Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? Even if it's
in your own town? There's a place in Memphis called 'Mortimer's'. I've
never been there (heh, I remember when there was a dress shop at that
location.) I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a
former employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about waiter rants...

"I am a former employee of Mortimer's, and I would like to take this chance
to warn anyone who might think of dining there about the godawful unsanitary
conditions there. Some examples:

1. I once saw a waiter carrying a sandwich out to a table. Just before he
exited the kitchen, he dropped the top piece of bread on the floor. He
picked it up, dusted it off on his shirt, put it back on the sandwich, and
took it out to serve it.

2. I saw an employee knock over a five-gallon bucket of shrimp which spilled
all over the floor (the floor in the kitchen is filthy, by the way). The
dishwasher began scooping up the shrimp and throwing it in a garbage can.
The kitchen manager ran over and started cussing the dishwasher, saying that
the shrimp was way too expensive to just throw away, and that he (the
dishwasher) would either put the shrimp back in the bucket to serve to
customers or he would be fired.

3. Each table is given a complementary basket of rolls. There is a basket
next to the dish area in the kitchen. When servers bus a table, they are
required to salvage any rolls that have not been eaten off of and put them
in this basket to be recycled for the next table.

I don't know how a place this filthy and disgusting has managed to stay in
business. I can only assume that they pay bribes to the health department."

That's enough to put me off a place. But I probably wouldn't have read it
if I hadn't been looking something else up.

Jill

Here is the crux of the biscuit (nods to Frank Zappa),

I'd hold r.f.c membership reccomendations far and way above the TV or
newspaper critics.

Andy

Andy wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:14:51 -0500:

> I'd hold r.f.c membership reccomendations far and way above
> the TV or newspaper critics.

My personal opinions tend to concur with the Zagat guides (and not the
idiosyncratic opinions of Tom Sietsma in Washington publications!)

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

jmcquown wrote:
> Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking
> about this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one?
> Even if it's in your own town? There's a place in Memphis called
> 'Mortimer's'. I've never been there (heh, I remember when there was a
> dress shop at that location.) I was doing a search for someone and ran
> across this rant by a former employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about
> waiter rants...
>
> "I am a former employee of Mortimer's, and I would like to take this
> chance to warn anyone who might think of dining there about the godawful
> unsanitary conditions there. Some examples:
>
> 1. I once saw a waiter carrying a sandwich out to a table. Just before
> he exited the kitchen, he dropped the top piece of bread on the floor.
> He picked it up, dusted it off on his shirt, put it back on the
> sandwich, and took it out to serve it.
>
> 2. I saw an employee knock over a five-gallon bucket of shrimp which
> spilled all over the floor (the floor in the kitchen is filthy, by the
> way). The dishwasher began scooping up the shrimp and throwing it in a
> garbage can. The kitchen manager ran over and started cussing the
> dishwasher, saying that the shrimp was way too expensive to just throw
> away, and that he (the dishwasher) would either put the shrimp back in
> the bucket to serve to customers or he would be fired.
>
> 3. Each table is given a complementary basket of rolls. There is a
> basket next to the dish area in the kitchen. When servers bus a table,
> they are required to salvage any rolls that have not been eaten off of
> and put them in this basket to be recycled for the next table.
>
> I don't know how a place this filthy and disgusting has managed to stay
> in business. I can only assume that they pay bribes to the health
> department."
>
> That's enough to put me off a place. But I probably wouldn't have read
> it if I hadn't been looking something else up.
>
> Jill

I don't value the opinion of reviewers because many seem to have an
agenda or are just wanting to fill column space. I like to get the
opinions of "real" people such as friends or associates. In the case of
Asian communities I like getting tips from the locals on where they eat.
I also have a rule that the more a place is marketed telling us all of
its imagined virtues the better it is to avoid.

