My Food Blog Methodogy

Welcome to my food blog.  Over the last few months, I’ve noticed that I go out to eat a fair amount, not a ton, but a fair amount. I think a large part of that has to do with the fact that I have someone to actually go out with now. Yay!  After going to a restaurant, I typically compare the taste, food, atmosphere, and customer service to other restaurants. I think it’s just natural.  I know we all do it, so it’s not really that special.  Now, I don’t profess to have anymore prowess evaluating food and restaurants than the rest of you.  I’ve always wanted to put my thoughts down and do the yelp thing, but I wanted to come up with a numerical evaluation instead just the star system.  However, I do realize that everyone uses the “star” system, so my rating system does both. 

Being the engineer that I am, my system is somewhat complicated, so I’m gonna explain it here.

Methodology

I’ve always wanted to do a 100 point scale.  So, I’ve broken the dining experience into 10 different categories that will be evaluated.  I went back and forth as to what these categories should be and decided on these 10: Taste, Customer Service, Atmosphere, Presentation, Quality, Cleanliness, Menu Selection, Value, Location, and Peripherals.  Originally, I had each category equivalently weighted and worth 10 points each, but I realized that Taste should really be weighted more than any of the other categories.  I mean, how good is a restaurant if the food doesn’t take good?  I made Taste be out of 20 points.  I dropped two categories down to be only worth 5 points to stay on a 100 point scale. They are Location and Peripherals.  The rest are worth 10 points each.

Points are evaluated based on a basic expectation of what’s average.  An average set of points is the starting place for each category.  Points are added for better things and taken away for negative things or bad things.

Taste: 20 point scale. Average is 10 Points. Points are based on how things taste.

• How did it taste in comparison to similar restaurants
• Is it seasoned properly
• How well do the flavors work together

Customer Service: 10 point scale. Average is 5 points. Points are based on the quality of the service

• How nice is the waiter/waitress
• How accommodating is the staff
• How knowledgeable about the menu/food are they
• Do they know the specials
• How willing are they to get information about what’s in the food for food allergies
• Do they let the water glass empty or stay empty for too long
• How responsive are they to requests of bread or doggy bagging
• How accurate is the information the hostess gives on wait times

Atmosphere: 10 point scale. Average is 5 points. Points are based on the atmosphere

• How the place is decorated
• How the place is lit
• What the music is like
• How loud the music is
• How much space is in between the tables
• Does it match expectations of the type of restaurant

Presentation: 10 point scale. Average is 5 points. Points are based on how things look

• Is the food plopped on the plate
• Is there enough garnish/ too much garnish
• Is there anything special about the shape of the plates
• Is there a good use of color

Quality: 10 point scale. Average is 5 points. Points are based on the quality of the food and/or quality control

• How fresh is the food
• Were there bones in the fish
• Is there a hair or other objects in the food
• If I’ve been there multiple times, does it taste the same
• Is the food hot
• Is the food cooked to the ordered temperature (i.e. is it really medium rare)

Cleanliness: 10 point scale. Average is 5 points. Points are based on how clean the restaurant is

• How clean is the bathroom
• How clean are the tables/seats
• How clean are the silverware/plates
• How clean are the glasses
• How clean are the floors/windows/door

Menu Selection: 10 point scale. Average is 5 points. Points are based on the variety of foods available

• How big is their menu
• What types of foods do they have
• Is there a children’s menu
• Are there items for health conscious people
• Are there items for vegetarians
• How flexible are they w/ changing things up for food allergies

Value: 10 point scale. Average is 5 points. Points are based on the price compared to taste and experience

• How much food do you get for the cost
• Is it a 2 for 1 meal
• Are there left overs
• How well priced is the food compared to similar restaurants
• If it’s a high end restaurant does the quality and taste of the food reflect that

Location: 5 point scale. Average is 3 points. Points are based on things surrounding the location of the restaurant

• How easy is the place to find
• How easy is it to park
• Is there a valet
• How much is the valet
• Is there good signage
• Is it visible from the street

Peripherals: 5 point scale. Average is 2 points. Points are based on the additional things that the restaurant offers

• Free food
• WiFi
• Check in deals on Yelp
• Whether owners come talk to you
• Parking validation
• To Go box availability – Or cute/personalized to go boxes
• Do they box the food for you
• Take American Express
• Wait time, when you have reservations
• Can you make reservations?
• Do they have swag you can buy on site
• Little mint/chocolate at the end

STAR Scale

I have broken the point system into the 5 star scale.  Since the evaluation is based on a basic expectation of average, I expect that a lot of restaurants will be about 3 stars. The point to star translation is weighted to reflect that. Here is the point scale to star scale translation.

00-05 points = 0.5 Stars

06-15 points = 1 Star

16-20 points = 1.5 Stars

21-34 points = 2 Stars

35-40 points = 2.5 Stars

41-59 points = 3 Stars

60-69 points = 3.5 Stars

70-79 points = 4 Stars

80-84 points = 4.5 Stars

85-100 points = 5 Stars

Because I plan to put my evaluations on Yelp, here is the point to star translation on a full star scale.

00-20 points = 1 Star

21-40 points = 2 Stars

41-69 points = 3 Stars

70-84 points = 4 Stars

85-100 points = 5 Stars

So that’s my scoring system… Yes, I realize how crazy I am…

Other than the scoring system, I will try to include information about the restaurant itself like location and website, if available. I will also include what I ordered, because it always drives me crazy to have people give a place a 5 and never tell me what they ordered.  If a person gives the place a 5 based on their fajitas, I’ll take that rating with a grain of salt, because I don’t really like bell peppers.  Each food blog will include pictures, if I remember to take them.  I’ll also try to include the price of each item. I’ll include my general impressions of the place and probably a couple of sentences for why each category was scored the way it was.

I think that covers everything… Now, who’s ready to eat?!?