Yep, I’m going to eat one of those!

Just this week Mashable put out a little comparison chart of the most popular restaurant apps. This chart sparked my interest because I’ve recently joined a new club. It’s not a card club or a book club, but a restaurant club.

The goal of this club: Try something new, get out of our comfort zones and drink a lot of wine. No reading thick novels or learning a new card game (which I would inevitably lose), just the requirement to eat. Can it get any better?!

I’m going into my eighth month here in the “big city” and there is one thing that I haven’t taken advantage of, and that is the food (I blame it on my boyfriend’s wonderful cooking). My resident chef and I, along with four of our friends, are setting out to eat our way through the Twin Cities. Over the next few months we will try something stuffed with a cheese we’ve never heard of, eat a dish spicier than we thought we could handle or in my case, try an oyster!

In comes 35 Top Restaurant Apps to enhance our restaurant club experience (via Mashable):

• Top consumer rated location app: OpenTable
• Top review app: Local.com
• Top healthy app: Find Me Gluten Free
• Top deal finding app: Scoutmob (doesn’t include Minneapolis), so close second was LivingSocial
• Top payment app: Square
• Top loyalty reward app: Front Flip

I probably won’t go crazy and try these all out at the same time, I do plan to enjoy the company at these meals, but I might give a few a whirl.

OpenTable offers a way to make reservations, view restaurant reviews and participate in a points program. I’m a fan of the quick and easy to use reservation feature and will definitely be downloading this app.

Find Me Gluten Free is also a must have for me as I am a gluten free gal. This app allows you to type in an address and find nearby restaurants that offer gluten free items on their menu. I am usually able to make do at about any restaurant, but knowing that gluten free options are available is always nice.

Front Flip is a mobile reward program where you scan a code at a participating restaurant and ‘scratch’ to see if you’ve won a prize (1/2 priced this or free that). Businesses can also send mobile gifts to loyal customers via the Front Flip app. There is something fun about a scratch ticket, I’m not going to lie, but I’m not so sure on the widespread use of this app. I downloaded it and from my home in Golden Valley, there were 7 nearby participating businesses. Worth a try, or a scratch,  if a free app (the food kind) or drink is possible.

So do you have a go to restaurant app you use? Any great restaurant suggestions for my club and me?