First Table offers half-priced meals to diners who make early evening reservations through the website. Users pay $10 to make a booking at a partner restaurant for 50 per cent off the total food bill.

There’s only one table per eatery available each night, and it’s first in, best fed. 

Mandy Whitney is the mastermind behind the site and said the idea came to her when she was living in New Zealand and a new eatery opened where she lived.

“There was a French restaurant … and it had one table out the front,” she said. 

“As soon as they opened up they offered this as the first table of the night for half-off because it of course makes the restaurant looks busy.”

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The two-year-old website currently offers discounts in New Zealand and the UK and locally includes Sydney, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart.

The booking list includes seven hatted restaurants as well as popular dining choices like 4 Pines Keller Door, Cafe del Mar, Silvester’s, Harbour Bar & Kitchen, Kobe Jones, Mr Fox and Veludo.

It’s free for businesses to offer a table via the platform while the only cost to the hungry customer is the $10 booking fee – that’s how the website becomes profitable, said Ms Whitney.

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“Wollongong is going through an explosion of new and exciting restaurant openings and the city features some of this country’s best seafood and international cuisine,” she said. 

“That’s why we’re launching First Table here — to help foodies discover everything the city has to offer.”

Illawarra restaurants who have already offered their first tables of the evening include Rookie Eatery on Keira Street, Ron De Vu on Crown Street, Windjammers at the Novotel and Little Vietnam on Market Street.

Wollongong chef and owner of Rookie, Daniel Sherley said he didn’t mind offering a regular discount to get more people through the door.

“I didn’t see much of a downside, new customers and fresh faces are what this business needs,” Mr Sherley said.

www.firsttable.com.au