I also get lots of information from my buddy who has a commercial
refrigeration business who really gets to see the backend of
restaurants. He says many of the heavily marketed big box industrial
places are the worst followed by some of the "upscale" locals. He has
all sorts of stories of food items spilled on the floor and scooped back
up, unrefrigerated seafood and filthy conditions.

My niece worked at one of the bigbox places and she said that if the
whipped cream and fruit pies weren't sold they would wash off the fruit
and store it for the next day.

James Silverton said...

> Andy wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:14:51 -0500:
>
>> I'd hold r.f.c membership reccomendations far and way above
>> the TV or newspaper critics.
>
> My personal opinions tend to concur with the Zagat guides (and not the
> idiosyncratic opinions of Tom Sietsma in Washington publications!)


James,

I'm clueless about the Zagat (well respected) review.

I did have the $50 Four Seasons omelette once and ONLY once.

DAMN GREAT OMELETTE, THOUGH!!!

Best,

Andy

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a former
> employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about waiter rants...
>
> "I am a former employee of Mortimer's, and I would like to take this
> chance to warn anyone who might think of dining there about the godawful
> unsanitary conditions there. Some examples:

> That's enough to put me off a place. But I probably wouldn't have read it
> if I hadn't been looking something else up.
>
> Jill

What we don't know is if any of this is true. Disgruntled employees tend to
"get even" with management, often in childish ways. In industry, they call
OSHA and complain about safety violations. OSHA must respond and they
usually know when the complainer is serious and when they are being
spiteful. The restaurant review host should do some checking too.

The reviewer may have been fired over his drug use. Or he got caught
banging the owner's wife. Or he was drinking up the profits at the bar. We
just don't know.

Andy wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:51:22 -0500:

>> Andy wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:14:51 -0500:
>>
>>> I'd hold r.f.c membership reccomendations far and way above
>>> the TV or newspaper critics.
>>
>> My personal opinions tend to concur with the Zagat guides
>> (and not the idiosyncratic opinions of Tom Sietsma in
>> Washington publications!)

> James,

> I'm clueless about the Zagat (well respected) review.

> I did have the $50 Four Seasons omelette once and ONLY once.

> DAMN GREAT OMELETTE, THOUGH!!!

> Best,

There are a lot of Zagat reviews for many places and a difference is
that they rely on a popular vote not that of a single "gourmet". Mind
you, I like the European Michelin Guides that use teams of inspectors if
not the American ones whose information density is low. I don't need
pictures!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"jmcquown" wrote:
>
> Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> this. �Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? �Even if it's
> in your own town? �There's a place in Memphis called 'Mortimer's'.. �I've
> never been there (heh, I remember when there was a dress shop at that
> location.) �I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a
> former employee (no, it wasn't me!). �Talk about waiter rants...
>
> "I am a former employee of Mortimer's, and I would like to take this chance
> to warn anyone who might think of dining there about the godawful unsanitary
> conditions there. Some examples:
>
> 1. I once saw a waiter carrying a sandwich out to a table. Just before he
> exited the kitchen, he dropped the top piece of bread on the floor. He
> picked it up, dusted it off on his shirt, put it back on the sandwich, and
> took it out to serve it.
>
> 2. I saw an employee knock over a five-gallon bucket of shrimp which spilled
> all over the floor (the floor in the kitchen is filthy, by the way). The
> dishwasher began scooping up the shrimp and throwing it in a garbage can.
> The kitchen manager ran over and started cussing the dishwasher, saying that
> the shrimp was way too expensive to just throw away, and that he (the
> dishwasher) would either put the shrimp back in the bucket to serve to
> customers or he would be fired.
>
> 3. Each table is given a complementary basket of rolls. There is a basket
> next to the dish area in the kitchen. When servers bus a table, they are
> required to salvage any rolls that have not been eaten off of and put them
> in this basket to be recycled for the next table.
>
> I don't know how a place this filthy and disgusting has managed to stay in
> business. I can only assume that they pay bribes to the health department.."
>
> That's enough to put me off a place. �But I probably wouldn't have read it
> if I hadn't been looking something else up.
>
> Jill

All restaurnts do that to various degrees.

