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Now We Wait on Them: Be kind to your local restaurant

Constructive criticism of restaurants has its time and place, and now is not the year nor the planet. And right now, quite frankly, no one needs that crap. Restaurants need our support, not our qualitative Yelp analysis.

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by Anonymousreply 32May 25, 2020 3:21 PM

If you were an asshole that wrote unwarranted obsessive Yelp reviews for places before, you're not going to change now.

by Anonymousreply 1May 20, 2020 7:55 AM

Very thoughtful story. Think about it and be kind.

by Anonymousreply 2May 20, 2020 8:16 AM

Ha! As if any kind of review is going to make a difference as to whether someone who's been in lockdown / isolation for two months is going to go out to a restaurant, café or bar. Most people will probably storm into the first open locale they see.

by Anonymousreply 3May 20, 2020 8:33 AM

I've only written one bad review (well, a couple draft rants but deleted them) for a restaurant that gave me such severe food poisoning I almost died. Shitting myself and projectile vomiting for a week straight, unable to eat or keep down any fluids, 104 degree fever. I just wrote that I got food poisoning and their standards had lowered. People need to know about that sort of thing... Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows it's not always about trying your best.

I've seen some gross stuff, man.

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by Anonymousreply 4May 22, 2020 6:40 AM

People claim to have gotten food poisoning from a specific place, when in reality they have no idea. It could have been the meal before that, something from home, a flu bug. An actual case of food born illness requires a scientific investigation. Throwing those accusations around, especially publicly, is extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

by Anonymousreply 5May 22, 2020 7:02 AM

Former restaurant worker here.

Before Coronavirus, I had already slowed down on eating in restaurants / drinking in bars. Tired of so-so food, spending too much money, spotty service, dirty tables, etc. I don't complain to the manager, I just stop going. I won't be rushing back into restaurants when the restrictions ease up.

by Anonymousreply 6May 22, 2020 7:22 AM

Quite dumb concept for an article, and a career as a critic.

"As a food writer for the last 12 years, I’ve been paid to analyze restaurant culture. I always felt a bit uneasy about the criticism part."

by Anonymousreply 7May 22, 2020 10:33 AM

"Yelp is a weapon for idiots " is the most accurate description of that site that I've seen.

by Anonymousreply 8May 22, 2020 11:55 AM

R5 You're a clown but an expert gaslighter. This is propaganda restaurant owners typically cite to avoid culpability. I know this because I have heard them literally LAUGH about the plausible deniability excuse while serving unhygienically prepared food. The owners of a company I used to work for cleaned their kitchen ONCE annually before the health inspector showed up. I've seen worse, including seafood brought to room temperature over and over and refrozen.

Everyone who has ever gotten food poisoning knows it's not true. There was no doubt whatsoever where I got the food poisoning from. It was a Sushi restaurant with very suspect hygienic standards. No "flu bug" or prior meal caused what in reality should have been a hospital visit.

Don't try to gaslight with your plausible deniability BS-- tainted food is tainted food and is infinitely more probable that contaminated food and unhygienic conditions will be responsible for an illness rather than any of the scenarios you've listed which is in reality a sort of linguistic trick meant to divert away from the most obvious and likely scenario.

by Anonymousreply 9May 22, 2020 1:00 PM

People claim to have gotten arsenic poisoning from a specific place, like one of my famous cherry pies, when in reality they have no idea. It could have been the meal before that, something from home, a flu bug. An actual case of arsenic poisoning requires a scientific investigation. Throwing those accusations around, especially publicly, is extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

by Anonymousreply 10May 22, 2020 1:09 PM

[quote] It was a Sushi restaurant with very suspect hygienic standards.

You knew this and you ate there?

by Anonymousreply 11May 22, 2020 1:40 PM

r11 Bingo!

by Anonymousreply 12May 22, 2020 1:45 PM

Im witht he poster upthread who just stops going to a place if I dont like it . I might mention to friends or family why , but I think Yelp is a tool for people who would complain if everything was perfect. I waited tables for years and know that some fucks just will NOT be pleased no matter what you do .

by Anonymousreply 13May 22, 2020 2:30 PM

You ate at a sushi restaurant with very suspect hygienic standards, r9, but I'm a clown. Uh, okay.

by Anonymousreply 14May 22, 2020 6:18 PM

R14 Yes, suspect hygienic standards in the sense that I ate there and it almost killed me. Your post has no substance, it's an emotional appeal based on wanting to see the best in people-- and I can tell you as a former restaurant worker you're full of shit and probably the person getting their a loogey hocked into your milkshake. It's a gross industry and they aren't exempt just because you're in a Steel Magnolias/Fried Green Tomatoes mood due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I'll take your deflection as a concession that you lost the argument. Happy eating.

