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In this on-demand economy, how do restaurants come into play? Sure, you can hit up any number of apps to have takeout delivered to your door in under an hour, but snagging a table at a sit-down joint is a different situation.

That’s where an upcoming app called GoPapaya aims to be filling the void. The app, which is slated to launch next month, will let hungry consumers browse restaurants near them that are offering a limited number of last-minute deals on their empty tables. Basically, it’s the Hotel Tonight for restaurants. And, according to GoPapaya’s founder Marik Marshak, the service will be beneficial to not only diners looking for a good (and discounted) meal, but also to restaurants trying to maximize their profits when a night would otherwise be slow.

Marshak worked at EMC for 14 years and was the director of engineering for the company’s Core Technology division. I know what you’re thinking: Does Marshak’s recent switch to entrepreneurship have anything to do with the Dell acquisition? The answer, he says, is no.

He emphasized how appreciative he was for his time there. Marshak explained that he has nothing but respect for both EMC and Dell as companies and that his parting had nothing to do with the merger.

“It helped my own growth, but I wanted to do something different, something I could put my stamp on,” he said. “I wanted to make something that everybody can relate to. Everyone loves restaurants, food and especially to save money, so I went for it,” Marshak told me.

“People want to get what they want, when they want it.”

With GoPapaya, Marshak has combined these seemingly universal passions, while throwing on-demand into the mix.

“People like to be spontaneous,” he explained. “Look at Uber, for example. With Uber, people want to get what they want, when they want it…If you look at all other services in our life, there’s an element of time. With airlines, hotels and retail, the price depends on demand and supply. For restaurants, the price of steak at 6 p.m. – when tables are empty – is the same as it is at 8 p.m. – when there’s a line outside. That doesn’t make sense. The experience isn’t the same.”

So you can peruse the promotions available at any given moment and commit to one at no cost. The percentage discounts offered through the app are applied to entire food bills and pose no restrictions on menu items (except for alcohol in Massachusetts, in accordance with our state’s laws, which make happy hour illegal). So you can order whatever you want and still save money.

The one caveat is that you have to act fast when using GoPapaya, both in terms of snagging a promotion and getting yourself to the restaurant. This is because the upcoming app doesn’t want to position itself as a reservation service. Marshak said he doesn’t want to compete with players in the reservations realm, such as OpenTable. (Although, one can’t help but wonder whether Priceline will someday translate its reverse auction business model to the restaurant space now that it has acquired OpenTable).

“We give them 30 minutes to show up to the restaurant. We want to drive demand to the restaurant immediately and we don’t want people to think we’re a reservation system,” Marshak explained.

To ensure no one is abusing the platform and putting restaurants in a difficult position, repeated no-shows are temporarily suspended from the service.

On the restaurant side, eateries can use the same app to post real-time promotions that will help them drive demand as they need it. No matter the reason – an off-hour, inclement weather or a major event keeping other diners at home – they can list however many tables, party sizes and discount level they want and only at the times that they want.

As of right now, GoPapaya features around 20 restaurants, and it’s still actively recruiting as many as it can until the launch. Restaurants that start with the app next month will be able to use the services for free for a while. Marshak said that he’s really focused on gaining traction through user acquisition – restaurants and consumers – before he implements a revenue model or tries to raise a round of funding. When that day does come, GoPapaya plans to charge a small fee for restaurants, most likely based on each person who shows up to eat at a place through the app. But even that small cost in the future should pay off for restaurants.

“Instead of empty tables, you can have happy customers,” Marshak joked.

Image via GoPapaya.