Your review is not helpful

My upbringing taught me "If you can't say something kind say nothing." It takes very little effort to be considerate.I think offering unkind postings is sometimes just and opportunity for some folks to vent rather than be constructive or helpful.
You have to put yourself in the other's place and ask " Would I like that?"...If they're honest oftentime most people would reply " NO! "

This pertains to the "Roadfood Insider" review of Flo's in Maine that is presently at the top of the "insider" reviews section. Did something get missed when the reviewer posted or what? There is no information about the place, what menu items were ordered or any photos. Sorry to be so crtitical but I thought that a review had to have some substance to it before it would be posted to the site.

Wally

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Originally posted by twinwillow

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Originally posted by wheregreggeats.com

I find frozen eye of newt disgusting.

Is newt kosher?

No, I think he's Presbyterian.

I'm going to attempt to revive this topic today for CYCLONE DRIVE-IN.

While the reviewers did a nice job writing, it is the first review I ever clicked on "not helpful" for. Why?? Because they only tried a shake!!!! Why is a review featured where no one even tried the basic food?? They mention what is offered but have no idea if it was good or bad!!

It might be quite good for all I know. But I can't tell from reading the review, and I wouldn't chance it unless I lived there.

Thanks for the forum to vent, I didn't want to start a new thread just to whine...!]

Too many places to eat to get bent about incomplete reviews. The site has proved quite useful to me already (new user) providing the whereabouts of a relocated favorite.

I do have a question though - under the restaurant tab, are the reviews only from members or do they include the listings in the Sterns' books? I have two of them that I reference before a trip. Loved their column when it appeared in my paper.

Can't comment on eye of Newt, but guilty of both displaying the bird and blowing a kiss (while pointing to a suggested location) when my brain wasn't in gear. You really never know who is on the receiving end. A girlfriend's landlord drove a cement mixer and went ballistic when somebody saluted him, chasing the driver down in said vehicle. Closest that I got to getting myself into trouble was when somebody thought that I had cut them off. He followed me into the parking lot of the store I was headed for and parked about 40 yds away, between me and the store. He came toward me yeling and giving me whatfor. As he got closer, he got smaller and I guess that I must have gotten bigger, because by the time he got to me, he quit yelling and decided to calm me down. Not hard to do, as I wasn't particularly ticked off. I'm only 6'2", but he barely came up to my chin!!

Have seen birds flying, but never a fist. Hope to keep it that way.

wbj

quote:

Originally posted by wbjake

I do have a question though - under the restaurant tab, are the reviews only from members or do they include the listings in the Sterns' books? I have two of them that I reference before a trip. Loved their column when it appeared in my paper.

There are reviews by the Sterns as well as by other members. I can't say for sure what the percentage of each may be.

I have foud some reviews unhelpful when they post pictures but never get around to taking a picture of the food. Come on. The outside of the place is lovely but three pictures and no food. I've never rated a review, though.

I have never marked a review not helpful. Even with a poorly written review, I have learned something about the place I didn't know before.

divefl-
I do definitely understand your point. Of course it is always nice to see what the place looks like, but most will decide whether to eat somewhere based on what the food looks like.

I have never marked a review not helpful. Even with a poorly written review, I have learned something about the place I didn't know before.

divefl-
I do definitely understand your point. Of course it is always nice to see what the place looks like, but most will decide whether to eat somewhere based on what the food looks like.

What if we eat somewhere, think the food is fabulous, but don't have a camera? Must we have a picture of the food in order to submit a review? Not being snide, just really want to know as I am new here. Love the website, and the interesting conversations!

Also, are the "names" (jr cheeseburger, cheeseburger, filet mignon, etc) assigned according to how many posts you have made?

Teri Jean

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

I have never marked a review not helpful. Even with a poorly written review, I have learned something about the place I didn't know before.

divefl-
I do definitely understand your point. Of course it is always nice to see what the place looks like, but most will decide whether to eat somewhere based on what the food looks like.

Sorry, I don't think I did that last reply correctly - here it goes again!

