How can I say thanks with a nice night out, from afar?

November 4, 2008 9:24 AM

How can I remotely reward a friend in San Francisco with a nice night out? Are there gift certificates I could order for a restaurant and deliver them by email to my friend? I know there must be a system for this, but I can't seem to get the google search terms right.

A friend's been doing volunteer work for the past couple months and as a way of saying thanks and I appreciate the hard work he's been doing, I wanted to give him and his wife $100 to have a nice night out.

The only rub is that I'm in Oregon, he's in San Francisco. Is there a site I can go to and maybe pick from some restaurants, pay for a certificate or whole meal, then let him know about it and somehow redeem it?

posted by mathowie to food & drink (12 comments total)

http://gift.restaurant.com/ ?
posted by zamboni at 9:35 AM on November 4, 2008

I don't know how legit it is, but this seems to work the way you describe: Restaurant Gift Certificates by E-Mail.

If I was doing that, I'd low-tech it by finding a specific restaurant myself, then calling them to arrange something ad hoc. No need for a paper or e-mail certificate if they already have a credit on file in your name, after all. Then you can send anything you like to your friend as his notice.
posted by rokusan at 9:36 AM on November 4, 2008

You can find a restaurant via OpenTable.com--that might get you a little closer.
posted by liketitanic at 9:46 AM on November 4, 2008

Low tech, but this has worked well for me in the past -- I just call the restaurant in question, purchase a gift certificate and have them hold it until your friend comes in (you'll have to tell him/her that you bought it) or have them mail it. I've never had a problem asking restaurants to do either.
posted by proj at 9:52 AM on November 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

I think most places would mail a gift certificate if you call the personally.
posted by sulaine at 10:00 AM on November 4, 2008

Absolutely. I did this for a great Sushi restaurant called Koo. I just called them directly, gave them my info and asked them to mail the gift certificate appropriately. They acted like this was a common occurrence.
posted by OrangeDrink at 10:07 AM on November 4, 2008

Why not just give him a generic Amex gift card?
posted by roger ackroyd at 10:09 AM on November 4, 2008

Cool, I'll just pick a restaurant and go for that.
posted by mathowie at 10:16 AM on November 4, 2008

Tell your friend that someone you know is visiting San Francisco -- ask him for restaurant recommendations. Ask whatever questions you want; he won't suspect.

Proceed to step two.
posted by wryly at 11:01 AM on November 4, 2008

You want to give her a gift certificate for Cafe Gratitude. It's just very good.
posted by watercarrier at 12:27 PM on November 4, 2008

NO! Not cafe gratitude unless your friend is a vegan or raw food person! There are hundreds of insanely awesome restaurants to choose from here!
posted by serazin at 3:03 PM on November 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

In the end I asked my friend for a restaurant recommendation (he thought I was taking a trip there soon) and called the restaurant which offered gift certificates and they were even nice enough to mail it directly to him. He was thankful and it all worked out in the end. Thanks, all!
posted by mathowie at 7:28 AM on December 5, 2008