As I read reviews (currently restaurant shopping for a party of 50ish in Atlanta), I'm often struck by how much the differences in expectations can color reviews. This leads to reviews that, while they accurately reflect that person's viewpoint, are ultimately not helpful to others. These range from the person who expects so little everything is awesome. Five stars!!! To the person who expects to have their hand held and nose-wiped at a place where entrees top out at $10. To reviews written in the heat of passion that haven't allowed any time for reflection and reason.
Yelp does provide some tools so a person can read all of the reviews by a certain person but this does me little good when I'm looking for restaurants in another place. It's too time consuming to find a regular reviewer for the area who is similar to me. I just started reading all of the reviews one guy posted and got a few in before I was certain that he and I don't see eye to eye. He just expects a lot more butt kissing and hand and foot action than I'm into. But hey, I'm the kind of person who likes to grab housekeepers by the eye in the morning to wish them good morning.
I appreciate a rational review so much. I hope I'll be able to provide those here and be able to help other people find businesses that fulfill their needs and make their lives better.
About me: Here are the things you should know because they do color my opinions. I worked a total of something like seven years in food service ranging from an upscale brewpub to a sit-down chain to fast food to a campus pizza place. I also put in three to four years with airlines. So I believe I know what customer service should be, what expectations are fair, and also what it's like to be the employee in the situation.
I like to eat things that taste good and to try new things. I would consider myself a foodie but sometimes that has a connotation of desiring things that have fancy names and are complicated and sound hip when described in detail on Facebook. There's a time and a place for everything.