But I don't see any connection between my request for a restaurant
recommendation and some crank's rant about unsanitary restaurant
conditons... anyone looking for sanitary shouldn't be eating at any
restaurant, not ever... those signs in the terlit that employees must
wash their hands offers me no comfort, in fact needing to remind has
just the opposite effect... I find those signs extremely
discomforting, they certainly dull my appetite. The mere thought that
those disgusting fetid terlits even exist in a food service
establishment makes me rather eat home. I've never seen anything even
approaching a clean public restroom yet and the worst examples are at
food establishments... what good is a sign, most kitchen workers are
totally illiterate.

I don't think terlits should be permitted within the same premises
where food is handled... instead provide a chain link fenced-in area
some 100 feet away from the building, containing port-a-pottys and a
fully open area so folks can be observed washing with soap and hot
water, and an attendant gives a good spritz of anticeptic spray before
they can leave... don't need any stinkin' signs, they prove nothing
that anyone washed... about half the people I see leaving rest rooms
don't wash, especially the employees, the best they do is barely wet
their finger tips with cold water and wipe them on their filthy work
whites that are more filth than white... I've actually seen wait staff
leave the terlit picking their nose.

I never asked for a cleanliness recommendation, I know full well that
*filthy* is the default for _all_ restaurants. That's why I
recommended the Pike Place Market, there are restaurnts there but
everything one could possibly think of to eat is available out in the
open and few foods are prepared out of sight. They found a dim sum
stand there, baked/steamed food is like autoclaved, and they bought
some fresh fruit (said giant nectarines were delicious) and assorted
pastries to snack while waiting to board the flight... after spending
a week on a cruise ship where sumptuious viands are served 24/7 they
really weren't starving. About the safest food one can eat out is
baked goods, especially pizza.... no germs are gonna survive 15
minutes in a 600F oven

I'm sure they did better at the Pike Place Market than at any
Chinatown joint might have been recommended by a stranger. Many large
cities have similar markets; Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, New York
of course. San Fransisco doesn't have such a market, their lousy
restuarants couldn't handle the competion... Frisco has the most over
rated tourist trap eateries on the planet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_Place_Market

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a
>> former employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about waiter rants...
>>
>> "I am a former employee of Mortimer's, and I would like to take this
>> chance to warn anyone who might think of dining there about the
>> godawful unsanitary conditions there. Some examples:
>
>> That's enough to put me off a place. But I probably wouldn't have
>> read it if I hadn't been looking something else up.
>>
>> Jill
>
> What we don't know is if any of this is true. Disgruntled employees
> tend to "get even" with management, often in childish ways. In
> industry, they call OSHA and complain about safety violations. OSHA
> must respond and they usually know when the complainer is serious and
> when they are being spiteful. The restaurant review host should do
> some checking too.
> The reviewer may have been fired over his drug use. Or he got caught
> banging the owner's wife. Or he was drinking up the profits at the
> bar. We just don't know.


Excellent points, Ed! I'll take slow service or poor service or bad food
reviews by patrons into consideration.

Jill

In article >,
"jmcquown" > wrote:

> Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one?

Austin.food is a good one for that in my area.
--
Peace! Om

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." --Mark Twain

Edwin Pawlowski > wrote:

> The reviewer may have been fired over his drug use.

Half the people in the restaurant biz would be fired if they started
firing for drug use.

