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  • Post #91 - April 23rd, 2012, 12:03 pm
    Post #91 - April 23rd, 2012, 12:03 pm Post #91 - April 23rd, 2012, 12:03 pm
    kenji wrote:
    riddlemay wrote:[ like LTH. But I can't read LTH on my iPhone--at least not well, and not quickly. Yelp gets me within seconds to information and reviews about all kinds of businesses, including restaurants here in Chicago in neighborhoods with which I'm less familiar than my own, and it can tell me exactly how to find them. I used to hate Yelp, but that w


    LTH can be viewed using the Tapatalk iphone/ipod touch app. Makes LTH very nice and smooth on those devices. Check it out:

    http://www.tapatalk.com/

    the freebie version is read-only but worth downloading to make sure you'd like it.


    Tapatalk is not exclusive to iOS.
    Objects in mirror appear to be losing.
  • Post #92 - April 23rd, 2012, 12:33 pm
    Post #92 - April 23rd, 2012, 12:33 pm Post #92 - April 23rd, 2012, 12:33 pm
    The main reason I go to Yelp is for address, hours and in most cases, a view of the building exterior which is a huge help for me going to a place for the first time. I also have mobility issues and it is usually noted if a place is wheeelchair friendly (I don't use one but do use a walker which had similar access issues) I'm not so much into the reviews, I read them with a grain of salt because I have seen reviews of places I love that have been slammed for some reason.
  • Post #93 - April 23rd, 2012, 1:46 pm
    Post #93 - April 23rd, 2012, 1:46 pm Post #93 - April 23rd, 2012, 1:46 pm
    kenji wrote:LTH can be viewed using the Tapatalk iphone/ipod touch app. Makes LTH very nice and smooth on those devices. Check it out:

    I actually have Tapatalk and it does make LTH readable on my iPhone. It can be fun for browsing when I've got an idle several minutes when out and about. But if I've got exactly one minute to pull over to the curb and find (say) Italian restaurants ranked by closeness to my current location, or to find the phone number and/or hours and/or directions to a vegetarian (say) restaurant from my current location, Yelp will come through for me magnificently, LTH not at all.
  • Post #94 - April 23rd, 2012, 5:07 pm
    Post #94 - April 23rd, 2012, 5:07 pm Post #94 - April 23rd, 2012, 5:07 pm
    Katie wrote:But what tools other than LTH do you travelling LTHers turn to when you go out of town?


    SweetWillie & I (and maybe others) are also regulars on Flyertalk.com, which is the LTH-equivalent for people who like to fly. There was recently a thread on FT addressing this very topic. You'll see a lot of good suggestions (including a few referring people to the Beyond Chicagoland section of LTH).
  • Post #95 - April 24th, 2012, 8:52 am
    Post #95 - April 24th, 2012, 8:52 am Post #95 - April 24th, 2012, 8:52 am
    Am I the only LTHer still using a Blackberry? The reviews of the Blackberry Tapatalk app are decidedly mixed. Does anyone here use it to view LTH on a Blackberry?
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #96 - April 24th, 2012, 8:56 am
    Post #96 - April 24th, 2012, 8:56 am Post #96 - April 24th, 2012, 8:56 am
    On resources for finding places to eat while traveling...

    Chowhound is good for other cities (not all cities, but some) and Yelp can also be useful (especially using mobile, location-based features). I've also gotten tons of great out of town recommendations via Twitter.
    -Josh

    I've started blogging about the Stuff I Eat
  • Post #97 - April 24th, 2012, 8:58 am
    Post #97 - April 24th, 2012, 8:58 am Post #97 - April 24th, 2012, 8:58 am
    jesteinf wrote:On resources for finding places to eat while traveling...

    Chowhound is good for other cities (not all cities, but some) and Yelp can also be useful (especially using mobile, location-based features). I've also gotten tons of great out of town recommendations via Twitter.


    I'm not on twitter. Do you get these recs from people who follow you, or are yore whole twitter-verse?
  • Post #98 - April 24th, 2012, 9:04 am
    Post #98 - April 24th, 2012, 9:04 am Post #98 - April 24th, 2012, 9:04 am
    Darren72 wrote:
    jesteinf wrote:On resources for finding places to eat while traveling...

    Chowhound is good for other cities (not all cities, but some) and Yelp can also be useful (especially using mobile, location-based features). I've also gotten tons of great out of town recommendations via Twitter.