What if we eat somewhere, think the food is fabulous, but don't have a camera? Must we have a picture of the food in order to submit a review? Not being snide, just really want to know as I am new here. Love the website, and the interesting conversations!

Also, are the "names" (jr cheeseburger, cheeseburger, filet mignon, etc) assigned according to how many posts you have made?

Teri Jean

Yes, they are the number of posts.

For me, I am not talking about the situation where there is no camera. I am frustrated when there definitely is a camera, but the camera is pointed at the wall nick knacks, placemats, and funny sign over the bar. Anywhere but the food. People have posted trip reports with no photos. They are still helpful.

Today the featured review was for Esters Cajun Seafood and Steaks in Port Arthur , TX. The picture and the writeup makes me want to get in the car and drive there for a meal (about a 6 day round trip). I was surprised that somebody found the review unhelpful. Maybe they made a mistake.

I did not review it, but on the picture of soup labeled a specialty, I wish they had written what it was to explain a little.

divefl, the pictures not only have captions, they have labels. Unfortunately, you have to click on a photo to see the list of photos with labels. And many reviewers tell what the pictured dish is in the label rather than the caption. It's not a perfect system.

Also, the reviewer mentioned in the write up that the seafood gumbo was a "specialty of the house" and then labeled the picture as the "house specialty."

I drew what I figured was the natural conclusion - A + B = Seafood Gumbo??

quote:

Originally posted by divefl I did not review it, but on the picture of soup labeled a specialty, I wish they had written what it was to explain a little.

I agree. I, for instance, love anchovies on my pizza and will rate the pizza based on that. Many don't, so my review will be trivial to them, which is why I don't review much.

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Originally posted by Bruce Bilmes & Sue Boyle

divefl, the pictures not only have captions, they have labels. Unfortunately, you have to click on a photo to see the list of photos with labels. And many reviewers tell what the pictured dish is in the label rather than the caption. It's not a perfect system.

It was gumbo. Thank you.

I love this forum for the fact that it communicates opinions, positive or otherwise. I like comments on my reviews, especially if someone takes my humble advice, visits a place that I reviewed, and loves it as much as I did. But yeah, the "helpful" rating is too broad and rather useless. After talking to Bruce Bilmes about it, I realize that there's no (to my knowledge) useful way to have a rating system on the site. Look at any rating system on any site -- they're all arbitrary, and the only useful element is someone's written comments...even those sites like Yelp.com where posters strive to one-up each other to see who can be the wittiest or most sarcastic.

Cecif, I had to look up the shake at Cyclone Drive-In, and it does look really good. If I'm ever around Stuart, IA, I'd definitely take the time to visit Cyclone, mainly because I'd be excited to write a logbook update of the place...and try their breaded pork tenderloin sandwich! And Erika & Jon would be the first reason for me to visit Sacramento, just to be able to share a meal with them at their favorite RF eatery.

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Bilmes & Sue Boyle

divefl, the pictures not only have captions, they have labels. Unfortunately, you have to click on a photo to see the list of photos with labels. And many reviewers tell what the pictured dish is in the label rather than the caption. It's not a perfect system.

Glad this came up. I assumed that everyone knew to click on a photo to see the labels. I will have to take this into consideration when I write captions for my photos from now on.

Never knew about the labels. You learn somrthing new everyday. My two cents: I wouldn't rate a review as unhelpful unless I found something particularly annoying about it. If I am indifferent, it would not invoke an "unhelpful" from me. If I may, one thing I DO find annoying is when the featured place is the same as one of the current day's new reviews. Just seems redundant.

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Originally posted by ayersian

Cecif, I had to look up the shake at Cyclone Drive-In, and it does look really good. If I'm ever around Stuart, IA, I'd definitely take the time to visit Cyclone, mainly because I'd be excited to write a logbook update of the place...and try their breaded pork tenderloin sandwich!

But Chris, dontcha wish they'd actually TRIED the BPT and reviewed that too?? Reviewing a shake is okay if you expect people to go all the way to the place just to try the shake... but really Michael's reviews are WAY more valuable (IMHO) because he tries a LOT of menu items and reviews broadly. To me a narrow review just isn't helpful, and since they put a button on the site for me to say so, I sometimes do.

