Restaurant Review Websites?

[dtp123]

Do people use them before going to a restaurant for the first time? Or just to write on after? After every time? Just good experiences? Just bad experiences?

[Morganna]

chowhound.com chowhound.com chowhound.com

I use it when I'm planning a trip somewhere.  I post reviews of restaurants in my area, regardless of my experience there.  I post guides for places to eat in my area.  I answer questions about dining in central Vermont there.  I post about cooking, I ask questions about cooking...

It is a totally awesome website and if you're not there, go, go NOW!

[Undead Molly]

I've been interested in Chowhound in theory but I can't seem to find a "Vermont" board, you know? I'm not willing to sift through all of the New England posts looking for VT ones. Is there a filtering technique I'm missing?

I use the Seven Nights pretty much whenever we go out. I'm a foodie (I guess... what qualifies you?) but we're not rich. We can't afford to go out once or twice a week like other people so when we do go out I use Seven Nights to make sure we're going to get a good experience for our (by "our" I mean my boyfriend's) money.

Then I try to remember to post my experiences afterward, good or ill. I think I feel slightly more compelled to write about good experiences because I think review sites can be skewed to the negative. It's just human behavior... people are more likely to be fired up and inspired to go online and write about a bad experience than a good one. It satisfies their need for vengeance. When I have a bad experience I'm more likely to want to give the place a fair second chance.

[Morganna]

My usual way of handling the board is every time I go to the New England board, I open up the first four threads.  Then I skim the posts for VT in the title (using the page search of your web browser is pretty good for this, most people put VT in the title somewhere) or for town names that are familiar to me until I hit the first already read post in my list.  Since I check chowhound twice a day, this means I'm only skimming maybe 20 posts tops.  It goes pretty quickly.  I agree that it's a little annoying, though.  I just wanted it enough that I got used to it.

I also post on 7 nights, but not as religiously as chowhound simply due to familiarity and the fact that posts on 7 nights have a fairly tight size limit.   Chowhound doesn't have that.

[UmamiGirl]

I also swear by Chowhound, which I've used for about 10 years (first found it when I lived in Manhattan, and MAN can discussions get heated. I practically got flayed alive when I complained about the Holy Grail known as Babbo.)

Around here, I like the 7 Nights website. I usually only post reviews when I have a particularly good or bad experience, or when my experiences are at odds with many other reviewers. (I won't go back to Bistro Sauce, for example, after 5 bad experiences. Others have raved about it however.)

Perhaps we should start a thread about the most overrated restaurants?

[Undead Molly]

Yeah, there are a few that seem like they just remain afloat due to their invincible hype, not actually great quality. I'm always so nervous to say which ones, though! People get so upset. There are just a few spots around town that I hear mentioned quite a lot but when I've been there I just come away thinking... "I don't get it."

First that springs to mind is Daily Planet. I like the space, but I've never had a great food experience there. There were little quality problems like cold fries, but it always seemed like in general the menu was trying to be more haute and experimental than the kitchen could support. There would be creative entrees that sounded intriguing in theory but were simply not well executed. I saw somewhere that they got a new executive chef in November, I think? Maybe I will give it another go.

The other place is American Flatbread. Don't get me wrong, I really like the flatbread itself, but it is so LOUD and crowded that it's not worth it for me. It may also be because I'm a non-drinker so the acclaimed beer selection is lost on me. I just hate having a hoarse throat after being there for dinner because I had to yell to be heard.

[dtp123]

Is one bad review enough to make you not want to go? Or is there a ratio of good to bad?

[Morganna]

How a review impacts my chances of going to a place depends a great deal on the answers to a variety of questions.

Does the reviewer write good reviews?  
Do they do a lot of them for various sorts of places?  
Do they ever like anything?  
Do they only ever complain?
Have they ever reviewed a place I've been, and do I agree with their assessment?
Do they seem to have an axe to grind and appear spiteful instead of helpful?
Do they offer specific examples of things they liked/disliked about the place so I can make up my own mind how I feel about those things?
Is there a lot of controversy over the place?  Do some people love it while others hate it?  What, specifically, do they like/hate?

Some people hate to feel neglected by staff in restaurants, I prefer they don't hover.  So when someone says something about being neglected by staff, unless they follow it up with specifics like "we waited two hours for our entrees" I tend to discount it a little bit (not entirely).

A recent example for me was when we went to Washington DC two weeks ago, I had Oyamel down as a place to visit.  I'd been watching the reviews of this place on the DC chowhound boards, and there was a flurry of "they oversalt their food" posts a few weeks before we were to leave.  There were also many posts saying the food was great, though a little over priced, and several posts saying that it was really good for the prices.  Well I -really- wanted to go because the menu looked fantastic (goat tacos, what's NOT to love about that?).  So I decided that I didn't mind even if it was salty because I -like- salty food anyway.  We took a bit of a chance on it, and I'm VERY glad we did.  It was outstanding.  Nothing was oversalted, everything was perfectly seasoned and wonderful and the service was great, as well.  They were warm, and welcoming, and helpful.  I can't say enough good about it.

So I took their reviews with... heh... a grain of salt.

So no, a single bad review is not likely to keep me from going to a place unless it is =very= detailed and really about things I agree are awful.

[slaphappiest]

I agree, and disagree with many others.
chowhound.com is a great review resource, it is the best you are going to find.  But there is no filter for people who don't know their ass from their elbows...of course neither does BFP or 7days.
Read it, think about it and dive. 
There are folks on this board (chowhound.com) that will praise chum just because they don't know better or because they have a vested interest. (see that bit about no filter.)  And odds are that they are here too.

[Undead Molly]

I wouldn't necessarily avoid a restaurant because of one or even more negative reviews. It depends on my assessment of the reviewer's credibility and the content of their complaint.

The reviews that just read something like, "This place sucks!" with no other information obviously pull no weight.

I check out the reviewer's other reviews and if they only dole out scathing criticism I'll tend to dismiss them.

I keep an eye out for people like my parents who have very Windjammer-y, xenophobic taste and think everything else is too spicy, too weird, portions too small, they shouldn't have to ask questions about the menu, etc..