by Anonymousreply 15May 22, 2020 7:33 PM

**getting a loogey hocked into

by Anonymousreply 16May 22, 2020 7:34 PM

I usually go the other way -I only post reviews when I'm super pleased with a place. There are two restaurants that I frequented one or more times per week before the End Of The World. Both had awesome food. I got fantastic service too, most likely because a) I was a reliable regular, and b) I always tipped 30-50%. People respond way better to positive reinforcement than they do to threats and retribution. Any place can have an off night -You shouldn't write a review based on a single experience. If you keep going back and the bad experiences continue, then it's fair to say something -To the management/owners. Save the nasty online reviews for places where the management just doesn't care enough to provide decent food and service. When you do find a place you really like, tell them what you like about it, and tell your friends.

by Anonymousreply 17May 22, 2020 7:42 PM

Don’t you DARE tell me what to do OP.

by Anonymousreply 18May 22, 2020 8:30 PM

R9 You should have gotten the bug, that's what you get from eating raw fish, stop bitching, you takes your chances.

by Anonymousreply 19May 22, 2020 8:54 PM

[quote] based on wanting to see the best in people

Oh my god! Who is this animal? Hang your head in shame. Nobody should be looking for the best in people!

by Anonymousreply 20May 22, 2020 10:40 PM

R19 It's a lot healthier when properly and safely prepared than whatever ground up pork snouts and toes you're stuffing down your fat gob daily you scurvy ridden slob.

by Anonymousreply 21May 22, 2020 11:13 PM

R19 flyover alert!!

by Anonymousreply 22May 22, 2020 11:21 PM

[quote] I've only written one bad review (well, a couple draft rants but deleted them) for a restaurant that gave me such severe food poisoning I almost died.

Me too. It was actually my cousin's restaurant. I got the most violent food poisoning of my life. I still think the bitch tried to poison me.

by Anonymousreply 23May 22, 2020 11:37 PM

Problem with yelp is the reviewers are mostly tiresome millennial women, talkin more about themselves than the restaurant. Complete with trout pout selfies in their profile.

Or they dumb shit like “I’m the kind of girl who likes a delicious burger...” uh, ok.

by Anonymousreply 24May 22, 2020 11:59 PM

Yelp reviews are only as good as the people behind them. If you grew up eating salty, overly seasoned food then you're going to gripe about restaurants that serve in your view, under-seasoned food. In the earlier days of Yelp, you'd get reviews from people who claimed to be allergic to MSG and who spew accusations against restaurants (mostly Asian) that they accuse of poisoning them with MSG. Never mind that these idiots likely grew up eating (and still eat) Campbell's soups and salty snacks full of MSG.

I take Yelp restaurant reviews with a big grain of salt. I automatically ignore lengthy posts that start out aggrieved in tone, as most of the time you can tell those reviewers are really assholes in real life or enjoy feeling slighted just so they can write about their victimization.

by Anonymousreply 25May 23, 2020 12:11 AM

R25 honestly I just go on for the pictures. Sure you can’t calibrate every single flavor balance but I can get at least 80-90 percent idea if I’ll like it from pictures of the dishes.

And inferior quality food will most often look it.

by Anonymousreply 26May 23, 2020 12:17 AM

South Park did this topic in an episode ("You're Not Yelping") 5 years ago.

by Anonymousreply 27May 23, 2020 12:17 AM

The days of Karen-type Yelp reviews are over, IMO. I have the Yelp app on my phone & I notice that they've been doing a lot of updates to the app, rebranding it as a "food" and "takeout" app.

Like R26, I mainly used Yelp to look at the pictures. The reviews were stupid.

by Anonymousreply 28May 23, 2020 12:23 AM

The only bad yelp review I've ever written, was about a restaurant I ate at on vacation. I established an account just to post the bad review. I ate at that overpriced restaurant because of all the glowing reviews. It was one of the worst eating establishments I have ever eaten at. The bland food tasted like substandard school cafeteria slop, I had to return the silverware five times before I got clean utensils, and the waitstaff was rude. I produced the negative review to solemnly warn fellow travelers, so that they would not make the same mistake.

by Anonymousreply 29May 23, 2020 12:26 AM

Also a lot of restaurants (and hair salons) started to offer a discount next time if you wrote a five star review. So I don’t put anything into them either way.

by Anonymousreply 30May 23, 2020 12:34 AM

Obvious, but true: Reviews are only as good as the reviewers. I work in the theatre, and I read all the professional reviews. Over the years I've come to identify reviewers with whom I consistently agree or disagree. That's when reviews become helpful, because I know and trust, or know and distrust, the author. With anonymous, or near-anonymous reviews like Yelp you have no way of knowing who to believe. If I see a lot of "good, friendly service" or "good-sized portions" or similar statements I tend to believe them more than extremes like, "Worst food I've ever eaten! Totally disgusting. I was sick for three days." In my hometown I rely more on word of mouth than published reviews. On the road, a quick visit inside to look at the menu usually tells me what I need to know.

by Anonymousreply 31May 23, 2020 4:54 AM

R21 Here you go you fat cunt, go pull the worm out of your nasty ass. Then go take the same meds they give to dogs to get rid of the worms, you are a degenerate.

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by Anonymousreply 32May 25, 2020 3:21 PM
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