Restaurant Reviews Confuse Me - What's Up?

So, I%26#39;ve been online googling restaurant reviews on the Vegas Strip - primarly mid-range family style eateries..nothing fancy, shmancy. (We%26#39;re a group of 12). To name a few: Mon Ami Gabi, Diablos (Monte Carlo), Olives, Noodles, Fix, Hash House a Go-Go, Bally%26#39;s Steakhouse, plus a variety of buffets (the usual).

Well, how can reviewers be at such odds? While one person claims they%26#39;ve died and gone to heaven after eating a meal at a particular restaurant, another writes that it%26#39;s the worst food they%26#39;ve eaten, with warnings to stear clear of the joint.

What%26#39;s going on? I know there are good and bad days at any restaurant, plus people (such as myself) can be very critical if food isn%26#39;t up to snuff, but to be sooooo opposing?

I guess it%26#39;s luck of the draw.

Restaurant Reviews Confuse Me - What's Up?

It%26#39;s because people have such different experiences, expectations, and tastes. (No pun intended).

It%26#39;s very hard to know what kind of food people usually eat, what kind of places they usually go to, what kind of budget they%26#39;re used to working with.

That shows up in the reviews; someone might be presented with a dish they%26#39;ve never heard of and say in their review that ';they served some weird chicken dish';. Someone else may be used to fine dining every night and ends up going somewhere a bit more middle scale and posts ';the wine list was horrible';. One person thinks Battista%26#39;s Hole in the Wall is ';the best Italian food, like Mom used to make';, while someone else thinks it%26#39;s wretched slop. :)

That%26#39;s why I pay little attention to restaurant reviews except from comments on the Forum from people whom I know to have similar tastes to my own.

Restaurant Reviews Confuse Me - What's Up?

different people, different orders, different servers, different days of the week, different expectations...

the list goes on.

that%26#39;s why i find you%26#39;re best off to read as many reviews as possible and get an overall feeling of the place. also, pay attention to specific complaints, not general ';everything sucked'; complaints.

then you can assess whether the complaint applies to you or not (eg. if the complaint was about the sommelier being snobby and had a poor wine selection... but you%26#39;re not a wine drinker, so you don%26#39;t care)

i tend to gloss over on-off reviews that complain overly about the service... since a lot of the service you receive depends on the attitude of the customer, or the attitude of a particular server on a particular day... it%26#39;s a crapshoot and nothing you can plan for or should hold against the restaurant. if however the poor service is consistently mentioned by many different posters, that%26#39;s another story.

as for food complaints, since 99% of restaurants post their menu outside for reading before you dine, i disregard reviews complaining about price and selection. you knew what you were getting when you walked in, so why do you think you can complain about it?

specific food quality concerns interest me most of all... bland/oversalted, strange flavour profiles, under/over cooked meat... etc. but even that is in the eye of the beholder.

All reviews are subjective. People are only giving their opinion of the food, etc. That is all you are getting -opinions. Everyone has his/her opinion about what food should taste like, what they think is good service, ambience, etc. It is not unusual to have different ideas and therefore get different reviews.

I didn%26#39;t like some of the restaurants that other people loved-MAG, TOW, Eiffel Tower. I felt the food was not great- but others disagree- so what? I don%26#39;t question their opinion. I don%26#39;t think they are wrong and I am right. Neither to I think they are right and I am wrong. There is no ';right'; or ';wrong'; when it comes to food. You like what you like and that is the end of it.

I have friends and family who have suggested restaurants to me because they felt I would love it. These are people who know my taste in food. Yet- I didn%26#39;t love the food when I ate there.

Battista%26#39;s usually gets poor reviews (I don%26#39;t like it) but there are a few that do like it and think it is great. Again- who is right and who is wrong? They liked the food so it was right for them. It is no big mystery

I really don%26#39;t know why you are confused.

As you note, any restaurant can have an off night, and anyone can have a bad experience even at the finest restaurants. What I look for in reviews is criticisms that seem to crop up repeatedly from different reviewers. In other words, if one person complains about the service being slow, I probably won%26#39;t give it much thought, but if five different reviews mention it, I will expect that I might encounter slow service if I eat there.

I don%26#39;t read restaurant reviews, but I do value Trip Reports that include opinions on dining. Because a TR will also tell you something about the posters choices and tastes, so it will help you judge if they might be similar to your own.

And if you are a regular reader of LV boards, you already have an idea about which of the more regular posters might share your tastes. So you attach a little more weight to their opinions.

Thanks for all your responses. Restaurant convo is always a hot topic. After all, we%26#39;re spending the $$$$, right!?!

BTW, my posting was kind of rhetorical. In truth, I have all the answers and agree with everything everyone said. It%26#39;s just that with so many choices you don%26#39;t want to get burnt (is that somewhat of a pun, as in food being burnt). It%26#39;s so irritating leaving a restaurant thinking you just threw out money and could have cooked it 1,000 times better at home.

Cheers,

Funnybone