Should I add a new place?

I'm not a beer snob, there's places I go for the food and the beers are usually AALs on tap, expanded a bit for some bottles, but Sam Adams is probably as good as it gets. Why should they get knocked if the food is great and the beers are just ok? I want to go to these kinda places too.

 

I just want an honest, first person review of why you like the place or why you didn't and why, along with enough descriptive stuff about the food, vibe (loud music, big screens, or absence thereof, etc.) to give me an idea of whether or not I might choose to stop by.

 

Are these places reviewed with high ratings or just listed?

If it's the former, you could review them and give them a rating you felt appropriate. The review is more critical than the numbers in a place rating though, as preferred 'vibe' is completely different between people. Likewise, one may consider a strong selection to be a wall of regional taps while another may consider a strong selection a half dozen different style local beers.

Point being is that more community involvement in both adding places and reviewing them will make the places directory that much more valuable. Simple adding places and/or rating doesn't do a very thorough job, especially with how arbitrary the rating categories are for places.

 

I think the solution lies in the reviews and doing a clear write-up. I recently added a place that has 50 taps, only three or four are local and there are a lot of breweries in Massachusetts. Still, the list is extensive and if you are looking for "best in town", this IS the place. And the food is decent if a bit overpriced for the area.

I added a vegetarian joint a few years back. Weird - you bet. Food - killer. They have rotating tap list of six beers, usually one local(ish), almost always outstanding choices. I can wholeheartedly offer that place up as an "alternative" and something for the non-omnivores among us.

I do get confused - and I can understand the frustration - about local establishments not offering locally made beers. There are restaurants in my area basically across the street from some very good breweries, yet not one local option is on tap or offered. That would make the write up (so I probably should edit some of my place reviews), which would help some in terms of clarification. Yes - it is a great place, but it possibly falls short in one aspect.

Then again, I'd rather have six choices of good to great beer "not from around here" versus six choices of crappy local beers available.

 

Review those places. Be fair, but review 'em.

 

This is exactly right. I want to know if it's good, bad, or otherwise. Plus, the Arkansas local beer scene isn't great. No place in Arkansas would ever be listed except a brewery.

 

I know which place that you're referring to. I was in Jacksonville a few years ago and looked into the front door and decided someplace else would be better. I don't recall the 'turn-off' specifically, but I took a pic of the front of the place to submit to BA, and then went elsewhere. I was in Jacksonville a couple months ago and walked past the place again. It's closed.

 

To play devil's advocate (no pun intended) to all of those who dislike the proposal, is it the details or the concept that is bad? It seems that there is a conceptual disagreement. To all I ask: should we add every TGIF and Appleby's to the BA database?

I do think the OP had criteria that was too restrictive and I realize it's all data we can individually choose to ignore. But I feel some restrictions are warranted (and I think the "moderators" have done a fine job in most every case I've found). To restate at the extreme: I'd be a bit annoyed paging through multiple pages of City X's Outback restaurants.

(okay - no city probably has that many of any major chain, but you get the devil's argument, I hope)

 

So the argument is only independent places? No Total Wine, Wegmans, ABC? Do some Applebee's have better beer selection than others? I've not been to an Applebee's in a long time.

 

I add places that I think other BAs will enjoy. Selection, ambience, service are big criteria. If I visit a recommended place from this site that I think does not meet these criteria, I will rate it appropriately. Whenever I travel, which is frequently, I look up BA recommendations. I respect the opinion of others. If I think you are wrong, I'll let you and other BAs know

 

Haha - me neither, apparently, given my misspelling. I tried to use concrete examples of presumed (right or wrong) places that serve the same beer across locations. Generally franchises like that exist for consistency, including beer selection, was my point - clear or not.

So to answer your question (and my own post) - if an (as an example) Applebees local to you did serve something different than "every other Applebees" - I totally agree it should be put up for debate. I would even argue if you are in a really small town and Applebees is the best option for beer selection in the town - regardless of the offerings - offer it up.

Now, to the more interesting part of your post:
As for Total Wine - I personally tend to ignore most entries of these stores. Because yes, how different is one TW from another? I know generally what I can get there. If no local place stands out to me, I'll see if the local TW store has decent reviews of freshness or customer service.

That said, I would not argue against any chain place that has a good focus on beer. However, to counter your argument, should I add every Safeway and Seven-Eleven and gas station because they sell beer? Or just the ones that seem to have an obvious unique selection from the others in my town?

(Note: for those who don't know, you do have to justify your place addition on this site)

 

Personally, I tend to only add places if they have some focus on beer. That may be Total Wine or a small restaurant with a great beer selection. That could also be an Applebee's that has an usually good beer selection. I think we agree. Like @dbrauneis, I tend to err on the side of adding the place.

 

Actual no-shit reviews will win the day for me...

 

That's my criteria as well, if I can't recommend it I won't add it. If I visit a place on the list and find it disappointing I'll report that but only because it's already listed.

 

What if your city had three of them, two were beer hellholes, and one was the craft beer mecca? Wouldn't you want to know?