Sharing Roadfood reviews with restaurant staff

I always leave behind the Roadfood review. Next to the enjoyment of having a great meal at a Roadfood recommended restaurant, my favorite benefit of using Roadfood is seeing the restaurant staff's faces when they read the reviews.

I have done this at least 25 times in the past two years and, surprisingly, I have never found a restaurant where any of the waiters were even aware of the Roadfood review. Reading such positive words about their work and their coworkers efforts has always generated a very positive response.

On a recent trip to New Orleans I passed on the review to my waiter at the Bon Ton Cafe where I had their excellent crawfish dinner. The review includes a picture of one of the waitresses. My waitress showed the review to the pictured waitress who went around the restaurant showing it to her regulars. She told me that she remembered being told it would be put on the internet, but she had never tried to find it. She said it really made her day; mine too.

"...and, surprisingly, I have never found a restaurant where any of the waiters were even aware of the Roadfood review."


This has been the subject of past threads. Unfortunately, the site owners/administrators do not want to release their "logo", etc., for such things as bumper stickers, cards, window decals, etc., to the "membership" at large unless "a prior business relationship has been established" with said parties. S. Rushmore & I hashed this out in detail via email a year or so ago.

Does that mean we shouldn't show staff the reviews?
I'm a little dim when it comes to legalese.
Cathy

quote:

Originally posted by Williamsburger

Does that mean we shouldn't show staff the reviews?
I'm a little dim when it comes to legalese.
Cathy

I don't think it means that at all. I think there is a difference between using a logo or a trademark to promote a restaurant and simply sharing information with a restaurant.

Putting a Roadfood logo on something and sticking it in the window could be construed as an endorsement of sorts. Some copyright holders like to have better control of their trademarks than that would allow. It might also create confusion with the places that the Stern's have *officially* reviewed in their publications.

On the other hand, simply printing out a review or a forum thread and sharing it with restaurant staff -- even the owners (very often one and the same) -- could hardly be construed as an endorsement of any type. No worse than printing out someone's opinion of a book on amazon and sharing it with a friend.

I am not a lawyer and I don't even play one on TV. And sharing this information may even be illegal. But until someone issues a restraining order or a *cease and desist*, I'm going to continue to share Roadfood reviews with the restaurants I visit. As the original poster pointed out, it usually makes their day and it makes for a more pleasant experience for me, too.!

I always share roadfood reviews with staff. Whether they post them is the restaurant's choice.

quote:

Originally posted by syellina

I always leave behind the Roadfood review. Next to the enjoyment of having a great meal at a Roadfood recommended restaurant, my favorite benefit of using Roadfood is seeing the restaurant staff's faces when they read the reviews.

I have done this at least 25 times in the past two years and, surprisingly, I have never found a restaurant where any of the waiters were even aware of the Roadfood review. Reading such positive words about their work and their coworkers efforts has always generated a very positive response.

On a recent trip to New Orleans I passed on the review to my waiter at the Bon Ton Cafe where I had their excellent crawfish dinner. The review includes a picture of one of the waitresses. My waitress showed the review to the pictured waitress who went around the restaurant showing it to her regulars. She told me that she remembered being told it would be put on the internet, but she had never tried to find it. She said it really made her day; mine too.

Thanks for doing that! That was a picture I took. That waitress was so cool!! I'm glad she got to see it.