-sw

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a former
> > employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about waiter rants...
> >
> > "I am a former employee of Mortimer's, and I would like to take this
> > chance to warn anyone who might think of dining there about the godawful
> > unsanitary conditions there. Some examples:
>
> > That's enough to put me off a place. But I probably wouldn't have read it
> > if I hadn't been looking something else up.
> >
> > Jill
>
> What we don't know is if any of this is true. Disgruntled employees tend to
> "get even" with management, often in childish ways. In industry, they call
> OSHA and complain about safety violations. OSHA must respond and they
> usually know when the complainer is serious and when they are being
> spiteful. The restaurant review host should do some checking too.
>
> The reviewer may have been fired over his drug use. Or he got caught
> banging the owner's wife. Or he was drinking up the profits at the bar. We
> just don't know.

If someone really wants to know the inside scoop about a particular
restaurant's conditions and kitchen sanitation (or lack thereof), check
out the health inspection reports. However in the USA, it depends on
the state, county, & city/township laws and regulations. In most cases,
restaurant inspection reports (and other establishments like grocery
stores) are a matter of public record, but sometimes it takes effort of
the part of the 'curious' in that a 'freedom of information' form may
need to be completed in order to get the report from the local health
department. In some communities, the health inspection reports are
posted in an obvious location for the patrons to see at will.

Sky

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

My teenaged daughter's first job was with McDonald's. Her manager was
more than a little creepy so she sought employment elsewhere. She was
hired at KennelWood, a dog boarding and training facility, and gave two
weeks notice at McD's, which I had insisted on as being a responsible
employee.

When she told her manager she would be leaving he said, "So you'd rather
pick up dog shit than work here?" She told him, in her own inimitable
fashion, "Yup", and he fired her on the spot. So thanks ever so much,
"Mike" for teaching my daughter this important life lesson: Sheer
douchebaggery trumps responsibility every time.

The KennelWood job fell through (the manager who'd hired her was fired),
but she was hired at Taco Bell. Now, McDonalds, for all its flaws, was
and is meticulous about health, sanitation and safety. Taco Bell? Not
so much.

I loved their cuisine for its total junk foody goodness. That's all
been spoiled for me now. Word to the wise: Don't drink the iced tea.
NGAH!!!

On Sep 14, 7:02*am, "jmcquown" > wrote:
> Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> this. *Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? *Even if it's
> in your own town? *[snip]

Our town is the greater Los Angeles area, so reviews are mecessary to
cope with the huge number and the huge turnover in restaurants. We
have two or three good print sources and several on-line sites. We
find that the longer, more informative reviews can be useful while the
brief 'I liked it' of 'I hated it' are meaningless. Rants like your
example are best left ignored as completely unreliable.

What we find useful in reviews:

what's their aim--elegance, comfort, culinary adventure, star-
gazing (this is L.A.)
how well do they achieve their aim -- quality and consistency of
food
what's on the menu, ethnic specialty, wine list
price range
service (including, do they honor reservations or always make you
wait)
noise level

Some reviewers regularly hit all these points. Those that don't are
less likely to entice us to try a place out. -aem

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? Even if
> it's in your own town?

Yep. For restaurants in the Houston area, I always found houston.eats to be
a good resource. Also, http://www.b4-u-eat.com/ is an *excellent* website,
with lots of reviews for tons of places. I'm still searching for similar
resources for places here in Baltimore.

Mary

aem wrote:
> On Sep 14, 7:02�am, "jmcquown" > wrote:
> > Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> > this. �Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? �Even if it's
> > in your own town? �[snip]
>
> Our town is the greater Los Angeles area, so reviews are mecessary to
> cope with the huge number and the huge turnover in restaurants.
>
> What we find useful in reviews:
>
> what's their aim--elegance, comfort, culinary adventure, star-
> gazing (this is L.A.)
> how well do they achieve their aim -- quality and consistency of
> food
> what's on the menu, ethnic specialty, wine list
> price range
> service (including, do they honor reservations or always make you
> wait)
> noise level
>
> Some reviewers regularly hit all these points. Those that don't are
> less likely to entice us to try a place out. -aem

jonathan gold in the l a weekly (won a pulitizer for his writing 7
restaurant reviews a couple of years ago). laweekly.com is the
website.

i will not wait more than 10 minutes to be seated if i have a
reservation. 20 minutes if i just walk in, and will not sit by the
kitchen in any restaurant where i'm spending my money.

harriet & critter in azusa.

