How to Save on Restaurants and Cafes Using the InKind App (It's a Deal!)

Screenshot from InKind

Over the years, I've been known to recommend various restaurants, cafes, pizzerias, ice cream shops, and bakeries to visitors. Sometimes even hotels.

Such advice is all based on my experience as a tour guide since 2000 and a New York City resident far longer. I don't get any benefit from such advice.

I now have a recommendation that could benefit both you and me. If you download the app InKind and join (it's free), you'll get $25 off a $50 (or more) tab at hundreds of restaurants in New York and many other cities. (I'll get $25, too, once you use it.)
Here's the link. 
How it works

You'll get other benefits while using it. When you pay your bill with InKind (linked to a credit card), you'll get 20% back in InKind credit, which then accumulates in a Wallet, thus helping you pay future bills.

You can also buy credit at a discount.

Your tip and tax are paid separately, and the tip, of course, is calculated on the full bill.

You may get random, short-term offers from InKind, like the $25 credit I recently got for a Restaurant Week meal in New York, or a credit for a particular restaurant. (Be careful to activate special deals, and choose that deal rather than the standard 20% cash back when paying the bill.)

(What's the catch? Well, there's an unusual business model, as I'll explain below.)

The case for InKind

Why do I recommend InKind? I learned about it not when seeking a bargain but when looking into Mercado Little Spain, from the famed chef Jose Andres.

Now I use it regularly.

Some favorites include the cafe/bakery Winner, in Park Slope; the local cafe/bakery chain Maman (also in DC and a few other cities); the Ethiopian restaurant Ras Plant Based, in Crown Heights, the Middle Eastern counter-serve spot Spice Brothers in the East Village, and the Thai restaurant Kru in Williamsburg.

The coupon or discount has also prompted me to try some establishments that might seem pricey, like the famed Superiority Burger in the East Village, or the revamped Montague Diner in Brooklyn Heights. With the discount, they were very good values.

Heck, stellar restaurants like the Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern are on InKind!

Behind the business

The restaurant business is a notoriously tough one, given the enormous variables of food costs, staff costs, weather, and seasonal traffic, plus low margins.

InKind's business model, as this article explains, departs from traditional restaurant financing modes, offering upfront cash in exchange for twice as much value in restaurant credit, which it will then sell back to diners--us--at a roughly 25% overall discount.

InKind makes money on the spread, but only as long as the restaurant is successful, so the company--unlike, say, a bank or loan shark that could repossess an asset--has an incentive to first choose quality establishments and then encourage more people to go to them. 

To quote InKind: "Restaurants receive funding at the lowest cost of capital available, plus marketing support that drives more customer visits. Consumers receive monetary bonuses to spend at inKind partner restaurants plus additional dining perks. It's a win-win model for operators and consumers."

There hasn't been much journalism about InKind, so it's hard to know how much restaurant operators like it. In this Reddit thread, one owner was wary of the 50% discount, given margins below 10% in the restaurant business.

Among the responses: the InKind credit may not be fully redeemed; the delay in redemption lowers the discount rate, and the app may drive more customers, all tipping on the full bill, thus rewarding employees.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

---