    I'm not on twitter. Do you get these recs from people who follow you, or are yore whole twitter-verse?


    I ask my followers. I usually wind up with at least 2 or 3 options to chose from. I'll do my own digging on places people mention and decide from there.
    -Josh

    I've started blogging about the Stuff I Eat
  • Post #99 - April 25th, 2012, 11:05 am
    Post #99 - April 25th, 2012, 11:05 am Post #99 - April 25th, 2012, 11:05 am
    Sort of funny how this thread has evolved since my decidedly tongue-in-cheek original post.

    As an android user, I just use Google maps to find addresses, hours, and see what is nearby.

    For out of town recs, I start with LTH simply because I know the posters and so can evaluate their recs. Isn't the value of the source directly related to how well one knows, and trusts, the source? After that I am all over the place, though I suppose I do have something of an old school twitter approach, since I have contacts in a lot of cities (usually that I know through LTH or Chowhound) and I ask them. If we were younger, we might all be following each other on Twitter, but I cannot seem to get started.

    Also use roadfood some, and tend to look for local periodicals that remind me most of the Reader...

    I never go to Yelp, and see no need to do so. Not necessarily a comment pro or con, because I would need to spend more time there to have an opinion, just that my system works fine for me.

    Every trip is some combination of places I must go, and wandering around seeing what I discover, so these sources work fine.
    d
    Feeling (south) loopy
  • Post #100 - May 20th, 2012, 5:31 pm
    Post #100 - May 20th, 2012, 5:31 pm Post #100 - May 20th, 2012, 5:31 pm
    This is pretty bold:

    http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/wrg/3027658590.html


    yelpers!!! $25.00 per review

    Date: 2012-05-20, 5:56PM CDT Reply to: npxh4-3027658590@gigs.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

    looking for active yelp users to review businesses , pleas provide a link to your yelp profile with your phone. Thanks $25 a review


    Is this common?
    Logan: Come on, everybody, wang chung tonight! What? Everybody, wang chung tonight! Wang chung, or I'll kick your ass!
  • Post #101 - May 21st, 2012, 10:37 am
    Post #101 - May 21st, 2012, 10:37 am Post #101 - May 21st, 2012, 10:37 am
    Probably not too common since the post has now been removed.
  • Post #102 - February 12th, 2013, 8:19 am
    Post #102 - February 12th, 2013, 8:19 am Post #102 - February 12th, 2013, 8:19 am
    I've enjoyed a serious laugh this morning, and thought I'd share the humor...it started with me reading this (and other) yelp reviews for Billy Sunday. This prompted me to query for other funny yelp reviews, and I found this site:

    Guy reading ridiculous yelp reviews in a dramatic tone

    I could spend hours watching this guy, but I've gotta go put ribs in...so anyone with some spare time, enjoy the laughs - this guy is hilarious!

    any funny yelp reviews, or comments that just get you rolling? please share
    I love comfortable food, and comfortable restaurants.
    http://pitbarbq.com
    http://thebudlong.com
    http://denveraf.com
  • Post #103 - February 12th, 2013, 1:58 pm
    Post #103 - February 12th, 2013, 1:58 pm Post #103 - February 12th, 2013, 1:58 pm
    This thread caught my eye again because I'm looking for a place Sweet Baboo would really like for dinner on Valentine's Day. One place I had in mind is praised in glowing terms here on LTH--but then, of the dozen or more posters, several seem to be on a first-name basis with, and some personal friends with, one or more people associated with the restaurant. On Yelp, more than 300 people who don't seem to know each other that well, if at all (which is not to say that they're not influenced by each other, just like the LTH group) give the place an overall grade of--as we say here on LTH--"meh" at best. Which group should I, or anyone else, believe? I am willing to go to the place on my own sometime when time and $ permit and form my own opinion, but until I can do that (and in general, unlike some lucky few LTHers, I don't have the time or $ to drive all over the Tri-State area doing restaurant reconnaissance, which is why I'd like to be able to believe in others' reviews) I am reluctant to risk a special occasion dinner for a loved one on such obviously conflicting reports.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #104 - February 12th, 2013, 2:30 pm
    Post #104 - February 12th, 2013, 2:30 pm Post #104 - February 12th, 2013, 2:30 pm
    Katie wrote:This thread caught my eye again because I'm looking for a place Sweet Baboo would really like for dinner on Valentine's Day. One place I had in mind is praised in glowing terms here on LTH--but then, of the dozen or more posters, several seem to be on a first-name basis with, and some personal friends with, one or more people associated with the restaurant. On Yelp, more than 300 people who don't seem to know each other that well, if at all (which is not to say that they're not influenced by each other, just like the LTH group) give the place an overall grade of--as we say here on LTH--"meh" at best. Which group should I, or anyone else, believe? I am willing to go to the place on my own sometime when time and $ permit and form my own opinion, but until I can do that (and in general, unlike some lucky few LTHers, I don't have the time or $ to drive all over the Tri-State area doing restaurant reconnaissance, which is why I'd like to be able to believe in others' reviews) I am reluctant to risk a special occasion dinner for a loved one on such obviously conflicting reports.