On Sep 14, 12:52*pm, Kathleen > wrote:
> My teenaged daughter's first job was with McDonald's. *Her manager was
> more than a little creepy so she sought employment elsewhere. *She was
> hired at KennelWood, a dog boarding and training facility, and gave two
> weeks notice at McD's, which I had insisted on as being a responsible
> employee.
>
> When she told her manager she would be leaving he said, "So you'd rather
> pick up dog shit than work here?" *She told him, in her own inimitable
> fashion, "Yup", and he fired her on the spot. *So thanks ever so much,
> "Mike" for teaching my daughter this important life lesson: *Sheer
> douchebaggery trumps responsibility every time.


I hope she got her two weeks severance pay.

John Kane Kingston ON Canada

James Silverton said...

> Andy wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:51:22 -0500:
>
>>> Andy wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:14:51 -0500:
>>>
>>>> I'd hold r.f.c membership reccomendations far and way above
>>>> the TV or newspaper critics.
>>>
>>> My personal opinions tend to concur with the Zagat guides
>>> (and not the idiosyncratic opinions of Tom Sietsma in
>>> Washington publications!)
>
>> James,
>
>> I'm clueless about the Zagat (well respected) review.
>
>> I did have the $50 Four Seasons omelette once and ONLY once.
>
>> DAMN GREAT OMELETTE, THOUGH!!!
>
>> Best,
>
> There are a lot of Zagat reviews for many places and a difference is
> that they rely on a popular vote not that of a single "gourmet". Mind
> you, I like the European Michelin Guides that use teams of inspectors if
> not the American ones whose information density is low. I don't need
> pictures!


James,

Yes, the Michelin rating is undoubtedly more clout than any other. I ain't
ever ate at either of them.



Best,

Andy

John Kane > wrote:

> On Sep 14, 12:52*pm, Kathleen > wrote:
>> My teenaged daughter's first job was with McDonald's. *Her manager was
>> more than a little creepy so she sought employment elsewhere. *She was
>> hired at KennelWood, a dog boarding and training facility, and gave two
>> weeks notice at McD's, which I had insisted on as being a responsible
>> employee.
>>
>> When she told her manager she would be leaving he said, "So you'd rather
>> pick up dog shit than work here?" *She told him, in her own inimitable
>> fashion, "Yup", and he fired her on the spot. *So thanks ever so much,
>> "Mike" for teaching my daughter this important life lesson: *Sheer
>> douchebaggery trumps responsibility every time.
>
> I hope she got her two weeks severance pay.

Most states ate are employment at will. Her only recourse was to
try and collect unemployment, which wouldn't have paid much and she
probably didn't have time to accrue the necessary benefits.

I would have at least taken a complaint it to corporate HQ. A hint
of sexual harassment would have gotten her two weeks pay.

-sw

MareCat > wrote:

> I'm still searching for similar
> resources for places here in Baltimore.

http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/14

-sw

MareCat wrote:
>
> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> > this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? Even if
> > it's in your own town?
>
> Yep. For restaurants in the Houston area, I always found houston.eats to be
> a good resource. Also, http://www.b4-u-eat.com/ is an *excellent* website,
> with lots of reviews for tons of places. I'm still searching for similar
> resources for places here in Baltimore.
>
> Mary

Best resource I've found:

http://www.chefmoz.org

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:19:11 -0500, Sky >
fired up random neurons and synapses to opine:

>If someone really wants to know the inside scoop about a particular
>restaurant's conditions and kitchen sanitation (or lack thereof), check
>out the health inspection reports. However in the USA, it depends on
>the state, county, & city/township laws and regulations. In most cases,
>restaurant inspection reports (and other establishments like grocery
>stores) are a matter of public record, but sometimes it takes effort of
>the part of the 'curious' in that a 'freedom of information' form may
>need to be completed in order to get the report from the local health
>department. In some communities, the health inspection reports are
>posted in an obvious location for the patrons to see at will.

