What's for dinner? Spin the wheel on a new app to find out!

Lauren Glassberg Image
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
What's for dinner? Spin the wheel on a new app to find out
Lauren Glassberg has the story.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- If you find that you're debating about where to eat dinner, there's some new technology there that helps you decide.

A new app is making dining out fun and more affordable.

Indian, Mexican, Chinese, if New York's dining options overwhelm you and your dining companions, there's a free app that can make decisions for you with the spin of a roulette wheel.

Cherian Thomas launched Spotluck in Washington, DC. The app gamifies the dining experience and taps into people's indecisiveness.

"You get one spin per day. So instead of arguing you push a button it spins the wheel picks a random local restaurant for you and offers you a smart discount," Thomas said.

Spotluck's software offers discounts based on the day, the time, and the weather. So during slow days or off hours you'll get a bigger discount, up to 35-percent off.

"So if it's a Tuesday and it's raining, it takes a little more to nudge you to get off the couch, and our software knows that, so the discounts go up when it rains," Thomas said.

So far, 250 restaurants in the New York City and Hoboken areas have signed onto Spotluck. The restaurants pay a signup fee and a dollar per diner.

"If it's empty we're not making anything, if we get 10 people, it is well worth it," a restaurant owner said.

Spotluck helps local restaurants like Hog Pit on West 26th Street gain new customers and fill tables.

The app doesn't work with chain restaurants, and users can stream line their choices by neighborhood or cuisine.

Spotluck is also integrated with Instagram, Google Maps and Uber, making getting to that restaurant as easy as possible.

Cesar Garcia manages Cafe Tallulah on the Upper West Side.

"We had over a 100 customers, over 100 customer who have dined with us through Spotluck," Garcia said.

That's just in the past month!

By the way, if you don't like what the roulette wheel lands on, you can always dine at another Spotluck partner restaurant for 10-percent off the bill. Saving money always makes that meal taste better.

There is always a baseline discount of 10-15-percent.

It's also gamified, there are ways to earn bonus spins.

It launched in New York City six weeks ago, and 8,000 diners have already used it.