City Dining Cards has graduated to the next level of discount offerings. Gone are the traditional packs of cards that featured various Buffalo businesses and accompanying special offers. Now the Dining Cards are virtual – found on an interactive app that allows customers to thumb flip through discounted restaurant offerings. To tell you the truth, I never used the original City Dining Cards for a number of reasons – primarily because I never had them with me. But seeing this new smart phone version of the service, I believe that the group behind the initiative is really onto something.
After viewing a demonstration of the app, I was surprised to see how effortless and fun the program was. Not only are there plenty of awesome local restaurants partaking in the experience, the discounts are plentiful and worth the download. Plus, instead of dealing with traditional playing cards, the discounts are always available at the touch of a phone screen.
City Dining Card users are rewarded with virtual chips (every time they use the app) that they can cash in for gift certificates that are good to use at any participating restaurant location.
Seeing that the app is free to download, and free to use, there’s only upside to the service. Getting started is as easy as downloading the app, and flipping to your favorite eatery. City Dining Cards is currently available in Buffalo and Baltimore, but will be adding new cities to its roster in coming months:
- Rochester, NY (Launching Sept. ’15)
- Hamilton, ON (Launching Sept. ’15)
- Pittsburgh, PA (Launching Oct. ’15)
- Philadelphia, PA (Launching Oct. ’15)
- Syracuse, NY (Launching Nov. ’15)
- Toronto, ON (Launching Dec. ’15)
Other City Dining Card features include, discovering nearby restaurants, making reservations, and getting directions. Users can sign up via Facebook if they choose, which will immediately get them on their way to delicious discounts at some darn good restaurants.
Making the leap from card to app was a super smart move. The service is pretty handy, and should catch on like a firestorm. Try it yourself – I bet that you will be pleasantly surprised at the values that you find along the way.