A few weeks ago, I was visiting St. Paul with some friends, and we were looking for a new dining experience. I had recently downloaded the Yelp application on my BlackBerry and thought we should give it a try. After going through the broad list of restaurants and reviews, we came across the perfect place with around 30 reviews – a trendy, Asian fusion eatery called Señor Wongs.
The food and overall experience was rather incredible, and I believe that can largely be attributed to Yelp. But, this accolade leads to a larger discussion – is there value in consumer review sites and applications, such as Yelp and Urbanspoon?
These utilities are undoubtedly valuable to restaurants for a number of reasons. First, it gives restaurant operators a way to gauge the popularity and overall quality of a restaurant experience for patrons. If a restaurant is doing a satisfactory job, it will be reflected in their ratings.
Second, restaurant owners and managers receive feedback they might not otherwise get. And with that feedback, they have the ability to respond to both positive and negative reviews, publically or privately.
The majority of the reviews and ratings are favorable towards the restaurant, but pleasing everyone all the time is virtually impossible. Negative reviews happen, but following up on the business end can truly turn a reviewer’s poor experience into a modified rating or even a second chance. And if a restaurant falls short, there is an opportunity to remedy the flaw and improve operations.
If I had I not utilized the Yelp application, we probably would have eaten at a predictable, standard chain restaurant. Restaurant review sites allow smaller, hidden treasures to be discovered.
For the individual chain or franchise restaurants, Yelp and Urbanspoon help them to stand out and differentiate themselves from the overall chain image by highlighting their exceptional service, atmosphere or local specialties.
I strongly urge consumers and restaurants to start searching, reviewing and responding on these sites and applications. Using these tools can transform an average dinner from mediocre to amazing in minutes.
