Resy opens office in Charleston

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Restaurant reservation software platform Resy has opened an office in Charleston to handle sales and account management for restaurants utilizing the company’s service.

The Charleston office, located at 796 Meeting St., is Resy’s second office; its headquarters is in New York City.

The company currently has 18 employees in Charleston, with plans to grow the team to 23 employees by the end of the month.

“There is an early tech scene that is still in its early days, and we think that energy and talent pool and the spirit of innovation that exists here is going to allow us to scale — and certainly the quick flight from New York, which is going to allow us to easily cross-pollinate the offices and a lot of teams to get to know each other,” Resy CEO Ben Leventhal said.

Resy started in 2014 and works with about 5,000 restaurants in over 200 markets around the world. Restaurants use ResyOS, the company’s proprietary software, to run table management, wait lists, reservation booking and loyalty programs, among other functionalities.

The company began partnering with Charleston restaurants in 2016. Currently about 100 restaurants in the Lowcountry use Resy, including Dockery’s, Fig, Butcher & Bee and Edmund’s Oast.

“Charleston is a city that we’ve always loved,” Leventhal said. “It’s got a vibrant restaurant scene and I think it mixes the sophistication of some of the Northern cities in the country with the Southern hospitality of the South.”

Resy is also planning to bring its Off Menu Week — during which chefs and restaurants serve dishes that aren’t typically offered — to Charleston. Dates have not been announced.

This year, Resy offered Off Menu Weeks in Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, Washington, San Francisco, New York City and Chicago.

“I think the customers really want an intimate relationship with restaurants these days,” Leventhal said. “They really kind of want to get behind the scenes and get to know the people that are cooking their food, and Off Menu Week is a way that restaurants can offer that to customers and a way that restaurants can create that strong relationship with their guests.”