Off The Menu Club For Foodies Reviews

by **ColleenD**

Seems worth it but it actually really isn’t and the customer service used to be very friendly and understanding , let’s just say they aren’t even close now a lot of generic automated responses. All options are usually places with awful parking options/or no options for parking at all, you end up paying gas, time , and expensive parking fees for a “free” item, places can cancel their deal on the day of, while you’re on the way, or even turn you away after you drove 45 min to get there. Many places are ruder to you because they know you’re there for a free item and are disappointed if you don’t want to order anything else. Just know this before signing up. Places are between 30-45 minutes at the lowest and for a tiny slider, or two three chicken wings Again seems like a fun idea till you have OffTheMenuClubForFoodies for a few months Save your money on OffTheMenuClubForFoodies Spend your money at the mom and pop shops and absolutely try new food in new areas on your own. Without OffTheMenuClubForFoodies

by Lbv3

Been using OTM off and on since 2019. I really love that idea and for the most part it’s great and a great value. It helps me discover new places to try not just for dinner but snacks too. The reason I don’t stick to it all year long is sometimes it feels unhealthy since most of the food is rich and decadent. The other thing I wish was better is if we had more than one choice (at least for the spicy dishes since I don’t like too much spice) or if deals were spread over a month because sometimes I wanna try a place but not that week or it’s out of the way. When they have a major deal (like the recent yardbird one) or special events it’s great and I don’t mind if I don’t use many deals that month because I definitely got my moneys worth. Another minor thing is it’s called ”off the menu” but most items are just menu items which is great for the most part because if I like something I can try it again later but takes away from the “exclusive” feel of it that it’s based on. Overall, it’s a great concept but not the must have game changer I thought it would be my first week I signed on. (It was pizza week which was wonderful of course and introduced me to LBK pizza which I still love!)

by Hellomyfry

I love the idea of OTM but unfortunately the options aren’t reasonable to get to. The other day I drove 12 miles and it took me 45 minutes one way to get one sandwich. The mileage may not be far but in LA it’s extremely time consuming. I do like the items I see available but unfortunately I don’t have time to drive 45 minutes for a cup of coffee. You need more options in the valley. There are soooo many restaurants I can’t imagine OTM would have a hard time getting restaurants to sign up. A customer can make a day of it but unfortunately OTM only allows one redemption per day. I would suggest allowing your customers to do more than one option per day then they can make a day of experiencing different restaurants. I probably will cancel my membership because there’s not enough options available in the valley. I don’t have the luxury of time to get to the options that are available.

by Unco Andrew

OffTheMenuClubForFoodies is a great idea, but sometimes I feel disrespected by some restaurants when I use it. E.g. waiters ignore me; they don't prioritize my order. Maybe they feel like they don't need to since I'm not paying them directly (besides tipping generously, which I always do - although they don't see that until the end). OTMC should do a better job of encouraging restrautants to treat OTMC patrons with the same respect as other patrons.

Update Aug 2020: This has gotten better in the last month or so.

I'm was also not seeing as much variety as I think there's should be for an app that claims its goal as having us try restaurants we normally wouldn't. I've seen the same restaurant on here 3 times in 3 months.

Update Aug 2020: This too seems to have gotten better in the last couple months.

Also, most of the restaurants are in Culver City, KTown, Hollywood, or even further north in the SF Valley. When I lived in Torrance, it was hard for me to take advantage of many of the deals. I haven't seen any deals further south than Culver City in the six months or so I've had OffTheMenuClubForFoodies.

It also used to have more full meals offered, but now it's more like a side or a drink, making it less worth it.

Update Aug 2020: This too has improved - it's usually at least the equivalent of half a sandwich if not more these days.

by OTMFlippy

This review is more of a review of the service and not so much OffTheMenuClubForFoodies . The service is spectacular. I love being able to try new local small businesses every week for one flat monthly fee. Their weekly picks are always appetite inducing and I try to redeem as many as possible. However the one major flaw is that you can only redeem one item per day. This makes it hard for people with busy schedules or time restraints due to work, school, etc. Why not let us redeem multiple items in one day and just mark them as used for the rest of the week? It doesn't make sense, especially when there's an item that's a drink or desert right next to another place where there's a redeemable entree? My friends and I unfortunately miss out the majority of redemptions because of our schedules.

Other than that, customer service has always been quick to respond and resolve whatever issue I may be having. Looking forward to next week's picks, and hoping to be able to check out more than one of these business a day.

by Kelsielaurie

I’m someone that likes to try out new food, new restaurants. Living in Southern California there are SO many options but I don’t always know where to start.

