I’m Obsessed With This App That Pays You to Go Out to Eat

When it comes to apps, I am not a picky person. If I see an ad for one that sounds useful, I am immediately transfixed and download it right away. Typically I'll use an app for a few days before realizing it sucks and kicking it off my phone.

But two years ago, I saw an ad for Seated, an app that claims to give you cash back for eating out at restaurants. Obviously, I downloaded it, but unlike the other apps I unthinkingly install, I never got rid of it, and I never will. Seated is easy to use, actually does what it promises, and has added value to my everyday life. Here's why you should try it out too.

How does Seated work?

The app is extremely simple to use. Once you've downloaded it and created an account, it geolocates you and shows you participating restaurants nearby. On each of them, you'll see a number-that's the percentage of whatever you spend that you'll get back if you make a reservation via the app (and actually keep it). The reservations can be for a certain time or, in some cases, you can hit "walk in" and just show up. You can search for restaurants by type of cuisine or sort them by their ratings. Sometimes you'll see a lightning bolt by one of the percentage numbers, indicating that restaurant is giving out a higher reward than usual.

The app is live in New York City, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, and Philadelphia, and aims to be rolled out in more cities soon. For what it's worth, I use it in NYC, but have also had success with it in Hoboken and Jersey City in New Jersey, even though they aren't included on the official list of participating cities.

The Seated map of an area in midtown Manhattan. Credit: Seated/Lindsey Ellefson How you get paid with Seated

When I first got into Seated early in the summer of 2022, there was only one way to get the money: snap a pic of your receipt (being very careful to make sure the restaurant's name, the bill total, and other relevant details were all in-frame), upload it, and wait for the percentage of cash back to appear in your rewards bank, to be cashed out for gift cards for brands like Starbucks, Delta, Sephora, Target, Dunkin, Airbnb, Amazon, and a bunch more.

They have since added a new option, which involves linking a card to the app and paying with it so your transaction is registered automatically. This way, your reward goes straight back onto the card. I don't do that myself; it's not as fun to me as picking out my gift card. Still, I can see why someone else would want to.

You can also earn bonus rewards by giving out referrals. Usually, you and the the other person will each get a $10 credit when they join via your referral, but every once in a while, the app runs promotions upping the referral bonus to $25 to $35 for both parties.

Why I love Seated

Right now, my Seated rewards balance is $154. (Yesterday I had $204, but I redeemed an Amazon gift card for $50 to take advantage of some Prime Day deals.) I've previously redeemed $570 worth of gift cards to Amazon and TJMaxx over the past two years.

For me, the app just makes sense. I am decidedly not a home cook, and I eat out all the time. Since it's money I'd be spending either way, choosing to get some back is only logical. Obviously if you don't dine out often, it might not be ideal, and could even encourage you to spend money you normally wouldn't, but if you eat out more often than not, it's perfect. For the most part, the receipts I upload total between $14 and $25-I'm not breaking the bank, but the rewards really add up, even $3 or $4 at a time. On a few wonderful occasions, I've even convinced groups of friends to go with me to Seated restaurants, earning me a fat reward (my boyfriend is now used to me lobbying for Seated restaurants whenever we go out).

There's more value to using the app than just getting money back, though: I've discovered a lot of really cool restaurants in my neighborhood I probably never would have gone to otherwise. That, I think, is the actual point of the app-or at least the selling point for the restaurants that participate. I ate at a Mediterranean/Mexican fusion restaurant a few weeks ago, for instance, and it was delicious, but I would never have actually gone in there on my own. And I got $5 for it.