Thanks for your comment. Yeah, that's the problem, if you're traveling, Yelp is still useful for finding local restaurants. I have no solution to this, except for a global EMP event that puts us back into the pre-internet age.
I've never bothered with Yelp restaurant reviews. Good lord, can't people look at a place, the menu, and figure it out for themselves? I understand wanting to do some J Gold reviewed eating, or even better the Sterns' guide to eating across America. I like Sean Brock's cookbooks, btw.
You made me look at my favorite restaurants' Yelp. I don't travel much, so I don't Yelp. 90% 5 stars, 5% 4, 5% 1. The 1 star reviews are a comic delight. The best and most helpful review - "this place is the tits. He's quirky, but it's the best Italian in the state." Sums it up.
The economics of Yelp are the same as every other extortionist, social media-based communication scheme. The only restaurants that can afford to deal with Yelp are the national and regional chains. Which are exactly the places that don't need yelp.
So I roll into a new town, hungry. It's late. Long day. Should I eat at the Chili's by the mall or at the TGI Fridays near the bowling alley? I need a good burger, hot french fries, a cold beer, and ideally a friendly waitress. Yelp sucks for all the reasons stated, but please point me to the App/website where a properly credentialed restaurant critic has reviewed these two restaurants in Flagstaff, or Omaha, or Des Moines? Of course, no self-respecting restaurant critic would ever set foot in these establishments, let alone write about them. Google reviews are no better, and they frankly are less useful, usually. Yelp is just about all we have. It's like democracy - the worst form of government except for every other that has been tried.
To me that's the most infuriating thing about Yelp. As much as I dislike them, they're still useful, especially, as you've capably described, for traveling. I have no solution to the Yelp problem, just angry hand-waving.
Yelp is good for is putting companies on blast when they screw you over. They can blow you off a thousand times on their customer service lines, and then you'll FINALLY get someone higher up to pay attention if you rip them on Yelp. It's a last resort, but I've done it twice. Just today I had a visit from the Sunrun "Executive Resolutions Team" to get my solar activated after a full YEAR of frustration. They don't give a sh!t about my YEAR of wasted, unproductive customer service calls, but they don't want to see their Yelp rating drop to 1. I would never hurt a restaurant for a bad meal. It's too subjective an experience and too disproportionate a response. But for giant corps that don't live up to their agreements Yelp is a great club for us peons to have in reserve.
These are all people who vote, they just happen to be explaining their votes on restaurants instead of explaining their votes on politicians. You find their critiques messy, illiterate and reprehensible. If people wrote about why they voted the way they do, you would find it no different.
Why complain about something pointed at restaurants that you celebrate when it is pointed (silently) at politicians and political issues?
As a sometime professional restaurant critic I generally agree with anything that raises my status, and Yelp's sales and revenue model contains a fair share of sleaze. With that said, I'll mount a partial defense.
Even in a larger city that still has more than a fig leaf of local media, critics cover only a sliver of the new places, let alone keeping tabs on stuff that's been open since the Bush administration. We got a Zagat guide in the early aughts and it was a revelation, even at a time when we had two competing dailies and four competing alt weeklies all doing reviews. In some ways I think the Zagat system was the best mix of pro/amateur because it selected for enthusiasts rather than wannabe influencers or cranks with an ax to grind.
What any serious consumer knows is that Yelp is useful if you read it with a filter. I've joked that its quality would be dramatically increased if they allowed you to filter out reviews that included the phrases "large party," "brunch," or "Restaurant Week" from the results, because those in particular are flypaper for amateurs. I've sometimes second-guessed my own tendency to avoid places with less than 3.5 stars, and I've rarely been favorably surprised. I'm sure there are exceptions but in areas where there's a high density of reviews, 3 stars and below really does seem to be a significant demarcation line.
Likewise, it seems to me that a steadily-growing number of operators are learning to do more than just give every would-be 1-star takedown a tongue bath in response. I've traveled a lot and have eaten in plenty of bad restaurants, and had some bad experiences in very good restaurants (ask me about Singlethread), but if I was Yelping almost all of these would be two or three stars. Many, surely not all, one-star reviews are written by zero-star customers, and I fully support managers and chefs responding to that effect.
Thanks for your insight about this. For me, one of the most infuriating things about Yelp is that, despite it's terrible flaws, it remains useful, especially while traveling. Also, I think you're exactly right about it being an okay filter. A sufficient number of negative reviews, or under 3 stars, are good reasons to stay away from a restaurant.
I also miss the Zagat guides. They were always reliable.
I don't regularly read Yelp reviews, but do see them, and Google reviews. Yes, one must absolutely must read with a filter. Unfortunately I could not find a filter large enough to contain your ego. Yes I understand that you are a restaurant reviewer and that suggest something of a certain level of 'class'. However, your dripping hatred for most of the rest of the people living on this planet is pretty, Oh, I don't know. Maybe rates 1/2 Star. I could quote some of the reviews that you quote, but what the heck, you wouldn't get it.
I've eaten at Red Lobster. It's not my favorite place to eat, but it's not bad. If you look down at the clientele at Red Lobster, there is something wrong with you.
I'm not a restaurant reviewer. I'm a history professor who likes to eat. As for my "hatred" for people. On the contrary, I like most people. I just don't think most people should be writing restaurant reviews, just as I don't think most people should be flying airplanes or doing surgery.
Also, I emphatically do not "look down at the clientele at Red Lobster", I look down at the food and the experience. You need to read a little more closely next time.
Thanks for your comment. Yeah, that's the problem, if you're traveling, Yelp is still useful for finding local restaurants. I have no solution to this, except for a global EMP event that puts us back into the pre-internet age.
