At first we thought Yelp would be a passing thing, but NO...oh no....it and its derivative reservation systems grew like alien spores to become THE de facto mode for restaurant searches (or for mini-golf courses, dentists, or window replacement companies).
That first week Yelp arrived on the scene, we were like, "Holy fuck, look what people are writing about us on this public forum!" "Why didn't they just tell us their pasta was too salty so that we could have remade it for them there and then?" "Isn't it your fault if you ordered the shrimp and guanciale dish, but you're pescatarian and never asked what guanciale is?"
And, of course, in the beginning, there was no recourse. No way to "defend" ourselves. (Which we would ultimately realize was a losing battle at best, and a spiraling death trap when we took the bait and ran with it). So we'll deduct a star for that. I eventually had to stop reading Yelp reviews myself, even the great ones, because I'm too thin-skinned. I have our managers deal with them, alerting Annie and me to whatever seemed legit and worthy of a deeper look. Anger came first, and then resignation.
Now, years later, acceptance and — dare I say — appreciation and respect have crept in. At least a little bit…maybe?
These days, we put on our patented Objectivity Helmets and read Yelp reviews at all manager meetings — although sometimes we do it dramatic-reading-style to soften the blow — and try our best to understand the guest's experience and improve what we do and how we do it. So let's add a star for that. They did, in fact, successfully harness the power of the collective consumer voice in a revelatory manner, built a huge, successful company, creating jobs and an entire industry that heretofore did not exist. One more star.
And also the Yelp building is pretty beautiful.
So yeah, another star there.
Craig S.
San Francisco, CA
Overall - 2/5
Service - 1/5
Ambiance - 0/5
Food - Varies
I had heard about Yelp for years and years and gave it a try. To be fair, I've never written a review but joined in 2014, and have lurked until the last few years.
At first it was a useful resource for photos and restaurant information. As time went on, though, issues arose: things like restaurants being cornered to pay for removal of negative reviews (disguised as advertisement fees) and not removing reviews with false information. It primarily rewards unwelcome diners with status, giving undue power to often uninformed, rude people armed with a hollow system of gamifying, diminishing the complexity and subtlety of hospitality. It entrusts them to rank with no recourse: food, their experience, and restaurants, which is more nuanced than just a score and rank. This left a really sour taste in my mouth about the platform.
Now, as a restaurant owner, it still feels frustrating that people use it as a place to air grievances, especially when diners don't make us aware in the moment that something isn't to their liking. But it seems that being fully present in our space and engaging in our hospitality isn't the goal of some Yelpers. The goal of coming in seems to be to write an either gleaming or turd-encrusted review, almost always binary, often studded with attention grabbing tidbits and phrases to push the reviews into entertainment.
TBH, I’m giving an extra star because I still use it for photos when traveling.
Would not recommend, though.
Geoff D.
Oakland, CA
