Restaurant & Dining Reviews- The Raving Palate

As the complexity of our reviews increases, it became clear that some point scale needed to be introduced to: 1) quantify how individual factors/categories impacted our experience (i.e. food, service, etc.), and 2) provide a foundation for direct comparisons between restaurants. Similar to Michelin Star ratings and AAA Diamond ratings, each restaurant will now be given a “Rave Factor” will provide a quick and simple way to describe the overall experience and our recommendations. The Rave Factor is built on a 1-5 point scale with 1 being the lowest rated and 5 being the highest rated. The Rave Factor will be calculated based on the sum of a restaurants’ score in each of five primary categories. The Rave Factor will be awarded as follows:

Rave Factor of 1 Star: 0-4 points    
Rave Factor of 2 Stars: 5-8 points    
Rave Factor of 3 Stars: 9-12 points  
Rave Factor of 4 Stars: 13-16 points
Rave Factor of 5 Stars: 17-20 points

A Rave Factor of 5 Stars is very rare and we only give it out to establishments who surpass all of our expectations.

Within our review, we will break down each component of service, food, presentation, value and concept, mentioning who and what was involved, their roles, and impact it made on our overall dining experience. Below is a how each category is rated:

Service

• 0 - unfriendly, not attentive, not visible on dining room floor, forgetful of requests, not knowledgeable of the menu, severely damaged dining experience
• 1 - pleasant attitude, somewhat attentive, somewhat visible on dining room floor, slow to complete requests, somewhat knowledgeable of the menu, but could not make any knowledgeable recommendations, slightly damaged dining experience
• 2 - friendly and welcoming, attentive, checked on us at least once during the entree, mostly visible on the dining room floor, complete requests in a timely manner, knowledgeable of the menu and able to make fairly educated recommendations, did not enhance or damage dining experience
• 3 - friendly and genuine excitement to serve us, attentive, checked on us during every course, visible on the dining room floor, completes requests in a timely manner, knowledgeable of the menu and able to make recommendations with clear detail of the dishes, enhanced dining experience 
• 4 - friendly, genuine excitement to serve us, enthusiasm about the menu/restaurant, attentive, checked on us during every course without being disruptive, visible on the dining room floor, completes requests quickly, knowledgeable of the menu, as well as wine menu, and able to make recommendations on dishes as well as wine pairings, significantly enhanced dining experience 

Food

• 0 - Inedible, had to be sent back, will not order again
• 1 - edible, lacking flavor, incorrect temperature, unpleasant textures, will not order again
• 2 - edible, good flavors, correct temperature, good textures, not memorable, will not order again
• 3 - edible, good and balanced flavors, correct temperatures, good textures, memorable, will order again
• 4 - edible, good, balanced, consistent, unique flavors/flavor combinations, correct temperatures, good textures, memorable, will order again 

Value

• 0 - Quality of dining experience did not justify the cost per person. Cost should be reimbursed due to unacceptable food/service/presentation/concept experienced.
• 1 - Quality of dining experience did not justify the cost per person. Cost should be significantly lowered due to poor food/service/presentation/concept experienced.
• 2 - Quality of dining experience did not justify the cost per person. Cost should be slightly lowered due to mediocre food/service/presentation/concept experienced.
• 3 - Quality of dining experience did justify the cost per person. Cost should be expected to remain as set by establishment due to great food/service/presentation/concept experienced.
• 4 - Quality of dining experience did justify the cost per person. We believe the cost was well worth the exceptional display of food/service/presentation/concept that we experienced.

Presentation

• 0 - completely uninspired, something we have seen a hundred times, messy, too complicated and convoluted, busy, hindered the experience of the dish
• 1 - appealing but uninspired, not unique nor memorable, hindered the experience of the dish
• 2 - somewhat unique, appealing, not memorable, did not enhance or hinder the experience of the dish
• 3 - unique, appealing, memorable, somewhat enhanced the experience of the dish
• 4 - inspiring, unique, appealing, exciting, memorable, enhanced the experience of the dish

Concept

• 0 - unclear, convoluted, complicated, confused, hindered dining experience
• 1 - somewhat unclear and confused, did not enhance or hinder dining experience
• 2 - clear, uninspired, not unique, did not enhance or hinder dining experience
• 3 - clear, inspired, not unique, enhanced dining experience
• 4 - clear, inspired, unique to establishment, memorable, enhanced dining experience