Does anyone else hate the idea of Yelp and City search as much as I do?

[buonaboy]

This is a bit of a rant, but mostly just curious on how other Chef/Owners are handling the amateur reviewers..

I'm just about to demand that City Search and Yelp remove my restaurant from they're web pages. Not because I have a bad rating, we have 4 1/2 stars on one and 4 stars on the other, but because of the quality of writing. I really believe that restaurant critiquing should be left to those who KNOW WHAT THE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
I know, I'm complaining about free press, (unless you are actually paying them) -but if I have to read another review that says "They don't even have spaghetti and meat balls, I thought this was an Italian place" I think I might send my cleaver through my computer monitor. Even the good reviews are vague and pointless. I just don't think people appreciate that with great power comes great responsibility. They think nothing of flaming your restaurant based totally on they're biased opinions, or maybe they found one of our waitress/waiters a little short due to the fact that they didn't have a reservation and pestered us until we squeezed them into a section that was that was already slammed, on a friday night at 8:30?!!??
Really!? Or how about the blatantly fake good reviews that bad restaurants get, reading them you can tell it's just they're family and friends.
Even though the good reviews far out way the bad, I just would rather due without these internet reviews,
Can't we just leave it to the Pros?
thanks
mike

[the_seraphim]

no....the reason being... i dont understand whatever the heck those "pros" are on about...

ok sometimes things like "they dont even have sweetcorn" which i hear an awful lot btw i dunno what it is about sweetcorn but w/e are annoying, but beyond that... thats exactly what i want to know

if im going to an italian place and i happen to read that they dont have spaghetti and meatballs, i might think "hmm i really did have a hankering for spaghetti and meatballs, perhaps i shall go elsewhere" (though wheat intolerance means i will not eat the pasta)

also i give restaurants the benefit of the doubt... i can see from a bad review, what to expect... it may mean i rethink just turning up and make a reservation, it may mean i take extra cash because its "expensive" and i dont want to get caught out.

these are the views that are important... and anyway... if youve got 4 1/2 stars... STOP COMPLAINING! i just got a critics review of my place... utter rubbish... it goes on about things that arent important (although it was a good review non the less) i still didnt like it, and thats a PROFESSIONAL review... i prefer the others

[rat]

It is my belief that most are posted by the employees -good or ex-employees--bad.

Who cares really, I go to a place because I want to try it myself.

[Clove]

I have to disagree, because I love Yelp.
After reading many of the reviews, it is very easy to spot the disgruntled customers and those with unrealistic expectations.

Yelp was especially helpful to me when I first moved to Las Vegas. When a little dive in Chinatown gets close to 80 positive reviews, I know it is worth checking out. Yes, there are some reviews that are clearly posted by employees or such, but these become easy to spot. I think Yelp is a great help to some of the smaller restaurants in this city that don't have much of an advertising budget. The local paper does not have a good food section and tourists are hit with all kinds of hotel "dining guides". Yelp is an alternative that allows people to get more details on the place they are going. I not only love to post a review when I find a great new restaurant, I also enjoy reading the reviews for the restaurant I work in. When the reviewer is very specific about their dining experience, I will even print it out and share it with staff.

[KYHeirloomer]

Mike, just out of curiousity, would you define "pro" for me in this context?

[buonaboy]

As I suspected, no one else feels quite the same about this topic as I do.
In this "information age" does anyone stop to think about all the misinformation.

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

Mike, just out of curiosity, would you define "pro" for me in this context?

When I use the term "pro" I simply mean the people who have spent the time and done the research to ad creditability to the topics they write about.
I guess I'd rather get a bad review from someone who knows food and dinning, than a good review from a philistine.
I strive everyday to become better at my work, not for the critics but for myself. Bad reviews always have an element of truth to them, something we've missed or overlooked (even if its our choice of employees) -we can always learn something from them. Good reviews are just a pat on the back, and lets face it, We are Chefs! -we have no problem patting our own backs.
-ciao

[Bazza]

I use these review sites as a marketing tool on my website, I have a "reviews" page with links to the sites giving us reviews. I have found it pulls in a lot of business..........and it makes me feel good to read em!

[jennabrown]

Originally Posted by Clove

I have to disagree, because I love Yelp.
After reading many of the reviews, it is very easy to spot the disgruntled customers and those with unrealistic expectations.

