Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Restaurants Bad food + bad service + iPhone = Yelp rage
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Are online user reviews better when they are written in the heat of the moment or after the writer has returned to the home computer and had some time to cool off? That is the question facing review sites like Yelp and Citysearch when they build mobile applications.
Comments (10)
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I tend to post heat of the moment things on Twitter . . . because isn't that what Twitter is for?
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I want to know what the experience was like, especially in the heat of the moment. If the food and service are of such a poor quality to put a person in the "heat" of the moment instead of a relaxing experience, I want to know. I want to know if the dining experience at a restaurant will make me uncomfortable. The idea that someone "cools" off between the restaurant and home only helps the restaurant and not the customer. I'm a customer, not a restaurant, so I want the user based websites to cater to me, at least as well as the restaurants.
It seems that all Yelpers do is complain about things...When you meet someone through Yelp or read their reviews, most of their experiences rate 3 stars or less, occasionally a four, and rarely a five. Citysearch is the same way, as well Urbanspoon, and a variety of other sites, so as a review of restaurants, and even as a scene it seems like average people, bitching about average life. There's no joy, no hope, no forgiveness in five minutes after the meal or five hours after the meal, these are not foodies they are drones.
I generally don't trust the food reviews on Yelp, etc. b/c you can tell the reviewer has no idea what they are talking about or is out of their league when it comes to reviewing good food. I read a review of a very good sushi place in town where the 'reviewer' was complaining about the fattiness of the toro tuna and the lack of hibachi. Click on their profile and see where they also review Chili's and rave about the Awesome Blossom or some other obscenity.
m, you are so right... Yelp is mostly for the rubes. You may see "their steak selection was horrible, they had too many things on the menu I didn't even know what they were. But their bread and ranch dressing was really good!" I used Yelp for about one month until I realized the amount of uneducated eaters there were and how many people just want to flaunt that they have been to the new restaurant everyone is talking about. There are so many reviews that just want to jump on an establishment and tell everyone that it isn't as good as it is cracked up to be. Most times it may be because of little things like going to a restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night and complaining over long wait times or the noise level. Are you serious people? I work in a restaurant that happens to have very good Yelp reviews. For the most part, we in the industry laugh at the Yelp/Citysearch deal. Its great that it might give us a little more business but then here come the rubes that eat out once a week and don't know how to act in a restaurant and then budding foodies come check you out because you are this week's buzz only to try and pick you apart on their blogs or Yelp reviews so they can feel as though they are all knowledgeable about food and restaurants. Oh yeah, most of these yelpers etc. can't write worth a sh*t anyway. Food writers and restaurant reviewers know what to look for in a restaurant and most have worked in restaurants at some point. They also know how to write and know what they are talkling about a hell of a lot more than the majority of diners. Thats why they get paid to do what they do. I am much more likely to read reviews from a local reputable food writer and make my decision about where to explore spending my money on food this week. So while Yelp and Citysearch etc. are cute and fun and interactive, I would never take my dining out cues from a bunch of office workers, doctors and makeup artists who want to play food critic a couple times a week when they get home from the new restaurant their social circle has been talking about.
if yelp is for rubes, douches and losers. what does that make the people who stalk and read it on a daily basis and then make comments (or a short essay) about them on here. you people are doing the exact same thing. you got yelp rubes and cl rubes. at least on yelp you see who's writing it unlike here.
Yelp's an ok resource sometimes but yeah it's full of rubes. foodieman who is naoya w. and why is he a douche?
I'm going to have to track down this naoya w. and read some of his douchey reviews...are they bad or what, foodieman?
jazoit, As I said, I did use yelp for a month and read a lot of user reviews. I then realized the amount of bad writing and dumb and irrelevant reviews that were posted. I then realized how irrelevant yelp was to getting insight on restaurants I haven't visited. Sorry if you are a yelp fan. I just don't find it to be a good food/restaurant resource. But if you do more power to ya.
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