LTHForum.com

Tapatalk is not exclusive to iOS.

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Objects in mirror appear to be losing.

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.

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.

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).

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?

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"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

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.

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-Josh

I've started blogging about the Stuff I Eat

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.

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-Josh

I've started blogging about the Stuff I Eat

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.

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d
Retired, gone fishing, and exploring my curmudgeon within

This is pretty bold:

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




Is this common?

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Logan: Come on, everybody, wang chung tonight! What? Everybody, wang chung tonight! Wang chung, or I'll kick your ass!

Probably not too common since the post has now been removed.

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

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Love what I'm Doing, Doing what I love - Cooking hardwood smoked BBQ 6 days/week
http://www.backcountryq.com

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.

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"I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

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...

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“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” Elizabeth Taylor

(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.

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!

Regards,

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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, Road Food 2012: Podcast

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.

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"Goldie, how many times have I told you guys that I don't want no horsin' around on the airplane?" Maj. Kong

infographic/flowchart from Wired magazine: Should I Trust This Yelp Review
(Spoiler: No)

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What is patriotism, but the love of good things we ate in our childhood?
-- Lin Yutang

Very funny.

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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