Yelp was especially helpful to me when I first moved to Las Vegas. When a little dive in Chinatown gets close to 80 positive reviews, I know it is worth checking out. Yes, there are some reviews that are clearly posted by employees or such, but these become easy to spot. I think Yelp is a great help to some of the smaller restaurants in this city that don't have much of an advertising budget. The local paper does not have a good food section and tourists are hit with all kinds of hotel "dining guides". Yelp is an alternative that allows people to get more details on the place they are going. I not only love to post a review when I find a great new restaurant, I also enjoy reading the reviews for the restaurant I work in. When the reviewer is very specific about their dining experience, I will even print it out and share it with staff.

I too disagree. Just like Yelp & City Search I also refer Boorah.com for restaurant reviews.

[LogghiB]

I strongly disagree with the notion that a person needs to know a lot about food to know what good food is.

It's a free method of marketing for your restaurant. People who see it will, probably, know to take reviews (good and bad) with a grain of salt.

You'd rather get a good review from a pro than a philistine? Can't someone not be a food writer and still have an educated palate? Aren't we, as chefs, cooking for mostly people who aren't food writers? So isn't their feedback, in turn, the most important?

[buonaboy]

Originally Posted by LogghiB

I strongly disagree with the notion that a person needs to know a lot about food to know what good food is.

It's a free method of marketing for your restaurant. People who see it will, probably, know to take reviews (good and bad) with a grain of salt.

You'd rather get a good review from a pro than a philistine? Can't someone not be a food writer and still have an educated palate? Aren't we, as chefs, cooking for mostly people who aren't food writers? So isn't their feedback, in turn, the most important?

Just because someone can type, has an educated palate and access to a computer, doesn't mean they should decided they are a restaurant reviewer.

And yes, as Chefs we are chiefly cooking for people who are not food writers, when those people go to the web to research your restaurant shouldn't they have information that is creditable and well reasoned?

Are all of you implying that EVERY customer review is on point and should be read by others? Really?

Maybe we should return the favor, and post what we have to say about our customers? I'm sure everything our cooks and waitstaff mutter is factual and appropriate.

-ciao

[jbd]

Originally Posted by buonaboy

Just because someone can type, has an educated palate and access to a computer, doesn't mean they should decided they are a restaurant reviewer.

They may not be a restaurant reviewer in a formal sense, but they have eaten at your restaurant and have formed an opinion of the food and the service. As such they have the right to make their opinion known.

Originally Posted by buonaboy

And yes, as Chefs we are chiefly cooking for people who are not food writers, when those people go to the web to research your restaurant shouldn't they have information that is creditable and well reasoned?

Whether the information is credible or well reasoned or not, is for the reader to ascertain. I agree with the others that it is fairly easy to pick out the "reviews" that are not well reasoned. Things like, Its an Italian restaurant and they don't even have spaghetti and meatballs. Even a TV character like Homer Simpson would discard that comment or one remotely similar.

Its all very simialr to the recipe reviews that can be found on places like allrecipes.com etc, etc. When you read the comments by people who have apparently made dish it often times becomes apparent who knows what they are talking about and who would be better off skipping cooking or baking and heading out to a fast food chain to quell their hunger.

No matter what you do; you will never be able to make every customer 100% happy if you are in business long enough.

[LogghiB]

Originally Posted by buonaboy

Just because someone can type, has an educated palate and access to a computer, doesn't mean they should decided they are a restaurant reviewer.

Why not?

If the people we are trying to draw into the folds of our business; the people we are trying to feed, have a comment to say about our restaurant why isn't it valid? Are we taking umbrage at the people who have criticisms that are invalid? Or people who just post reviews to stroke their own ego by being able to point out trivial flaws?

If someone can type and has an educated palate then I feel they DEFINITELY have the ability to review restaurants. My only gripe with community-driven (web 2.0 to toss a buzzword around) restaurant reviews are the people who don't care about food and do care about espousing baseless opinions. But I don't think this hurts business at all, and otherwise the empowerment of our consumers can only be a marketing tool and a learning tool for us, the restaurateurs. And if someone is sad you don't have spaghetti and meatballs (for real, which I doubt) then maybe you could create some whimsied tribute to the old favorite and gain a loyal customer through sense of ownership.

This is pretty longwinded but I'm just saying that these websites can be a valuable tool if you see them in their own right. The high regard held for professional food writers is slipping, and people are realizing that they shouldn't be admonished or disregarded for their tastes. If you want ranch dressing on your porterhouse then ask for it - no eyerolls or long sighs can make you wrong for liking what you like. It's condescending to think their opinions aren't worthy - and even more so to think that readers of these sites can't browse reviews with a modicum of critical thinking.

(soapbox over, etc.)