Mike's Restaurant Reviews
An Explanation Of Mike's System ™
I rate restaurants on six different categories, as explained below. Every
restaurant gets a score from 1 to 10 in each category; the lowest possible
score is 6 and the highest possible is 60. I've never eaten at a 60, but I
came close once! I've divided all possible scores into eight different ranges
of total dining experience - in general, I will only recommend restaurants
that fall in the four highest categories, as shown at the bottom
of this page.
Additionally, if a restaurant scores below the lowest average value in that
range in any category, it is scored a rank lower regardless of total points.
In other words, Good restaurants have at least a 7 in each category, Great
restaurants have at least an 8, and a restaurant that does not have at least
9 in all categories can never be better than Great. This imposes a very
high standard for the Rising Star and Superior classes of restaurant.
- Atmosphere
- This category indicates the type of atmosphere the restaurant is trying
to achieve, and the numerical value indicates how well they achieve it.
This is the most volatile measure, and is the one most likely to change
depending on nightly conditions at the establishment.
- Variety
- Variety is the spice of life, and those restaurants that offer a good
selection of menu items and/or dining choices are rewarded thusly.
This does not mean that a vegetarian restaurant will be penalized for
not serving meat; it also does not mean that limited menu or prix fixee
establishments are penalized. Uniqueness of dishes is rewarded, as well
as creativity in meal preparation. In other words - having a hard time
deciding what to eat is a bonus. This measure is also affected by
availability of regular menu items (not specials).
- Quality
- A measure of all the gustatory factors contributing to the meal. This
can include: flavors, textures, food combinations, presentation, food
temperature, uniqueness, complexity or simplicity, freshness, and a
host of other attributes that are usually explained in detail for each
review.
- Service
- Many different factors figure into the rating of service, including,
but not limited to: attitude of the wait staff, amount of time waiting
to be seated, promptness and accuracy on requests of staff. Location and
parking might also be considerations, but usually do not factor highly.
- Portions
- This measure is highly subjective, as it represents whether there were
enough of all parts of the meal to satisfy. In other words, what the
reviewer felt was enough may not be satisfactory to others.
Additionally, this does not necessarily reflect the actual amount or
volume of the food, but how well the overall meal was paced by the
preparers.
- Overall
- Though this value measure is somewhat calculated using quality, price,
and portions, it also takes into account all other measures and represents
an overall number that reflects the total dining experience.
Score ranges: *
| 6-18 | Never Again! |
| 19-26 | Shameful |
| 27-33 | Unacceptable |
| 34-41 | Needs Work |
| 42-47 | Good |
| 48-53 | Great |
| 54-57 | Rising Star |
| 58-60 | Superior |
* Please take note - as stated above, if a restaurant falls below a certain
average value in any category, it is downgraded one level.
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by Mike Caprio, mikecap@theWorld.com. Permission
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