    Isn't that kind of the whole point of LTH-- that you can "know" those reviewing? If it was me, I'd read the reviews here of places I know I like, find a few folks who loved those places too, then search their other reviews. Or just go someplace you already know you like rather than risk a bad meal on what is already a difficult and overpriced night to eat out...
    "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad." Miles Kington
  • Post #105 - February 12th, 2013, 2:43 pm
    Post #105 - February 12th, 2013, 2:43 pm Post #105 - February 12th, 2013, 2:43 pm
    Katie wrote:Which group should I, or anyone else, believe?


    (Emphasis is mine.)

    It isn't a matter of whom to believe. People have different tastes, preferences, expectations, budgets, etc. Don't presume there is some underlying quality of the restaurant that we're all trying to uncover and that 300 data points contains more information than 12 data points. Read posts/reviews and figure out why people liked a restaurant or didn't like it. Maybe you'll discover that your tastes are just not in tune with the people who didn't like a restaurant because of, say, a lack of bread service. Or you'll find that your tastes are in tune with a person who raved about the wine list.
  • Post #106 - February 12th, 2013, 3:04 pm
    Post #106 - February 12th, 2013, 3:04 pm Post #106 - February 12th, 2013, 3:04 pm
    HI,

    Personally, the last place I want to be on Valentines is a restaurant. Unless it is White Castle or Waffle House, both are dressing up with candles and tablecloths.

    I know some restaurant owners, I know some chefs. I try not to get too invested in their success or failures. Their wanting to know influencers is part of their business. They give the illusion they are friends with their customers. Maybe some genuinely are, though I am sure many go home to their family and real friends. We, their customers, are the work-friends like some people have their work-husbands and work-wives.

    What I really hate is when I go to a restaurant where I sort-of-know the chef and owners, then get this hang dog look like why-haven't-you-visited-us-recently? Geez, only so much time in the day or money I want to hand over to them (and when was the last time you handed a friend money to eat at their house!!!).

    When it comes to making choices, I take the Siskel & Ebert approach. I follow some people enough to know: what-they-like-I-won;t or what-they-hate-I-will-like or what they-like-I-like-too.

    I am sure there are people worthy to follow on yelp, just as there are people worth following on chowhound (I always check Melanie Wong for the San Francisco board).

    Probably I didn;t do anything to answer your question, but what else is new! :D

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #107 - February 12th, 2013, 5:35 pm
    Post #107 - February 12th, 2013, 5:35 pm Post #107 - February 12th, 2013, 5:35 pm
    Katie wrote: On Yelp, more than 300 people who don't seem to know each other that well, if at all (which is not to say that they're not influenced by each other, just like the LTH group) give the place an overall grade of--as we say here on LTH--"meh" at best. Which group should I, or anyone else, believe?


    Great question--

    In my almost nine years of visiting this forum, I have patronized many restaurants suggested by fellow LTHers. I have had (usually) good luck when following advice from like-minded folks, but I have also visited some stinkers suggested by those same people. Different strokes, I guess.

