Restaurant food reviews....

[Mikey]

I've often questioned the integrity of those writing food reviews.  I like eating at new places and sometimes I follow the food reviews written in the local paper only to generally find the food quality to be less than impressive.  I figure the food establishment must have gotten a heads-up from the reviewer prior to their showing up and therefore the restaurant  prepared them a special plate...  And I also wonder if the reviewer gets a "freebie" and therefore writes a glowing report.  A few years ago we ate at a BBQ rib joint in Portland that came recommended by Guy Fieri of the Food Network.  There were four of us and none of liked the food.

So this morning I'm reading a local free newspaper.  Some gal going by the nickname of "No Baloney Tony" wrote a restaurant review of a Mexican restaurant in an adjacent city.  It was the first honest review I think I have ever read.  She gave them a few positive appraisals on a couple of items but overall she slammed them.  The title of her column was "La Parrilla: a mixed bag."  Here are a few quotes.  "....not a place I would recommend for their food."  "I started with a lime margarita which was tasty but seemed like a virgin, therefore not worth $4.99."  "...and the tortillas tasted like they were a day old."  "The carnitas plate was most disappointing.  The carnitas tasted like it was scraped off the bottom of the grill."

Thanks to No Baloney Tony I guess I won't be eating at La Parrilla.....

[mascot]

haha... devil's advocate: the sad thing is that you really don't know if she was bing honest or if she went there expecting to be treated special and wasn't.

I can't tell you how many times I've had horrible customer service, or lousy food, only to have a few other people claim they've "never had a problem there".  And places I have never had a problem were lamb basted by someone who could very well have instigated their unpleasant visit.  Who do you trust anymore?  Apparently you can't even trust that Guy Fieri dude, either.

Personally, I think to be really objective and honest is to do the three-strike rule.  Eat there a couple times, if you're willing to go a third time, give them a great review.  If you can't see yourself going a third time, now you have two prior trips to back up an honest, and negative, review.

Now if I can only find a column that wants me to do this....

[miguynmkoi]

I can say I will never take my own Mother to my favorite restaurants.  She knows how to grill, rake and tear apart anything good about any of them - AND to their face!.  We go to her favorites and I feel like I need to bring my own dinnerware and utensils, seat and table cover, and a good bottle of disinfectant!  For a person who eats "healthy all the time" her choice restaurants are so full of MSG they leave us in a dazed zombie state for the rest of the day.

A friend of mine says he loves to go to "C" rated (by health department) restaurants 'cause the food tastes the best.  Yikes!  I have experienced many great food and service from many restaurants but my worst experience was when after our order was placed....the entertainment was watching cockroaches scurry across the wall just above the table top!  In my shocked state of mind the food tasted horrible.  Without the entertainment it probably would have tasted great! 

[Julles]

Funny that this topic came up just now, as I just finished reading a review in our local free newspaper http://www.houstonpress.com/2012-02-23/restaurants/facundo-cafe-car-wash/ where the critic absolutely LOVED the eatery.  Thsi is one of the most glowing reports she's written.  But read the entire thing, and you find there are several dishes the places does poorly.  Yet why does the reviewer love the place?

Well, probably because it's a hole-in-the-wall - it's in a car wash, of all places.  The point is, untraditional weekly newspaper loves off-beat places.  Therefore, this joint gets a rave review.  Ditto is she drives to the poor side of town and eats in a teeny mom-and-pop chicken joint where you stand on the sidewalk and order at a pass-through window and stand on the pavement to eat. 

She also likes the really trendy new restaurants where she can show off her culinary skills by naming the various obscure ingredients she tastes, or bragging that she knows the resume of the chef's many past jobs, or going on and on about some $85 bottle of wine she is an expert on.

I have given up going to restaurants recommended by this newspaper.  Too many bad meals. 

I've also noticed that most of the restaurants they give good reviews to happen to advertise in their paper.   

[Mikey]

A combo car wash/Mexican eatery opened near here a few years ago.  They have several outside umbrella shaded round tables where people eat.  I've never gone there but they seem to do a fair amount of business.  I don't get why someone would want to eat at such a place.  It's located next to a Home Depot and a gas station.  It is also located next to the busiest intersection in town.  In other words there is zero ambiance while you sit there eating your taco and listening to the car wash whirling and buzzing as you smell the fumes of the transit bus that just stopped next to you to take on passengers.  You have a great view of folks loading up their truck with Home Depot lumber.  If you are lucky the breeze is blowing the smell of gasoline away from you.  I think it's fair to say you shouldn't choose a table next to the bus stop where there is a 3' wall and some bushes as I am guessing there will likely be an unpleasant odor of urine from males who pee in the bushes while waiting for the bus.....

[SueSTx]

The fact that it is next to the car wash and Home depot suggests to me that multi-taskers can get their car washed, eat and pick up a new faucet in record time and get back on the road to go clean pond filters   

[Oceanbum]

I actually saw an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" where he went to a Mexican restaurant that was located inside of a gas station. The place was packed all the time and the locals raved about how good the food was!!  He said it was pretty good too!! Very authentic!!