Review Standards

How I Review

Every review on this site follows the same rules. No exceptions, no fine print.

I pay for everything. Every meal reviewed here came off my own card. I don’t accept free meals, comped items, discounts, gift cards, or “the chef sent this out” — if something arrives I didn’t order, it’s appreciated, but it doesn’t get reviewed and doesn’t affect the score.

Reviews can’t be bought. No restaurant can ever pay to be reviewed, to change a score, or to remove a review, and none ever will. There are no sponsored reviews on this site, and if that ever changes for other content (it won’t for reviews), it will be labeled in the first line, not buried at the bottom.

I show up unannounced. No reservations under the site’s name, no heads-up calls, no press visits. I eat what a regular customer eats, served how a regular customer gets served.

I visit before I write. At least one full visit, usually more for anything scoring very high or very low. One bad night can happen to anyone; I try not to score a kitchen on its worst hour.

Scores mean something. 5 is a place I’d send anyone without hesitation. 3 is solid — worth your money, not worth a drive across town. 1 means I wouldn’t go back if it was free. Half stars exist because most restaurants live in the in-between.

Corrections are free. If I got a fact wrong — hours, prices, an ingredient, anything — tell me and I’ll fix it and note the change. Opinions stay; errors don’t.

I’m anonymous on purpose. Not to hide, but so I get the same plate you would.