The difference county-to-county in CA is easy to point to: in LA
County, for instance, the Dept. of Health Services issues each
restaurant a letter grade that is to be prominently posted. In
contiguous Orange County, there is no way that I know about to
discover how a restaurant rates with the health dept. without actually
checking with the health dept. in advance.

Personally, since I can't do much about, enjoy eating out several
times a month and have only gotten food poisoning twice in my life
(one of those times was in the first class section of a Virgin
Atlantic flight from LAX to Heathrow), I'm just going to stick my
fingers in my ears and sing "la la la la la."

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
--
"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

-- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "meatloaf" with "cox"

Sqwertz wrote:

> John Kane > wrote:
>
>
>>On Sep 14, 12:52 pm, Kathleen > wrote:
>>
>>>My teenaged daughter's first job was with McDonald's. Her manager was
>>>more than a little creepy so she sought employment elsewhere. She was
>>>hired at KennelWood, a dog boarding and training facility, and gave two
>>>weeks notice at McD's, which I had insisted on as being a responsible
>>>employee.
>>>
>>>When she told her manager she would be leaving he said, "So you'd rather
>>>pick up dog shit than work here?" She told him, in her own inimitable
>>>fashion, "Yup", and he fired her on the spot. So thanks ever so much,
>>>"Mike" for teaching my daughter this important life lesson: Sheer
>>>douchebaggery trumps responsibility every time.
>>
>>I hope she got her two weeks severance pay.
>
>
> Most states ate are employment at will. Her only recourse was to
> try and collect unemployment, which wouldn't have paid much and she
> probably didn't have time to accrue the necessary benefits.
>
> I would have at least taken a complaint it to corporate HQ. A hint
> of sexual harassment would have gotten her two weeks pay.

Nope to both. No severance pay, and no hint to corporate HQ about
sexual harassment. His creepitude did not extend that far, at least not
to my daughter, or at least not so far as she would admit to me.

So now "Mike" serves as an object lesson about why it's important to
stay in school and get good grades. **** up badly enough and you'll end
up working for someone like him for the rest of your life. **** up
slightly less and you'll end up becoming "Mike".

jmcquown wrote:
>
> Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? Even if it's
> in your own town? There's a place in Memphis called 'Mortimer's'. I've
> never been there (heh, I remember when there was a dress shop at that
> location.) I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a
> former employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about waiter rants...
>
>

Most of the restaurants I eat in or have eaten in are never reviewed
unless they have failed a health inspection!

So the answer is no LOL.

"Pete C." > wrote in message
ster.com...
>
> MareCat wrote:
>>
>> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking
>> > about
>> > this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? Even if
>> > it's in your own town?
>>
>> Yep. For restaurants in the Houston area, I always found houston.eats to
>> be
>> a good resource. Also, http://www.b4-u-eat.com/ is an *excellent*
>> website,
>> with lots of reviews for tons of places. I'm still searching for similar
>> resources for places here in Baltimore.
>>
>> Mary
>
> Best resource I've found:
>
> http://www.chefmoz.org

Thanks, Pete and Steve. Never heard of chefmoz.org before, and I hadn't
thought of chowhound.com in awhile. Lots of good info in both places.

Mary

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:37:51 GMT, James Silverton wrote:

> Andy wrote on Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:14:51 -0500:
>
>> I'd hold r.f.c membership reccomendations far and way above
>> the TV or newspaper critics.
>
> My personal opinions tend to concur with the Zagat guides (and not the
> idiosyncratic opinions of Tom Sietsma in Washington publications!)

i haven't been to many places sietsma has reviewed in the *washington
post*, but i find the reviews in the *washingtonian* magazine don't often
match my experiences.

how about my boy tyler cowen?