    Sorry to say this, but I have had the best luck when reading reviews from Open Table reviewers. Yelp can be a helpful resource, but first you have to discount all of the "awesome" comments plus all of the comments written by 19 year olds.
    "Goldie, how many times have I told you guys that I don't want no horsin' around on the airplane?"
  • Post #108 - May 8th, 2013, 10:35 am
    Post #108 - May 8th, 2013, 10:35 am Post #108 - May 8th, 2013, 10:35 am
    infographic/flowchart from Wired magazine: Should I Trust This Yelp Review
    (Spoiler: No)
    What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
    -- Lin Yutang
  • Post #109 - May 8th, 2013, 12:07 pm
    Post #109 - May 8th, 2013, 12:07 pm Post #109 - May 8th, 2013, 12:07 pm
    JoelF wrote:infographic/flowchart from Wired magazine: Should I Trust This Yelp Review
    (Spoiler: No)


    Very funny.
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #110 - June 24th, 2013, 8:13 pm
    Post #110 - June 24th, 2013, 8:13 pm Post #110 - June 24th, 2013, 8:13 pm
    Back in May, Robert Irvine and Restaurant Impossible did a "redo" at Angelo's Restaurant in Woodstock Square. I did not watch the show as I no longer have TV. I have to admit that the place has consistently been the WORST place to eat in Woodstock for years. The food is generally NOT freshly prepared and has been miserable all three times I have eaten there. The service was not very good either.

    The show was aired about a week ago.

    I have been looking for reviews of the "redone" restaurant on Yelp. There is only ONE post since the remake. That surprised me as the redo has been the topic of discussion all around town. (I will not try the place again until it changes ownership.)

    Then I noticed that there were 18 FILTERED reviews. Nearly ALL of the filtered reviews are unfavorable and most came AFTER the redo.

    To me, that is a real crock and is one of the reasons that I do NOT post on Yelp. It is less than honest.
  • Post #111 - June 25th, 2013, 11:39 am
    Post #111 - June 25th, 2013, 11:39 am Post #111 - June 25th, 2013, 11:39 am
    jlawrence01 wrote:Then I noticed that there were 18 FILTERED reviews. Nearly ALL of the filtered reviews are unfavorable and most came AFTER the redo.

    To me, that is a real crock and is one of the reasons that I do NOT post on Yelp. It is less than honest.


    I don't claim to understand Yelp's algorithms, but one thing that does seem clear: They often filter one-star and five-star reviews posted by people with just a couple reviews, particularly when the review is very short. Most of us seem to mentally do the same thing here on LTH: A first time poster appears and says something like, "This is the most awesome/awful place I've ever eaten," and he or she (rightfully, IMHO) gets dismissed.

    Looking more closely at the 19 filtered reviews:
    5-star 1-line review by a 6-time reviewer
    1-star review by 1-time reviewer
    2-star review by 2-time reviewer
    3-star review by 7-time reviewer
    1-star review by 2-time reviewer
    1-star review by 1-time reviewer
    2-star review by 1-time reviewer
    5-star review by 2-time reviewer
    2-star review by 23-time reviewer
    1-star review by 1-time reviewer
    2-star review by 2-time reviewer
    1-star review by 1-time reviewer
    2-star review by 8-time reviewer
    1-star review by 1-time reviewer
    4-star review by 23-time reviewer
    5-star review by 1-time reviewer
    5-star review by 2-time reviewer
    1-star review by 2-time reviewer
    5-star review by 56-time reviewer

    By my calculations, that works out to an average of 2.5 stars. The average published rating (which excludes filtered reviews) is 3 stars.
  • Post #112 - June 25th, 2013, 12:08 pm
    Post #112 - June 25th, 2013, 12:08 pm Post #112 - June 25th, 2013, 12:08 pm
    jlawrence01 wrote:Then I noticed that there were 18 FILTERED reviews. Nearly ALL of the filtered reviews are unfavorable and most came AFTER the redo.

    To me, that is a real crock and is one of the reasons that I do NOT post on Yelp. It is less than honest.


    They let you unfilter the reviews. How is that anything but honest?
  • Post #113 - June 25th, 2013, 1:01 pm
    Post #113 - June 25th, 2013, 1:01 pm Post #113 - June 25th, 2013, 1:01 pm
    Hi- You look up Amy's Baking Company on YELP, and there are tons of filtered one star reviews on YELP that appeared after the show ran. I am sure the majority of those people never eat at Amy's, but wrote a nasty review anyway.

    I belong to Angie's List, and there are a group of contractors in I believe Indianapolis who sued Angie, because one of her subscribers contacted these contractors about having some work done, and told them that if they did not give her a really good deal, she was going to give them all a one star review
  • Post #114 - June 25th, 2013, 2:19 pm
    Post #114 - June 25th, 2013, 2:19 pm Post #114 - June 25th, 2013, 2:19 pm
    NFriday wrote:I belong to Angie's List, and there are a group of contractors in I believe Indianapolis who sued Angie, because one of her subscribers contacted these contractors about having some work done, and told them that if they did not give her a really good deal, she was going to give them all a one star review

    This type of behavior happens everywhere.