I've never bothered with Yelp restaurant reviews. Good lord, can't people look at a place, the menu, and figure it out for themselves? I understand wanting to do some J Gold reviewed eating, or even better the Sterns' guide to eating across America. I like Sean Brock's cookbooks, btw.
Sadly, J. Gold is gone, and the Sterns got a divorce. I need to go to Husk again. It's my favorite Nashville restaurant.
"Yelp detroyed it."
Really? I have no use for Yelp, and you're right about restaurant reviews, but you could at least use spellcheck on post. 😎
D'oh! Thanks for catching that! I fixed it.
You made me look at my favorite restaurants' Yelp. I don't travel much, so I don't Yelp. 90% 5 stars, 5% 4, 5% 1. The 1 star reviews are a comic delight. The best and most helpful review - "this place is the tits. He's quirky, but it's the best Italian in the state." Sums it up.
This is one of Yelp's few good points. Reading the negative reviews of restaurants you like is very funny.
The economics of Yelp are the same as every other extortionist, social media-based communication scheme. The only restaurants that can afford to deal with Yelp are the national and regional chains. Which are exactly the places that don't need yelp.
Good point about the national chains using Yelp. Like a lot of things, the small guy gets squeezed.
So I roll into a new town, hungry. It's late. Long day. Should I eat at the Chili's by the mall or at the TGI Fridays near the bowling alley? I need a good burger, hot french fries, a cold beer, and ideally a friendly waitress. Yelp sucks for all the reasons stated, but please point me to the App/website where a properly credentialed restaurant critic has reviewed these two restaurants in Flagstaff, or Omaha, or Des Moines? Of course, no self-respecting restaurant critic would ever set foot in these establishments, let alone write about them. Google reviews are no better, and they frankly are less useful, usually. Yelp is just about all we have. It's like democracy - the worst form of government except for every other that has been tried.
To me that's the most infuriating thing about Yelp. As much as I dislike them, they're still useful, especially, as you've capably described, for traveling. I have no solution to the Yelp problem, just angry hand-waving.
Yelp is good for is putting companies on blast when they screw you over. They can blow you off a thousand times on their customer service lines, and then you'll FINALLY get someone higher up to pay attention if you rip them on Yelp. It's a last resort, but I've done it twice. Just today I had a visit from the Sunrun "Executive Resolutions Team" to get my solar activated after a full YEAR of frustration. They don't give a sh!t about my YEAR of wasted, unproductive customer service calls, but they don't want to see their Yelp rating drop to 1. I would never hurt a restaurant for a bad meal. It's too subjective an experience and too disproportionate a response. But for giant corps that don't live up to their agreements Yelp is a great club for us peons to have in reserve.
Yelp is democracy writ small.
These are all people who vote, they just happen to be explaining their votes on restaurants instead of explaining their votes on politicians. You find their critiques messy, illiterate and reprehensible. If people wrote about why they voted the way they do, you would find it no different.
Why complain about something pointed at restaurants that you celebrate when it is pointed (silently) at politicians and political issues?
LOL! Good point.
As a sometime professional restaurant critic I generally agree with anything that raises my status, and Yelp's sales and revenue model contains a fair share of sleaze. With that said, I'll mount a partial defense.
Even in a larger city that still has more than a fig leaf of local media, critics cover only a sliver of the new places, let alone keeping tabs on stuff that's been open since the Bush administration. We got a Zagat guide in the early aughts and it was a revelation, even at a time when we had two competing dailies and four competing alt weeklies all doing reviews. In some ways I think the Zagat system was the best mix of pro/amateur because it selected for enthusiasts rather than wannabe influencers or cranks with an ax to grind.
What any serious consumer knows is that Yelp is useful if you read it with a filter. I've joked that its quality would be dramatically increased if they allowed you to filter out reviews that included the phrases "large party," "brunch," or "Restaurant Week" from the results, because those in particular are flypaper for amateurs. I've sometimes second-guessed my own tendency to avoid places with less than 3.5 stars, and I've rarely been favorably surprised. I'm sure there are exceptions but in areas where there's a high density of reviews, 3 stars and below really does seem to be a significant demarcation line.
Likewise, it seems to me that a steadily-growing number of operators are learning to do more than just give every would-be 1-star takedown a tongue bath in response. I've traveled a lot and have eaten in plenty of bad restaurants, and had some bad experiences in very good restaurants (ask me about Singlethread), but if I was Yelping almost all of these would be two or three stars. Many, surely not all, one-star reviews are written by zero-star customers, and I fully support managers and chefs responding to that effect.
Thanks for your insight about this. For me, one of the most infuriating things about Yelp is that, despite it's terrible flaws, it remains useful, especially while traveling. Also, I think you're exactly right about it being an okay filter. A sufficient number of negative reviews, or under 3 stars, are good reasons to stay away from a restaurant.
I also miss the Zagat guides. They were always reliable.
I don't regularly read Yelp reviews, but do see them, and Google reviews. Yes, one must absolutely must read with a filter. Unfortunately I could not find a filter large enough to contain your ego. Yes I understand that you are a restaurant reviewer and that suggest something of a certain level of 'class'. However, your dripping hatred for most of the rest of the people living on this planet is pretty, Oh, I don't know. Maybe rates 1/2 Star. I could quote some of the reviews that you quote, but what the heck, you wouldn't get it.
I've eaten at Red Lobster. It's not my favorite place to eat, but it's not bad. If you look down at the clientele at Red Lobster, there is something wrong with you.
I'm not a restaurant reviewer. I'm a history professor who likes to eat. As for my "hatred" for people. On the contrary, I like most people. I just don't think most people should be writing restaurant reviews, just as I don't think most people should be flying airplanes or doing surgery.
Also, I emphatically do not "look down at the clientele at Red Lobster", I look down at the food and the experience. You need to read a little more closely next time.