<http://www.tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com/>

your pal,
blake

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:15:02 -0400, Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a former
>> employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about waiter rants...
>>
>> "I am a former employee of Mortimer's, and I would like to take this
>> chance to warn anyone who might think of dining there about the godawful
>> unsanitary conditions there. Some examples:
>
>> That's enough to put me off a place. But I probably wouldn't have read it
>> if I hadn't been looking something else up.
>>
>> Jill
>
> What we don't know is if any of this is true. Disgruntled employees tend to
> "get even" with management, often in childish ways. In industry, they call
> OSHA and complain about safety violations. OSHA must respond and they
> usually know when the complainer is serious and when they are being
> spiteful. The restaurant review host should do some checking too.
>
> The reviewer may have been fired over his drug use. Or he got caught
> banging the owner's wife. Or he was drinking up the profits at the bar. We
> just don't know.

maybe all three at once! lucky dog.

your pal,
blake

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:56:29 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> Edwin Pawlowski > wrote:
>
>> The reviewer may have been fired over his drug use.
>
> Half the people in the restaurant biz would be fired if they started
> firing for drug use.
>
> -sw

to say nothing about the injected chickens.

your pal,
blake

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:49:04 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> MareCat > wrote:
>
>> I'm still searching for similar
>> resources for places here in Baltimore.
>
> http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/14
>
> -sw

i will be checking them out. thanks, steve.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy > wrote:

> On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:49:04 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:
>
>> MareCat > wrote:
>>
>>> I'm still searching for similar
>>> resources for places here in Baltimore.
>>
>> http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/14
>
> i will be checking them out. thanks, steve.

I didn't look at your board, but the one here in Austin has quite a
bit of traffic. They've only removed about 25 of my posts and
banned me 3 times over the years.

Don't even sneeze there or they'll ding you, and quick. Many of my
posts didn't last 3 minutes before removal. And they weren't even
that bad!

-sw

Sqwertz wrote:

> blake murphy > wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:49:04 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:
> >
> >> MareCat > wrote:
> >>
> >>> I'm still searching for similar
> >>> resources for places here in Baltimore.
> >>
> >> http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/14
> >
> > i will be checking them out. thanks, steve.
>
> I didn't look at your board, but the one here in Austin has quite a
> bit of traffic. They've only removed about 25 of my posts and
> banned me 3 times over the years.
>
> Don't even sneeze there or they'll ding you, and quick. Many of my
> posts didn't last 3 minutes before removal. And they weren't even
> that bad!


Now Steve, this is something we can *somewhat* agree on...you are actually
*spot - on* about Chowhound.

Chowhound is a *pussified* and *pitiful* excuse for a culinary discussion
site. Go read the "posting guidelines" written by Jim Leff, the guy is an
OCD *nightmare*, a control freak in extremis...

Years ago I used to post on the Chicago board, I composed my posts *very*
carefully so as to comply with their "guidelines"...

Despite all the mods would send me niggling emails taking "issue" with most
all of my comments. The LAST straw was when I wrote a favorable review of a
chips 'n fish place (The Duke of Perth, a well - known "pub" place on Clark
Street here in Chicago) and I mentioned it was an "all you can eat" thang on
Wednesdays and Fridays; they emailed me back accusing me of "spamming", this
after I had made a coupla dozen posts on the Chowhound site about a number
of places, some negative and some positive. They are a bunch of prune -
faced old ladies who don't want any intrusions upon their Chowhound "tea
party"...

You can have it...**** 'em...!!!

The only Chowhound board that is even *remotely* informative is the
Manhattan board, all else sucks...the majority of the posts are seemingly
made by air - headed Trixie 'n Chad twenty - somethings...

I like the Yelp.com site, if there are enuf posts for your area (they are
nationwide...SFO/BA, CHI, DC, etc...) it's a useful site, they DO NOT
censor...