    Every once in a while, we get the one-of poster who is unhappy with their experience. They offer their opinion on LTH, then they move onto Yelp, Chowhound and any forum they can leave their thoughts copied and pasted onto. I personally call this the scorched Earth approach, where this dissatisfied person will leave no stone unturned.

    I happen not to put a whole lot of credence to whatever these people are upset about. I don't know them or their track record to know whether I may agree with them or not.

    However, if a regular has a bad experience and I have come to trust their opinion, then a bad review can be damaging. Of course, I may not believe them at all from their track record.

    Unfortunately, people who don't participate on forums like this don't understand this dynamic.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #115 - June 25th, 2013, 10:49 pm
    Post #115 - June 25th, 2013, 10:49 pm Post #115 - June 25th, 2013, 10:49 pm
    chgoeditor wrote:
    jlawrence01 wrote:Then I noticed that there were 18 FILTERED reviews. Nearly ALL of the filtered reviews are unfavorable and most came AFTER the redo.

    To me, that is a real crock and is one of the reasons that I do NOT post on Yelp. It is less than honest.


    I don't claim to understand Yelp's algorithms, but one thing that does seem clear: They often filter one-star and five-star reviews posted by people with just a couple reviews, particularly when the review is very short. Most of us seem to mentally do the same thing here on LTH: A first time poster appears and says something like, "This is the most awesome/awful place I've ever eaten," and he or she (rightfully, IMHO) gets dismissed.



    Exclude the reviews that occurred BEFORE the "transformation", it gives the IMPRESSION that the transformation was good. Add in the FILTERED opinions and you will get a completely different view.

    To me it is irrelevant as I will NOT return to the place. They are 0-3 in my book with the last two meals falling in the "worst meal of the year" category.
  • Post #116 - February 26th, 2014, 9:04 am
    Post #116 - February 26th, 2014, 9:04 am Post #116 - February 26th, 2014, 9:04 am
    Just saw this on a three-star review of the new BIG & Little's location:
    Perhaps 3 years of built up expectations left me with an unobtainable vision of Big and Little's, but the soft shell crab po boy was a huge disappointment. The bread, spicy mayo and pickles were great, even the iceberg lettuce added to the sandwich, but the soft shell crab was quite small and still contained some shell or skin under the fried batter, I'm not exactly sure but it wasn't pleasant to eat. I enjoyed the bites with out the crab the most... which luckily was at least half the sandwich.


    To their credit, B&L managed to respond without making her feel like a complete idiot:
    I completely understand you about the soft shell crab po'boy as it is quite an adventurous dish since we batter and fry the whole animal shell and all it tends to be one of those acquired taste items.
  • Post #117 - April 7th, 2014, 1:54 pm
    Post #117 - April 7th, 2014, 1:54 pm Post #117 - April 7th, 2014, 1:54 pm
    I don't think this comes as a surprise if you know any restaurant owners that have been fairly vocal about this. http://www.fastcompany.com/3028725/fast ... e-tumbling
  • Post #118 - May 18th, 2017, 3:47 pm
    Post #118 - May 18th, 2017, 3:47 pm Post #118 - May 18th, 2017, 3:47 pm
    A Yale University dean has been placed on leave over offensive reviews she made on Yelp, including one in which she refers to customers of a local restaurant as “white trash.”
    . . .
    “If you are white trash, this is the perfect night out for you!” Chu wrote in a review of a local Japanese steakhouse.
    . . .
    [Pierson College Head Stephen] Davis, who is in charge of the college’s administration, said that review and another that described movie theater workers as “barely educated morons” were “deeply harmful to the community fabric.”

    Yale dean is placed on leave over offensive Yelp reviews
  • Post #119 - May 19th, 2017, 2:19 pm
    Post #119 - May 19th, 2017, 2:19 pm Post #119 - May 19th, 2017, 2:19 pm
    I am thinking about investing my life savings in Yelp stock,.
  • Post #120 - May 23rd, 2017, 12:36 pm
    Post #120 - May 23rd, 2017, 12:36 pm Post #120 - May 23rd, 2017, 12:36 pm
    Black Mirror's horrific people-rating app is now a reality. Sort of.
    Pithy quote here.

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