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Why I dine local,don't use Yelp and can't find decent Ethiopian food or black coffee in paris!

dreadnatty08 said:
As many times as customer service sucks, it's so rewarding to serve people great food and see a smile on their faces. :)
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Trust me, I understand. I worked for the Hershey Companies (of Chocolate fame) my last year in college in the public relations department and we were the front line for complaints. Day after day it gets to you, but every now and then there'd be a happy camper that seemed to make it all worthwhile.

This is why I don't trust Yelp (keeping in on topic). Most people who have a bad time make it a point to negatively review, but many who enjoy themselves don't bother. If there are only glowing reviews, it seems very fishy.
 
It's funny you mention that. When we travel to smaller towns, like our hometown of Hickory, NC, all we see of restaurant reviews on Yelp (which are scarce) are hugely complimentary. I understand tastes and/or tolerance of restaurants vary from small town to big city or wherever, but they're still fun to read. A new spot on our block of 11th St will get 100 reviews in probably a week or two, but a really delicious place in Hickory probably has 30 reviews in a couple years. ;)
 
I try to leave as many trueful negative reviews as possible, there are too many fake reviews on yelp or any other sites. Restaurant owners pay few bucks per review on yelp. If you think of it, you can get more than 100 reviews for $300 bucks.
 
pastafarian said:
The problem was I was never "filtered" till I wrote a negative review of the "wrong" restaurant, which also happened to be the only "yelp approved" restaurant I ever reviewed. They don't tell you that you've been un published either and the system is designed so that there's virtually no way to tell as long as you're signed in to the site. To the un published reviewer, everything looks fine and your reviews are right where they should be.
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That was my experience, too. Everything LOOKED normal, until I accessed the site one day without logging in. After trying a particular restaurant several times, I posted an update to my original, positive review. Next thing I know they're BOTH filtered. I guess Yelp's arbitrary, fake-review-sniffing algorithm decided I was a shill for the restaurant. :rolleyes:
 
lunatic59 said:
This is why I don't trust Yelp (keeping in on topic). Most people who have a bad time make it a point to negatively review, but many who enjoy themselves don't bother. If there are only glowing reviews, it seems very fishy.
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Agreed. It really does seem like all there is are Negative Nancy's on Yelp or any review site. Many of the reviews are completely unrealistic too, many people expect 5-star restaurant quality food but aren't willing to pay more than $10 per person. I'll take the reviews with a grain of salt now, but mostly use it for information like how much I'll be expecting to spend at a restaurant, hours, and dress code for places. But as others have said, the word of locals is the best way to go to finding the best.
 
Local owned small businesses are not exempt from this either though.

My lady and I went to a local restaurant that we hadn't been to with each other before. We were seated and got our drinks right away and when our waitress brought our drinks out, she asked if we were ready to order (it had only been a minute since we asked for our drinks) and I said we would need a couple minutes she left and did not return for 10 minutes and apologized saying she forgot. We ordered got our meal in a fashionable time, and she asked if we needed anything else, so we asked for ketchup for the fries. We she comes out two minutes later with a bottle... but not for us, another table that also asked for it. After I finish eating she comes out with a bottle again saying she's sorry and she had forgotten. After we were done eating we were just talking waiting for the check after about 20 minutes of talking, we realized our waitress hadn't brought us our check, and I then flagged down the person in charge that was walking around checking on guests. I got the check, and signed my name (since i use my debit card) and on the back of the slip I wrote "sorry I forgot the tip."

I explained what happened to the person in charge, and nothing was done about it, what should have been a 20 minute meal ended up being over an hour long with mostly waiting. We have since never returned.

And thats not the only time we have seen poor service at a local place. I have seen more good service from chains compared to local places. Sometimes the food is good, but it doesn't make up for lack of service.

I've never used yelp, but I write reviews on my bad experiences on travel websites that suggest places for people to go. And if its a very exceptional experience then I will write one as well.
 
Here's my two pennies:

I like local restaurants. I like chains, too. I use Yelp when friends mention things via Yelp.

A restaurant recommendation:

In San Jose, CA... Ethiopian Food... Gojo Ethiopian Restaurant... Been going there for 20 of my 30 years... Love the people... Love the food... Great service... Gonna eat it tonight in fact :D
 
Ethiopian is really popular here in DC but we've never been. :o
Just slightly wary of the restaurants. I'm sure we'll give it a shot at some point.
 
dreadnatty08 said:
Ethiopian is really popular here in DC but we've never been. :o
Just slightly wary of the restaurants. I'm sure we'll give it a shot at some point.
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Do a little research and find the one with the best rep that has been around the longest. I will not go to any other Ethiopian restaurant.
 
I've now been to 3 different Ethiopian restaurants, 2 in NYC and one in New Haven. They all came heavily recommended and IMO ranged from awful to must avoid if you want to live. They were all surprisingly expensive too. Maybe a cuisine from a country where so many die of starvation isn't a good idea? Someday, I hope to find edible Ethiopian.
 
They have food in Ethiopia? lol. But seriously, I've never had it, what's it like?
 
pastafarian said:
I've now been to 3 different Ethiopian restaurants, 2 in NYC and one in New Haven. They all came heavily recommended and IMO ranged from awful to must avoid if you want to live. They were all surprisingly expensive too. Maybe a cuisine from a country where so many die of starvation isn't a good idea? Someday, I hope to find edible Ethiopian.
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Sorry you've had such horrible experiences. Maybe I am lucky living on the West Coast. :rolleyes::):beer:
 
Our guy who services our cleaning equipment in the restaurant has told me that a LOT of the Ethiopian restaurants in town have disgusting kitchens. :eek:
He did say a few are okay though and to stick with the ones that are highly rated. (thanks Yelp ;))
 
The picture for Etete basically sums up my Ethiopian experience. Did they think that picture looks enticing?

Darn thread!!! Now I have to search out Ethiopian food again.

On a visit to an Ethiopian place in New Haven, my father who liked his food well done and usually ordered steak "burnt" asked if there was something on the menu not cooked to death. That's saying a lot! He wasn't a very adventurist diner, but considered his Ethiopian experience to be the worst food he was ever served. All I remember from that place was bitter (as in overt raw spices) mush.
 
dreadnatty08 said:
Our guy who services our cleaning equipment in the restaurant has told me that a LOT of the Ethiopian restaurants in town have disgusting kitchens. :eek:
He did say a few are okay though and to stick with the ones that are highly rated. (thanks Yelp ;))
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you don't want to know whats going on in 90% of restaurant's kitchens IMO.
 
unnamedny said:
you don't want to know whats going on in 90% of restaurant's kitchens IMO.
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I haven't worked in too many but have seen some that are crazy filthy.
One of those things I really focus on in ours. While our apartment sometimes falls apart into pretty dirty, disorganized, I get intense with our guys of keeping it as clean as possible. :)
 
Problem is I can't find any decent Ethiopian restaurants. Well, actually I can't find any Ethiopian restaurants at all in Xilinhot. Anyone know of any, please let me know. Yelp is useless.

EDIT:

Best I can do is find some Ethiopian recipes on-line, go to the supermarket and see what ingredients I can find.
 
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