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You’ve Gotta Eat Sometime

And if you’re hungry right now and have no idea where to eat, head on over the www.thestranger.com/dining for over 5,000 reader-submitted reviews. 5,000! That’s a lot!

So go ahead, trust your fellow Stranger-readers and try something new. Here’s just a sample of some of the places currently holding five-star ratings: Cafe Besalu in Ballard, the Other Coast Cafe (with locations both Downtown and in Ballard), Bilbao Tapas Bar in the University District, Chopsticks on Capitol Hill, Hangar Cafe in Georgetown, Shoofly Pie Company in West Seattle (mmm… pie)…

There are hundreds of places listed, with thousands of reviews to read (and hardly any of ‘em mention Palin or WaMu or pitbulls). You can search by neighborhood or cuisine, and you can search for places that are vegetarian, dog-friendly, romantic, or good for groups. And, of course, you can also leave some reviews of your own.

And if we don’t have a place you’re looking for, you can also add a listing!

Okay, now I’m hungry.

Comments (8)

1

I heard about this site. it's called Yelp.com.

Posted by better site | September 18, 2008 1:58 PM
2

Shoofly pie is the best thing to happen in my life ever.

Posted by Little Red Ryan Hood | September 18, 2008 1:59 PM
3

Always the shoo-fly pie, never the apple pan dowdy.

Posted by kid icarus | September 18, 2008 2:07 PM
4

Agreed, @1.

If you're trying to grow search engine traffic for local listings (which I fully support), a good place to start would be to have urls that look like this:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-other-coast-cafe-seattle-2

instead of this:

http://thestranger.com/seattle/Location?location=145220&srs

The latter looks like an internal site search result, which Google hates.


Posted by Billiard | September 18, 2008 2:22 PM
5

@1: That would be true if Yelp's ratings/reviews could actually be trusted. 90% of the reviews I've read are people bitching about shoddy service rather than the taste of food, and most of the best Yelp-user rated restaurants I've visited are awful. Yelp seems to be a highly capricious consumer gripe-fest with little to do with actual taste and substance.

I'm not saying that the Stranger's user food reviews are unimpeachable, but Yelp is hardly something I'd hold up as, "better."

Posted by christopher h | September 18, 2008 2:41 PM
6

@5: I agree as well.

The point I'm trying to make is that the Stranger's local directory should by all accounts be SLAYING Yelp. I, for one, would love to see that happen.

Unfortunately, as long as basic technology architecture mistakes persist, this directory is dead in the water.

Posted by Billiard | September 18, 2008 3:08 PM
7

Is Yelp perfect? No. Is it more comprehensive and useful than a small city's alt-weekly, half-assed, snark-filled site? Oh you betcha.

Posted by burgin99 | September 18, 2008 3:08 PM
8

mmmm... Other Coast Cafe... Rajun Cajun Sub...

Posted by max solomon | September 18, 2008 3:16 PM

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