download the app.