The Power of Reviews: How I Choose the Best Restaurants
I rely on reviews heavily. They’re one of my favorite things about the internet. I love the database of opinions, knowledge, and categorization that exists for all things. No matter what you’re buying, somebody has taken the time to write, what is often a startlingly in-depth review. Wet wipes? Someone logged into their account to tell you how mediocre they were. Someone else aimed to express how excellent those very wet wipes are.
I pride myself on being able to select great restaurants for a group of people. My selection process is pretty in-depth. If it’s for something huge like Thai food or pizza in New York City, I will consult Reddit for some of the renowned best. When names come up multiple times, I’ll then begin a location-based Yelp review search. I’ll go to the restaurant and then read customer reviews. I’ll think about who is in my group and what kind of dishes they order from said Thai restaurant, or certain characteristics they like or dislike about dishes, or even the ambiance/acoustics at a certain restaurant. I’ll search specifically for reviews that mention those dishes and get the general consensus. I’ll also look at the review history of those whose reviews I’m very into. I don’t want to rely too heavily on someone who has ONLY rated restaurants five stars out of five stars. Also, not every complaint is the same. If someone is complaining about service or some circumstance that is clearly specific to that one day in the restaurant’s history, I’m very likely to dismiss this person as just a complainer and a poor restaurant patron. I’ll look into their history to confirm that they, in fact, are grumpy, annoying customers who are entitled and are basing their rating too heavily on non-food-related factors. (I’d like to note that, of course, certain restaurant circumstances do warrant mentioning.)
I rely very heavily on reviews, and I do not write them. It’s one of my favorite things about the internet ecosystem, and I do not contribute to it. Reviews are excellent, and I’m going to start writing reviews for places/services I love. I will make them nuanced, in-depth, helpful, and reflective of the spirit of how I feel about these places. In the future, I will be publishing some of these reviews as blog posts so you can see. Maybe I’ll work really hard on building up my Yelp following. Sounds like there’s no money involved in that, so I’ll work really hard to develop it anyway.
I’m about to be Yelp Famous. “Bro, I know you from Yelp”
Also, in the future, I will write a blog on white people leaving reviews about backpacks and coats. Thanks for reading.