Really old Places reviews

I tried that once. Have a 1 year old, so it's hard to plan a date or outing with the wife, especially with both of us working different hours. So I tried just that, going out to Final Gravity in Roseville, and how "fun" was it to find out they wouldn't even let us in the door because I was holding my then 9 month old, who was asleep in his car seat. No ifs, ands or buts. Our first date out since having our child, and it lasted about 5 minutes.

I think I'll rely on reviews for now...

 

Don't go out.

 

If somebody is writing a review for a specific establishment it shouldn't be based around the fact that their newborn wasn't allowed in, but rather the service, quality of food, quality of drink, and overall value. If you didn't get the full experience don't write a review and if you have something that might keep you from getting a table call and ask the host beforehand. Sure, you might be mad from your specific experience, but you have no premise to write a review based on not being let in.
Often times guests that had a poor experience are ready to start publicly bitching without rationale whereas guests that had an enjoyable experience just go home happy, return as customers, and occasionally tell their friends. We, as reviewers, feel like positive or negative should both be documented fairly and rationally. We're a different breed. Part of being a different breed is walking into a restaurant without bias and seeing what happens. We find alot of great places this way and many of us know how to make great judgement calls when doing so. To me, nobody can tell me what to think; I experience it all for myself.

 

Not sure I follow you. The person you are quoting tried your method of selecting a restaurant and found that it did not work for a family in his situation. In turn you instruct him on how to give a review?

I also disagree with your take on our responsibility as reviewers. I am a consumer first and a reviewer second. My primary concern before walking into a restaurant or bar is that it serves food and drink that suit my tastes. If it doesn't, I'm walking out (most likely with my wife glaring at me for picking an unsuitable establishment). I'm not getting paid to write unbiased reviews.

Edit: I fully agree with you on the criteria that you use to rate a restaurant.

 

Better go check out some baby sitter reviews while you're at it

 

I think the success of yelp mostly just demonstrates how much stock people put in the opinions of complete strangers. I try to avoid yelp just so my perceptions aren't tainted.

 

I'm by no means a heavy Yelp user, but it's by far the best way to get a feel for places you're unfamiliar with. Yes you could just go, but if you don't know either place I'd rather go the place with an average of 4 stars then the place with 2.2...much higher likelihood of having an enjoyable experience

 

valid points, and i see where you're coming from. but it's not the craft-centric place revising their beer list that i have in mind, but the place that 5 years ago was a handful of macros and now has 20 craft taps, or changed ownership and became a Mexican grill, or closed. if there are newer reviews that reflect the transition well then great, but if the most recent review is from 5 years ago, you're going to have a wholly inaccurate picture of the establishment. sure you can always take old reviews with a grain of salt, but i think the tendency is to accept the latest reviews as current. but i guess there isn't a perfect way of going about it.

 

I'm not a fan of Yelp. But I approach Yelp, Zagat's, BA and other review-mills the same way I approach Consumer Reports--they don't get the last word, I do. I don't like people who base their purchases on CR reviews and relying only on review-mill restaurant and bar reviews is silly. But ignoring them completely is just as silly. The real question is how much stock you put in quantified information--if you see it as a linear ranking, you deserve what you get. But those numbers really are a qualitative description, with no strict ranking. Furthermore, if you find a reviewer who matches your palate and other preferences, then other reviews don't matter.

 

I checked their website, and there's no mention of what seems to be a pretty stern rule (nobody under 21). For "most" establishments, this would be the exception, not the rule, so one would have assumed this might be mentioned on their website? I would think if I had read reviews, at least a few people might have mentioned this? In any case, lesson learned!

 

I wasn't going to have a babysitter watching my son at less than a year old. But yeah, when he's older, will do!