Monday, October 1, 2012

Romeo Restaurant Reviews (The Finicky Phantom Diner)


    

I have recently been looking at online restaurant reviews and decided to create my own.  After all, I go out to eat at least once a week with my wife, family or friends.  My opinion counts just as much as all those fancy critics and might even mean more to the regular Tom, Dick or Harriet.

I first Googled  “Restaurant Reviews” and came up with a list of possible suspects. There was Zagat.com, TripAdvisor.com, Yelp.com, Local.com besto.voiceplaces.com, urbanspoon.com, fodors.com, opentable.com, dine.com and many others.  Some review web sites were geared to just local restaurants, business or attractions and other sites were national.

I then read the reviews on the various sites.  Some were easily accessible by the average diner and others you had to join to even get a local opinion or list of businesses.  Some also had reviews from professional reviewers and others from the casual diner.

After reading a few reviews, most zeroed in on a few categories when giving a restaurant critique. These included (service, atmosphere, cleanliness, food, and price). When rating these categories different scales were used like (Five Stars *****), (A,B,C,D), (Good, Fair, Bad), (Low, Medium High), (1 to 4) or (1 to 100).

When trying to define each category I came up with the following definitions.   Atmosphere describes the décor or feel of the place. Cleanliness describes how clean the tables, plates, silverware, floors or bathrooms were.  Service describes how fast you were seated, how quickly the waiter returned with requested items, how they greeted you, how knowledgeable they were about the menu choices. Price describes how reasonable the cost was for the food and service (Low, Medium or High).  Food was the most important category and describes the quality of the food and its presentation. How the food looks, smells and tastes?  Is it over cooked, tender, and fresh?  Does it have a pleasing look and aroma?  Is the quantity just right, too little or supersize.

With all this in mind I decided to post my reviews on YELP.COM since it was easily accessible by the casual reviewer as well as the diner looking for some advice when selecting a restaurant. Yelp reviews restaurants and other businesses both locally and nationally.

Most importantly, if you want to write a review it needs to be done as soon after your dining experience as possible so your opinion is fresh in your mind and meaningful.

When dining with my wife we normally discuss our reactions to the rating categories while we are eating.  However, it is more difficult trying to gather this information when dining with a larger crowd unless everyone contributes they’re opinions in writing.

Recently, I polled my Romeo friends (Retired Old Men Eating Out), for their opinions on the restaurants that we have dined at.  Although I receive a limited response, I would like to thank those who replied and will try to include their opinions in my reviews.

To date,  I have written four reviews and posted them on YELP.com  You can see them there by typing in my name (Mark Ryan) in the Members Search  line or just clicking on the link below ….


There is also a short rating found below for those who wish to send me a review or recommendation for a restaurant to try. Thanks in advance for your help.

Comments Always Welcome ……. Markryan82@comcast.net

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Restaurant Review Short Form

Your Name    __________________      Present  Date ____________
Name of Restaurant ______________ Date Dined ________

Rating Score (1-10 with 1= Poor and 10 = Best) Rate the Price = (Low, Medium, High)
Type a number or letter after each category and send the reply by email back to me.
Only respond to the lunch that you attended.
Rate the following categories : Service __ , Food  __ , Atmosphere __ , Price (L,M,H) ___
Name Your Menu Selection and Describe it:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Additional Comments:
_______________________________________________


 

No comments: