Helpful Tips for Creating an Informative Restaurant Page
For the info section:
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Name of establishment along with location, phone number, website? (Basics here but try to be accurate.)
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Type of area that the establishment is located in is included? (Right on the Erie Canal, Bustling Street Corner.)
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Nearby Attractions? (Erie Canal path, offices, coffee shops, walking areas, clubs, ect.)
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Nationality or Type of food. (Italian, steak house, family, etc.)?
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When the restaurant was first opened? Know who the Owners are?
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Good feng zhu or ease of access for handicap. (Look at foyer, waiting area, dining room/seating. Size and & number of rooms, Table spacing)
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Atmosphere: Decorations, Music, Noise level, Entertainment. (Paintings, plants, live bands, live alligators.)
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Menu: Appetizer, Drink, Entrée?. (Clearly composed, Comparable in size, price, etc. to other local establishments?)
Then create a comments section and add your personal feelings
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Plenty of time to interact with your dining companions? (Appropriately busy, crowded or eerily slow. Time to talk, enjoy yourselves?)
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Service: Attentive too much/little?, Talkative too much/little?
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Timing? Pause good between courses? Coffee/bill/ect on time?
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The Food? (too Simple or over-elaborate for your tastes?)
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How did you feel about the variety of the menu, was it too simple for your taste, or maybe complex for the genre of establishment?
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If you had an issue did you talk to a Manager?
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Close with your overall thoughts?
With the above questions answered you can now write a killer restaurant page that will enormously helpful.
Additional Suggestions
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TAKE YOUR CAMERA: As you can see from Cheeburger Cheeburger, Chilango's, Castaways on the Lake and Pelican's Nest Restaurant I go armed with my digital camera - a picture is often worth a thousand words. I try to get an exterior shot to make finding a tad easier (plus deal with the first impression), a shot around the room, any special touches, and a shot of some dish if it shows presentation, etc. I have also shot the menu, so that if it is not available on the web, I could provide it. Be cautious about direct shots of strangers, they might not like to find themselves on the web. Employees are before the public, so probably not an issue.
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Grab a take-out menu, business card or other info from the counter - it may fill in some blanks and will give you a place to take notes.
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Mention RocWiki to the owner, manager, waitress, etc. Let them know what you are up to. You may get extra good service, but then at least we will then know their "best shot". I got some handouts from PeteB as leave-behinds.
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NPOV -(Neutral Point of View) is usually recommended - but that does not mean you cannot state something emphatically that is factual and neutral (if it walks like a duck ...). I usually state the obvious in the listing. Afterwards, I put in a comment about my specific experience and opinion.
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Do some web research to find reviews, etc (maybe best after the fact so you go in with an open mind). - I will come back later with some useful links BradMandell
Rochester Restaurant Review Resources
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![[WWW]](https://rocwiki.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png)
MetroMix.com - lots of good entries and reviews
Comments:
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2007-02-05 02:17:44 The review itself should be NPOV (Neutral Point of View), save the opinions for the comments! Please see my essay on restaurant comments on my own page. —BenMargolis
2007-02-06 11:44:48 Overall I agree, but I think it's worng to claim a restaurant has an "intended customer", food applies to anyone. I won't deny that certain age groups prefer certain joints, I think eating healthier is something the younger generation is finally picking up on. So a place like Pita Pit is popular amont 20 somethings, but it's not like they don't want a 40yr old coming in. Generally speaking, the factor in age is often price. You're average 20 something eats out far more often than a 40yr old, so they will prefer to spend less and eat at quicker joints. Where as the 40yr old, who is making more money, and eats out less often, well have no problem going to a place that charges $25+ per plate. —TravisOwens
2007-02-06 11:46:34 PS: I've agree with BenMargolis that opinions DO NOT belong in the restaurant write-ups, they only belong in the comments section. I also realize that people who like a place, will say nothing, but those who dislike a place can't shut up. Perhaps we need a link to a disclaimer that appears before comments to make people realize this fact, well worded of course. —TravisOwens
2007-02-06 13:10:30 Meh. I think crowding the site with disclaimers, etc is overblown. We should make it clear that this is all user generated, and the wiki is an just an open content channel, with a few neatness/politeness rules. I thought it was funny in the Rochester Magazine article talking about misspellings as if some editor had failed at his job and missed something.... We should aim for NPOV, but not at the cost of driving away contributors or making review bone-dry. —FarMcKon
2007-02-07 10:45:27 I don't even see why this is an argument. It seems pretty obvious to me that the pages themselves should be NPOV, and the comments should be whatever the commentors' impressions of the place are. Ben, as far as avoiding negative comments goes - yes, the restaurant business is hard work, and every place has their "off nights," but this is the real world, not 3rd grade - you don't get an A for effort if you try hard but fail to deliver. A restaurant doesn't deserve to succeed just for trying, it deserves to succeed for providing good food and good service. —DanielMiner
2012-04-13 15:31:13 Just looked at "10Best". Three have been closed - for years ! NO WAY two others are on a best list. Someone doesn't know food from dog food. —JayBCo
2012-04-14 16:16:40 JayBCo is obviously referring to that link to "10Best.com", which includes the Crystal Barn (closed for 2 years or longer) and the Grill at Strathallan (currently closed). Perhaps these dead links should be removed? —Alex-C
Agreed. Outdated links should go. —EileenF
- 1Entirely appropriate and useful and just waiting for some "non-lame" contributor to "Awesome" up.
