Do yelpers and people overrate food places? (Chicago, Wheeling: hotels, tenant)

[treemoni]

I always use discernment when reading Yelp reviews, and I find it a great resource. I'd rather read "real people" reviews over professional reviewers, flaws and all. If nothing else, it's a good starting point.

[ToriaT]

I always read Yelp reviews before going to a place to see if I find anything unusual or a helpful tip. I've gleaned some info such as what time to arrive before crowds come or other helpful things. I also look at what people say about food and service. I know that its a matter of taste and some people will love or hate a place. You do have to take everything with a grain of salt.

[Wicket]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

The unfortunate side to yelp is that it is has that "social networking mentality going on". Too many people who are in love with themselves and crave internet attention. Lots of folks acting a little too hard to impress the rest of us. The foodie craze has birthed a whole new genre of narcissists.

Yes. The key with Yelp is consistent good reviews. But even that will be off if a place is hip and everyone wants to seem like they get it to be in on it. The reviews are just a general guide really.

[marothisu]

Usually with a hyped place, you have to wait a little bit before it evens out is what I've noticed. Places like Honey Butter Fried Chicken for example started out with 4.5 stars and big hype but now it's 3.5 as more reviews came in. You could say the same about a place like Green Street Meats, but it's not just Yelp overrating it. Pretty much any place that's hyped on Yelp you can find hype from other real publications or more author-based sites like Chicagoist, Chicago Magazine, Eater, or Thrillist. In fact, this is how most people find out about these things in the first place. You can't tell me that Leghorn Chicken got all of its hype from just neighborhood residents around Augusta & Western. It was because it was written up first on various sites and hyped up.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

The unfortunate side to yelp is that it is has that "social networking mentality going on". Too many people who are in love with themselves and crave internet attention. Lots of folks acting a little too hard to impress the rest of us. The foodie craze has birthed a whole new genre of narcissists.

Yes, absolutely true. I rarely read Yelp reviews, but some of these reviewers have a serious entitlement problem, and can be quite condescending/needy to restaurant workers, to cite one section of Yelp. Some of these people expect waiters/waitresses to be indentured servants...

The worst?---those who take pictures of their food.

[knitgirl]

LTH forum LTHForum.com - The Chicago Based Culinary Chatsite is a MUCH better place to look for restaurant reviews.

[Lookout Kid]

I agree with knitgirl re: LTH Forum. I do not post on there, but there are a lot of regular posters, and you tend to learn which ones you respect and which ones you think are full of crap (sound familiar?).

I saw a recent study on Yelp that said the majority of reviews are influenced more by service than food, so I always take that in to account. It seems like a lot of people go on Yelp to vent about a waitress that was inattentive.

[marothisu]

LTHForum is good but not always 100%. I post on there. I think that people who just blanket statement Yelp reviews are doing so unfouned. However, it's harder to sort out the crappy reviews from the non crappy ones. And whether you like it or not, service is still part of the experience.

[BleedCubbieBlue]

I never really trust Yelp to get real opinions on how good actual food is. I'll read them to get the vibe of a restaurant. But for real reviews Yelp is not very helpful. people tend to over hype places where they had a good experience. If they had friends over and had a great time then they'll say they loved the food. And especially with ethnic food, Yelp will only provide reviews from non-ethnic people who like ethnic food that tastes bland. I always joke that a White person's favorite mexican restaurant is the one within walking distance to their apartment! Then you go to these restaurants and the salsa isnt spicy and the food is very bland. The best way to find out if a place is good is to go to it and eat the dang food yourself. Then decide. If you want good mexican, go to a mexican neighborhood, NOT lakeview! if you want good chinese go to chinatown! etc.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by BleedCubbieBlue

I never really trust Yelp to get real opinions on how good actual food is. I'll read them to get the vibe of a restaurant. But for real reviews Yelp is not very helpful. people tend to over hype places where they had a good experience. If they had friends over and had a great time then they'll say they loved the food. And especially with ethnic food, Yelp will only provide reviews from non-ethnic people who like ethnic food that tastes bland. I always joke that a White person's favorite mexican restaurant is the one within walking distance to their apartment! Then you go to these restaurants and the salsa isnt spicy and the food is very bland. The best way to find out if a place is good is to go to it and eat the dang food yourself. Then decide. If you want good mexican, go to a mexican neighborhood, NOT lakeview! if you want good chinese go to chinatown! etc.

Sorry but this is part bull****. I read reviews all the time on Yelp from people who are, good chances, from that culture. My friend grew up in Bangkok and pretty much only reviews Thai food places. My ex girlfriend from SE Asia who has traveled extensively around there and also lived in China for awhile, also pretty much only reviewed SE Asian and Chinese food. I have other Indian friends who have tons of reviews on Indian places, definitely more than anything else.

Your statement about "If you want good ____ food." Yes, that can be true a lot but not all the time. One of the best Chinese places I've been to is in Albany Park. I have a friend who's from Delhi and been in the US for 2 years who told me his two favorite Indian places aren't on Devon - they're actually downtown. I normally would agree with you about "go to this part of town for that" but there are actually good places in various parts. Hell, I had a discussion this weekend about Mexican food with a friend from Mexico City who lives in Chicago now who mentioned Little Village and then proceeded to tell me that one of his favorite Mexican places in town is in Edgewater.

Obviously your chances are better in an ethnic neighborhood, but just because someone opens up a Chinese place in Ukrainian Village doesn't mean it automatically sucks just because it's not in Chinatown. In my opinion, that's very naive.