I know it's individual, but think of it this way, in the publishing world (news, magazine, book) would a self-respecting editor let a review get published that didn't tell you a lot about the place?? The Sterns sure wouldn't do that. I'm not saying it isn't worth telling people "I had a great shake here someone come try the food", but for me that belongs in trip reports, not as a full review.

quote:

Originally posted by cecif
would a self-respecting editor let a review get published that didn't tell you a lot about the place??

Hmmm... I will try hard not to take offense at that... But I respect your opinion. My thinking: it's a first look, and hopefully it spurs others to follow up with more info.

Ceci, you're right many times over. Of course I wish they'd tried the BPT, but we can't expect user reviews to be on par with the Sterns' articles. They get paid to review and have built an entire career out of it. Myself, I can't afford to order one of everything on a menu just to be able to write about it, nor do I have the inclination for waste, nor the stomach space to handle all that food. Michael certainly doesn't do that all the time; I've read plenty of his reviews that discuss maybe one or two items, and he just mentions a few others, or gives one of his patented "the menu offers (b), (c), and (d), but we can never get past the incredible (a)"...a tactic that I've mimicked sooo many times in my own reviews!

Let me add that while it may at times seem like the bar is set pretty low for user reviews to get posted (especially when they are compared to Michael Stern's reviews), we actually post, oh I would guess, maybe 15% of what is submitted to us. Maybe even less. We don't expect everyone to be Michael Stern. Hell, we don't expect anyone to be Michael Stern!

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Originally posted by Bruce Bilmes & Sue Boyle

we actually post, oh I would guess, maybe 15% of what is submitted to us. Maybe even less.

Wow! I had no idea.

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Originally posted by ayersian

Ceci, you're right many times over. Of course I wish they'd tried the BPT, but we can't expect user reviews to be on par with the Sterns' articles. They get paid to review and have built an entire career out of it. Myself, I can't afford to order one of everything on a menu just to be able to write about it, nor do I have the inclination for waste, nor the stomach space to handle all that food. Michael certainly doesn't do that all the time; I've read plenty of his reviews that discuss maybe one or two items, and he just mentions a few others, or gives one of his patented "the menu offers (b), (c), and (d), but we can never get past the incredible (a)"...a tactic that I've mimicked sooo many times in my own reviews!

Now Chris... obviously I'm not getting into a war with you on this but I can't say I have ever seen a Stern review that only mentioned one or two items... so tell me where and I'll be lookin'. I'd guess they probably try 3-4, sometimes more, and often many more. But I totally agree, we can't be expected to buy a bunch of things just to review the place... on the other hand buying only a milkshake seems a bit odd. Maybe it's just me, but I would never try posting a review if that's all I had. I'd feel guilty! Now maybe if I added a burger or a dog, or even fries... then I'd feel better about it. I confine myself to trip reports for that reason - I can give out the info and no one expects more.

As negative as I am sounding in this thread, with apologies to Bruce & Sue, I'm a really positive person and I look for the best in everything! Bruce, I don't expect Roadfood.com reviews to be as thorough as in magazines & books, but since there is a button I can press if I feel that a review - which covers only a milkshake and none of the food - is not helpful to me, I use it.

I think it's funny that people feel no one should press that button, after all, if y'all didn't want to know, you wouldn't put it on the page!!!

p.s. Re: Labels/Captions: Is it just the browser I use? I always see photos with captions & labels etc so I don't really understand that confusion...??

Cecif, use the "not helpful" button if you like. It's OK.

cecif, I'm curious - if you click on the photo on the front page, the one from The Shed, you're saying that along the right side of the page you see photos, captions, and photo labels?

quote:

Originally posted by Bruce Bilmes & Sue Boyle

My thinking: it's a first look, and hopefully it spurs others to follow up with more info.

Bruce, you can change the "hopefully" to "definitely" for us, at least! On roadtrips to places new to us, we specifically choose RF places whose reviews/logbooks haven't been updated in a while. My favorite logbook reviews are those that offer new info. Then there's always that chance that we'll happen upon an undiscovered RF-worthy eatery, of course...

Excellent!