When I first heard of Off the Menu, it seemed too good to be true. After using it for 2 weeks now, it’s really as good as it seems! With some caveats, of course. What I love about it:
I can visit new restaurants, try new foods, and get to support small businesses during this time of the pandemic. Each week, there’s always at least 2 places that are drivable distances and have a menu item that looks fantastic to me. With just $20/month, I see that as an amazing deal.

What I would like to see change or evolve over time.
- do restaurants like OTM? Can OTM share client feedback from restaurants on their experiences doing OTM? Are they still making an income when they participate in this?
- more than half of the time, I’m purchasing additional items besides the OTM one. However, sometimes I don’t. In those cases, I am unable to tip because I didn’t purchase anything and most restaurants aren’t taking cash because of the pandemic. I would love to have an alternate solution here because I do want to tip and support the restaurants.

All to say, I’m a big fan- I don’t know if this will be a long term thing I do but for now, I’m having a blast using it!

by Shay Disney

honestly i was a bit skeptical about OffTheMenuClubForFoodies at first because it’s too good to be true but it
Really is super neat!! A downfall is how far some of the places are AND how we can only unlock once a day. It’s hard to go to some of the places when I’m working every day so it would be more easier if i could unlock multiple on the weekend and just have that item be marked as used for the week.... once a day thing is a bit difficult for schedules..... but the best thing about it is that OffTheMenuClubForFoodies has let me discover SOOO many great places that don’t even show up when i search for food on yelp!! I’m grateful for OffTheMenuClubForFoodies! My boyfriend and i are huge foodies / huge yelpers so OffTheMenuClubForFoodies is amazing! I hope they start one in OC for one of my friends too!

by You Guys Are All Jokes

I’ve been on OTM for over a year now and have discovered so many amazing restaurants AND saved so much money because of it. There are good weeks and not as good weeks, but there’s always at least one item a week I want to redeem so it totally pays for itself! My only complaints are:
1. You can only redeem one item per day. I really don’t see the point of this. Let members redeem based on whatever works best in their schedule. What difference does it make if they go to two places in one day?
2. So often I see restaurants on OffTheMenuClubForFoodies selling out or becoming unavailable at a moment’s notice due to “unforeseen circumstances” - it’s frustrating when it happens time and time again. Perhaps OTM could do a better job vetting restaurants to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Besides those two issues, I truly love OffTheMenuClubForFoodies and can’t see myself ever canceling!

by Bradyg55

Pros:

Possibility of getting one meal everyday for $20/month
Wide selection
Usually delicious food!
Lots of unknown places with delicious food!

Cons:

You can only get one food/drink per day. Extremely inconvenient since all selections are spread out. Let’s just say you live in Pasadena. If there’s 2 snacks, 1 meal, and 1 drink near Santa Monica this week, you would have to drive to Santa Monica everyday to redeem ONE snack, instead of going there, grabbing a snack, meal, and a drink, then heading home.

If you don’t live in downtown LA, you might be too far for most of the food. Most selections are in Hollywood, Santa Monica, Pasadena, and Malibu.

If you’re doing this as a non-foodie and just want to get the most bang out of your buck, you might not save as much as you think because the food selection is so spread out and you’re only able to get one food/drink a day. Your “savings” will most likely be depleted through fuel cost.

———-

Would I recommend it? Yes, if you like driving, drive electric, and want to try out different foods everyday around the area. The price is reasonable if you fall under those conditions. Also OffTheMenuClubForFoodies interface is simple, I enjoy the map instead of the list because it shows how far the food is.

by Lainy21

I’ve been using this for two months now and it’s been a pretty good experience overall. As long as you redeem at least 1-2 items a week it feels worth it. It certainly does get you to try places you would never have thought to go to and definitely discovered some great places from OffTheMenuClubForFoodies . So for now I will keep OffTheMenuClubForFoodies but there are certainly times when the item is too much effort for what you get.

The main gripes I have are that you can only redeem one item per day even for tiny items like a coffee or cookie. I get that their business model is predicated on not redeeming too much but it is pretty ridiculous to expect anyone to go out of their way for a $2 item. Combine that with the fact that there appears to be zero thought given to location in a week and spreading places out, and allowed redemption dates. Sometimes multiple items are not redeemable on certain days like Sundays and only a few options actually exist on a given day. LA is huge and sometimes everything is clustered in the same location which is terrible for the environment to have people drive back and forth.

This week there was only one item available west of Koreatown and it was a dessert. They could at least let you redeem small items as a bonus second redemption or have a random day where you can redeem more than one item. It would also be nice if you could tip through OffTheMenuClubForFoodies .