--
Best
Greg Morrow

On Sep 15, 9:13 pm, "The UN-Chowhounder" > wrote:

> Chowhound is a *pussified* and *pitiful* excuse for a culinary discussion
> site. Go read the "posting guidelines" written by Jim Leff, the guy is an
> OCD *nightmare*, a control freak in extremis...
>
> Years ago I used to post on the Chicago board, I composed my posts *very*
> carefully so as to comply with their "guidelines"...
....
> You can have it...**** 'em...!!!
>
> The only Chowhound board that is even *remotely* informative is the
> Manhattan board, all else sucks...the majority of the posts are seemingly
> made by air - headed Trixie 'n Chad twenty - somethings...
>
> I like the Yelp.com site, if there are enuf posts for your area (they are
> nationwide...SFO/BA, CHI, DC, etc...) it's a useful site, they DO NOT
> censor...

what do you think of lthforum?

In article >,
"jmcquown" > wrote:

> Sheldon's query about Chinese restaurants in Seattle got me thinking about
> this. Do you read restaurant reviews prior to eating in one? Even if it's
> in your own town? There's a place in Memphis called 'Mortimer's'. I've
> never been there (heh, I remember when there was a dress shop at that
> location.) I was doing a search for someone and ran across this rant by a
> former employee (no, it wasn't me!). Talk about waiter rants...

I rarely read restaurant reviews. What some paid reviewer has to say
holds no interest to me. What weighs much more heavily in my decision to
see dine out is the restaurant's menu and sometimes recommendations by
friends and family who's taste I know.

I also find no value in movie reviews. For example, I saw Micheal
Meyers' movie Love Guru last June and it was absolutely hilarious, but
the critics panned it. I was nearly on the floor laughing when I saw
that movie, so why should I care at all what some critic says about it?

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:41:41 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> blake murphy > wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:49:04 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:
>>
>>> MareCat > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm still searching for similar
>>>> resources for places here in Baltimore.
>>>
>>> http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/14
>>
>> i will be checking them out. thanks, steve.
>
> I didn't look at your board, but the one here in Austin has quite a
> bit of traffic. They've only removed about 25 of my posts and
> banned me 3 times over the years.
>
> Don't even sneeze there or they'll ding you, and quick. Many of my
> posts didn't last 3 minutes before removal. And they weren't even
> that bad!
>
> -sw

i take it you didn't like the places you wrote about?

your pal,
blake

blake murphy > wrote:

> On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:41:41 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:
>
>> Don't even sneeze there or they'll ding you, and quick. Many of my
>> posts didn't last 3 minutes before removal. And they weren't even
>> that bad!
>
> i take it you didn't like the places you wrote about?

Nah. I just ****ed off The Cabal by disagreeing with *their*
opinions.

-sw

On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:48:16 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

> blake murphy > wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:41:41 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:
>>
>>> Don't even sneeze there or they'll ding you, and quick. Many of my
>>> posts didn't last 3 minutes before removal. And they weren't even
>>> that bad!
>>
>> i take it you didn't like the places you wrote about?
>
> Nah. I just ****ed off The Cabal by disagreeing with *their*
> opinions.
>
> -sw

how odd. many of the right-wing political blogs ban people for disagreeing
(or ban comments completely), but i've never known food sites to.

your pal,
blake

I've used Chowhound a lot and found it very useful - and pleasant.
Doug
--
Doug Weller --
A Director and Moderator of The Hall of Ma'at http://www.hallofmaat.com
Doug's Archaeology Site: http://www.ramtops.co.uk
Amun - co-owner/co-moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Amun/

i accidentally found this group but thought i would pipe in here.

most of the people in houston posting to chowhound.com are now on the
houston chowhound yahoo group. it started as a way to plan meetups,
meals, chowdowns and now we use it more than the CH b/c we aren't
really moderated. there are 150 of us on that board and there is
always activity, planning, discussions there. come find me over
there.

neverfull