How to Use Online Restaurant Reviews and Save Time and Money

Gone are the days of spontaneity when we could walk into an unfamiliar restaurant based purely on its aesthetic and menu. In the olden days, pre-World Wide Web, maybe you had a dog-eared Zagat book of restaurant reviews, but for the most part you went in cold. Nowadays, we have health inspection ratings, Instagram influencers, and online reviews to consider before setting foot inside a restaurant and ordering just one meal out of tens of thousands in our lifetime. 

It shouldn’t be this complicated. If you want to live life on the edge, go into a restaurant as unprepared as I was for my SAT in 1985, but if you’re going to take the time to look at online restaurant reviews, be sure to read them the right way.

Look at the big picture

Always look at the overall rating first. There can be 3000-plus reviews, but if the overall rating is a 4.6 out of five stars, it’s a pretty solid restaurant. Likewise, if the rating is 2.2, it might be a little chancy. You never know though because, even with a 2.2, there’s always someone who gave it a five and shouldn’t their opinion matter just as much as anyone else’s? Personally, I can usually look at the overall rating and decide from that if I want to eat there or not. If you need to dive in a little deeper when looking at online reviews, there’s even more to think about. 

Filters are your friend

Always filter the reviews to see the most recent ones first. You would think that would be the default for posted reviews, but that would make too much sense. Instead, they’re often shown as “featured” or “most helpful” first, but you want to see what’s happening at this restaurant now. Reginald P. might rave about how mouthwatering the pork cotoletta was and how his server Janice went above and beyond, but if it was four years ago and both the pork and Janice have moved on, that review is not helpful. Filtering to the most recent is going to give you a better idea of what to expect. And limit yourself to the last six months or so of reviews unless you truly enjoy reading the opinions of random strangers.

Some people love sour grapes

If you see a particularly bad review of a restaurant, take that review with a grain of salt. In fact, some reviews need an entire salt lick because reviews are, by their very definition, one person’s opinion. That person may be a Negative Nellie who only bothers to post reviews when they’re unhappy. People are generally more apt to complain about something than compliment. When I see a really awful review, I will click that reviewer’s profile to see what kind of other reviews they have written. Too often, it’s a litany of complaints. The only time they write reviews is when they are dissatisfied and if they are always perceiving things to be horrible, maybe the problem is with them and not the restaurants. 

Consider the source

Also, consider if the review is based on facts. Someone can leave a great review but when you read it, it’s because they had a wonderful time that had nothing to do with the food or service. “I got engaged here! Five stars!” does not tell us anything about the restaurant itself. And a one-star review because they couldn’t find a parking place is also not helpful. Consider if the review is biased. Does it sound like a disgruntled employee trashing their former place of work or does it sound like someone got a bonus if they received a five-star online review and they wrote it about themself? Both are possible and I can admit that I have done at least one of those. 

Trust your gut

Online reviews are a great help when deciding whether or not to visit a restaurant, but they shouldn’t be the definite decision maker. They are not required to find a great restaurant. One of my favorite restaurants is a place I discovered in Brooklyn in 1994, before I had the internet. I chose it based on the fact that the menu sounded great, it looked adorable, and the seats were always full. Their croque monsieur continues to be my favorite thing there and no online review is going to change that for me.