TLDR. It’s worth trying out of you live relatively central and don’t mind driving.

by ViennaWoods

Like OffTheMenuClubForFoodies a lot overall! It’s great for trying new restaurants and is a great deal even if you’re only able to redeem two or three times a month. Would love if there was a way to see past offerings or where you’ve previously redeemed to be able to refer back to them if you wanted to go back to a restaurant. Otherwise, I’ve had mainly good experiences, but did once drive to a place only to be told they were not offering it at that location that day. Agree with others that it’d be helpful to be able to redeem more than once a day since the locations are pretty spread out - perhaps a limit of 7 times a week so that the overall allotment doesn’t change and users could save on some driving time. Would recommend giving OffTheMenuClubForFoodies a try!

by Dinosaue

I love OTM! Its allowed me to try our different restaurants around me that I didn't know about before! OffTheMenuClubForFoodies works great. Changes weekly. Something new.

As others mentioned one of the flaws is only being able to redeem one item per day. Some of the items are appetizer sizes and the locations can be pretty far out. You would have to be in the area to go otherwise an hour travel time to redeem one small item isn't worth it. And then you can't make it a day to hit up all the restaurants just to try it out. With how traffic is, it's not worth going to some of the locations unless you're in thr area.

Also can't wait for them tk expand in more areas. So far it's really only in the the far ends of LA and then OC.

by Honolulutiger

The greatest investment I made during quarantine was finally signing up for OTM. It gives me a reason to leave the house, explore LA, and try out new restaurants. I’ve found some new faves thanks to OffTheMenuClubForFoodies , and though I know some people are frustrated by the single item redemption per day, it makes sense logistically. As long as you redeem a couple items throughout the month, you’ve already paid for your membership. I like to add on and try other menu items as well to support the restaurant beyond just a tip for the free item. I have found every restaurant thus far treats me like any other customer, regardless of if I add on a paid item or not. I’ll be curious to see if they maintain the take out option once quarantine is over. I hope so! The only thing I wish OffTheMenuClubForFoodies had was the ability to save spots/items you loved or want to visit in the future. Obviously I can save them on Yelp or bookmark on Instagram, but it would be nice to just have this feature in app. There have been some places I haven’t been able to hit but want to try on my own dime because they look so good, and I wish I didn’t have to remember to star them elsewhere. Anyways, if you’ve been on the fence about joining, just give it a go! Not only can it be a money saver but it’s just a freaking lot of fun.

by Gifisjn

OffTheMenuClubForFoodies is sooo worth it you really can get so much food. I live in Long Beach and there are always 3-4 spots near me every single week. Every week they release the menu and you can pick between the items at the different restaurants. It’s such a great way to try new food from restaurants around you! Seriously I plan my whole day around getting my “free” food. Even if you only use it a few times a month you get your money’s worth. But you will definitely be inspired to check out the offers at least I am. I’ve only had OffTheMenuClubForFoodies 3 weeks and I’ve gotten amazing food from 12 different places. So I’ve literally been eating for free I loveeee it just try it for one month and trust me you’ll be hooked!

by AFairProgrammerAndGamerAtHeart

I’ve been using OffTheMenuClubForFoodies for about a month now and I can definitely say it is worth the $20/month subscription. Being able to redeem an item everyday allows me to try a new restaurant without having to drop $15+ on items that may or may not fit my taste. OffTheMenuClubForFoodies is simple to use and their customer support always responds in a reasonable time. The only suggestion I have is to remove the daily limit of an item per day and instead allow for 7 items per week. It takes a lot of time out of my day to drive to some places and it would be nice to hit up multiple shops while I’m out for the day. Other than that, would highly recommend!

by Chrischenbale

Immediately subscribed when OffTheMenuClubForFoodies dropped, i think with a cross promo with eater.

I actually look forward to every Sunday at 10 am when the menus drop to sort of plan my week out.

Things that make OffTheMenuClubForFoodies endearing (other than the fact that i work at the major newspaper in LA and dabble in food content) is that I’ve actually met Lawrence, by chance (in dtla), when there was some miscommunication with the vendor. He helped resolve that pretty quickly.

Things that could be thought on: decreasing the once a day ticker to once every 8 hours? I understand the necessity to stagger content. There have also been payment glitches where i went to a store and it either time out/cache didn’t save my information. Another thought as you expand is having more localized experiences. Knowing scale, it might be beneficial in creating a tiered system where you can offer a more expensive hyper localized experience, and one for the greater LA.

