(Ed. Note: a version of this article originally appeared in the Spring 2018 edition of Edible San Luis Obispo.)
In the 13 years since its founding, Yelp has become one of the go-to sites for crowd-sourced opinions about everything from house painters, to hair salons, to restaurants … especially restaurants. Sigh.
Disclaimer: I’ve been a food writer for many years, so you might think I have a natural bias against Yelp, that I see it as competition. After all, it used to be that people seeking restaurant information had to look to established bylines, authorities, guides, etc.
That’s not my beef with Yelp. In fact, I use it a lot as a finger-in-the-wind indicator of what people think about a restaurant. When traveling, I especially rely on it to seek out spots more mom-and-pop than corporate. Overall, I’d give Yelp a really solid three stars.
For me, what’s wrong with Yelp is yoked to its success. All those everyman and everywoman reviews offer a tremendous trove of immediate, unfiltered information — emphasis on the immediate and the unfiltered. That’s why I read the content with a grain of salt, sometimes even a tablespoon.
For many restaurant owners, Yelp really is a four-letter word. After a busy night of what they thought was great service, the next morning brings a scathing review about an issue they didn’t realize they had, or a problem they thought they’d fixed last week.
Most proprietors would prefer you tell them at the time if you have an issue. You’re giving them at least a chance to provide you with immediate customer satisfaction. But yes, it’s far easier to go home and rant anonymously rather than “make a scene” at the restaurant.
And who’s really more likely to go home and write a Yelp review? Diners who’ve had an amazing experience, or those who haven’t? The former is more likely to bask in the glow of a lovely evening, away from keyboards and keypads. The latter is probably ready to vent somewhere, such as on Yelp.
Many of the negative comments are about service. Yes, patrons have every right to expect respectable treatment, but some reviewers really seem to take delight in channeling their inner curmudgeon – going well beyond the realm of valid, constructive complaints.
Certainly every Yelp reviewer doesn’t need restaurant experience, but I’d like to ask people to step back and see things from the perspective of someone in the service industry. Think about what it’s like to work the prep line during a slamming Saturday dinner, or to be that server responsible for the table of 12 who walked in without a reservation and decides at the end of the meal that they all want separate checks. We’ve all had days we wish had gone better.
That said, if the service or the quality of the food are truly consistent problems, they’ll be reflected in other Yelp reviews of that restaurant. I consider the overall trends and tones, not just the flat out cranky. Other reviews I take with an extra-large side of skepticism are those penned by someone who 1) appears to have an axe to grind with the restaurant, 2) doesn’t seem to have actually eaten there, and 3) has been – ahem – “overserved.”
On the other side of the coin, the gushing five-star posts are equally worthy of scrutiny. Yes, some restaurants knock it out of the park on a consistent basis, but sometimes the review’s wording is just a little too fawning to be believable. Again, I look at what’s trending from the rest of the favorable comments, not just the ones that sound like they came from the owners’ moms.
So yes, Yelp can be a very useful navigator through the restaurant scene. Many reviewers do take the time to offer thoughtful, even-keeled, constructive criticism and praise.
For me, cutting through the chase and reading the tea leaves is much like watching Olympic ice skating when I was a kid. You know they’re gonna toss out the scores of the American and Soviet Union judges, so just pay attention to what Switzerland thinks!
By Katy Budge