All in all, OTM has exposed different experiences for me: from Nancy silvertons grilled cheese at mozza to Dave’s hot chicken to la birrira. Food has a big part of la culture and my life, and it has only been an added benefit.

by Jenvaz1

I came across Off the Menu about a month ago and completely love it. I’m often amazed at the long and diverse list of free items and eateries includes each week. Of course, I can’t make it to everything each week, but I’ve definitely got my subscription’s worth (e.g. $20 monthly subscription = a free sushi bento box worth $18 in one week + a ton more redeemed). What I especially appreciate is actually the requirement to tip and encouragement to purchase other items. It’s not just about taking advantage of free items, it’s about supporting a community of diverse restaurants trying their best and making amazing food during this pandemic. I’ve appreciated discovering new places across town plus supporting some in my own backyard through OTM!

by Dbkndfb

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ I’m Surpreme late! I should have wrote a review especially for OffTheMenuClubForFoodies! I Love OffTheMenuClubForFoodies..It’s great because there is so many options in Los Angeles for restaurants it’s unbelievable. The fact that OTM gives you the experience and opportunity to gain the Los Angeles Restaurant experience is Excellent. I gain knowledge on all the different restaurant in LA and able to inform friends, family & other individuals like tourist and acquaintances about where the desirable places to eat throughout Los Angeles! Thank you OTM for providing this service, as an Actor here in LA I looked to build another brand of my content and becoming a foodie was one of those future plans. With OTM I was able to fulfill that agenda by providing my followers and fans with my experiences on my platform about the different restaurants I experience and OTM is a great plug along with that journey also. Thanks Again! A must download and Join! ✌🏿✌🏿✌🏿

by Lela Au

Prior to OTM, my boyfriend and I would always spend the longest time trying to decide on where and what to eat. Sometimes finding new spots could be so daunting and time-consuming! OTM has made it a NO-BRAINER. I have had OffTheMenuClubForFoodies for about 3 weeks now and we have thoroughly enjoyed discovering new items and supporting businesses outside of our usual rotation. It’s also been a great way to connect with friends. We love the variety, locations, and there have been a handful of spots that I would definitely return to in the future. It’s been a total game changer in our lives.

The only recommendation that I would have is — for some of us with gluten/dairy sensitivities, it would be helpful to have the option to upgrade and pay the difference for a gluten-free/dairy-free alternative if the partnered restaurant offers one.

So far we’ve been absolutely loving the Greek foods, milk teas, acai and pitaya bowls so please keep those coming!!

by Leslie1091

OffTheMenuClubForFoodies is maybe my favorite app on my phone and my husband and I recommend it to everyone we know. You pay $20/month to get 7 free items a week at local restaurants (one each day). The customer service is helpful and prompt. I started using OTM in late 2019 and they’ve done an amazing job even through the pandemic. Sometimes there are little annoyances- OffTheMenuClubForFoodies will crash, a restaurant employee won’t be familiar with the promo, restaurants will only redeem during weird hours or sell out quickly- but all in all OTM is such an amazing value and I love getting to try so many different LA restaurants for such a small cost. It is helpful to follow OTM on Instagram, as they’ll often post when something sells out or there’s anything else you need to know about redeeming something.

by JiffJaffJeff

Firstly, the customer service is always prompt and very helpful. If you run into any little issue they are swift to help and fix it.

OffTheMenuClubForFoodies itself is such a great idea! You get a chance to try a variety of drinks and food all over LA. It really gives you a chance to tap into the saturated market and come across some places that you may have never come across if it wasn’t for OffTheMenuClubForFoodies . If you’re able to redeem a few times a week it is well worth the money, and don’t forget to tip!

The only downfall that I really have with it is that you can only redeem once a day. I understand the point of that to an extent, but we also live in LA which is one of the busiest cities in America. Our schedules are usually packed and driving anywhere in general can usually be a hassle let alone time consuming. Some places may be close within one another at times but you have to choose one over the other and hopefully be able to plan that drive some time again during the week before the new set of restaurants begin. If you were able to use OffTheMenuClubForFoodies twice a day I think people would be able to redeem more and businesses would see more. The overall use of OffTheMenuClubForFoodies would remain the same because once you claim that item you can’t claim it for the rest of the week. Just my two cents.

by Cxchelsey

Off the menu service - truly enjoy the experience offered by OTM and every restaurant I have tried so far. As someone who appreciates good food but dislikes doing a lot research, OTM gives me a good range of choices to explore. On average, I get to try 1-2 new restaurants per week depending on the locations and am happy about the variety.

OffTheMenuClubForFoodies - OffTheMenuClubForFoodies is straightforward and easy to use. It would freeze sometimes but relaunching it usually solves the problem. One suggestion would be to include a direct link of the restaurants’ social media, instead of showing them as part of the image (makes it hard to look them up as I can’t copy/paste the Instagram handle).