Metromix Restaurant Reviews...a scam??

Has anyone else written a review of a restaurant on Metromix and not had it posted? I've written several reviews some good, some bad... and only one has ever shown up. My friends and I wrote reviews of La Luce on Lake and out of three we wrote, none showed up. What's going on? Do they pick and choose? Do they stay away from disparaging reviews so as not to offend owners?

Which leads me to say, is La Luce the worst restaurant in Chicago? We returned two of our four entrees because they were completely inedible. One dish tasted like chemicals had gotten in the sauce.

Can't say whether Metromix is censoring posts, but the word on La Luce hereabouts had been mixed. I had a good meal there, as did Mike G and Food Nut; others, not so much. But the location and ambience are not variable; and the convenience to Randolph Wine Bar is another great plus.

La Luce 1

La Luce 2

I have not attempted to post on Metromix for a long time (since I found out about this forum and chowhound), but you are correct. On many instances, my reviews did not post, and in many instances, my reviews did post. And I have never figured out any explanation why some post and some don't. But it certainly caused me to stop wasting my time on Metromix.

My guess is Metromix has a human reviewing and approving every submitted review, and something about your submissions triggered a rejection. My guess for what triggered it is an allegation of a health code violation or something similar... stuff that would also get a post edited or deleted here.

It could just be buggy software, though. Who knows. Why bother?

The problem I had with Metromix for reviews (reading them, not writing) was that every restaurant's group of reviews was the same-- 7 reviews that gave it five stars and said I have been going here since I was a little kid and this is the best place in town, and three reviews that gave it one star and said everything SUX!!!, the food was cold, the chair was broken, the band was lousy and the waiter stabbed me in the head. Impossible to judge anything about a restaurant when reviews are so extreme-- yet predictably so. The only thing good about it is that when you hear about some place you've never heard of in an obscure part of town, Metromix is the site most likely to have at least one review of it (which, however, will be either five stars or one star; but it may contain some useful info all the same).

I've had negative reviews rejected; Metromix has a stranglehold on the Chicago culinary zeitgeist(obviously not comprising the inquisitive minds composing this forum). I daresay that site has never offered anything worthwhile to my internet restaurant gleanings.

"um...bra...I mean, dude...um...like...I heard about this great Italian place on Metromix...pastas from, like the mid-20's...puttanesca at 23.50...they say it's muy romantico...bra..."

Mike G wrote:The problem I had with Metromix for reviews (reading them, not writing) was that every restaurant's group of reviews was the same-- 7 reviews that gave it five stars and said I have been going here since I was a little kid and this is the best place in town, and three reviews that gave it one star and said everything SUX!!!, the food was cold, the chair was broken, the band was lousy and the waiter stabbed me in the head. Impossible to judge anything about a restaurant when reviews are so extreme-- yet predictably so. The only thing good about it is that when you hear about some place you've never heard of in an obscure part of town, Metromix is the site most likely to have at least one review of it (which, however, will be either five stars or one star; but it may contain some useful info all the same).

I'll add one thing for Metromix that makes it actually better than LTH (only in this one way, however) is that posts are grouped BY RESTAURANT. Love 'em or hate 'em, all remarks on Restaurant X are conveniently grouped under the heading "Restaurant X." Here, it's something of a crapshoot, with multiple threads about a restaurant, threads that maybe mention a restaurant with nothing substantive, threads that start off being about restaurant "A" and wind up covering restaurants "X," "Y' and "Z," as well as something about Ludwig Wittgenstein's notebooks, undiscovered vocal works of Lutoslawski, flea markets in Kane County and why that BUZZING won't get OUT OF MY HEAD (plus why in particular you have offended me unwittingly but deeply by your last post)! But that sense of DIY spontaneity is why we love LTH!

Me, I'm just waiting for phpBB to add tagging of posts.

It'd be awesome to be able to tag my reply with site_talk,phpbb instead of metromix,censorship

Or, say, tag by location of the restaurant, cuisine, etc. But I like tagging.

They should also let moderators or users edit tags for untagged posts, so those who are too lazy to tag their posts still get the info added.

I tend to use Metromix like Zagat...address, phone number, that's about it. I also like it for the restaurant capsules. The reader reviews? Not so much. I think more than a few are written by the restaurants themselves or "friends" of the restaurants.

It also just makes me flat out mad to read post after post trashing a restaurant like Schwa because these people think that the portions are too small. In the words of the immortal Jerry Seinfeld, "Who are these people?"

Before I discovered other better sources for what's happening around town, I was all over Metromix. Howver, I must admit that I think the favorites section of the Reader Reviews is helpful. I came across this area by mistake, and I think this is a good area to go when you're looking to find a restaurant with overwhelmingly positive feedback, rather than the typical reviews that are all over the place. This part of the website got me to Sweets and Savories (love it, love it) and also Indian Grill. I thank Metromix for directing me to those two great places.

I have found that quite a few of my reviews are never posted. As such, I have not attempted to post nor have I visited the site for anything other than name/address info in about 3 years. Anyhow... the most enraging moment was when I read a horrible review of Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co., which you may hate or may not, but it's been a restaurant I've dined at since a child, so I'm quite nostalgic. Anyhow, the post was outrageous and not intelligently written, yet it made it onto the site -- basically, the entire post was complaining that they didn't serve a decent margarita, with fresh lime and premium tequila. A margarita? At a tiny pizza joint? Anyhow, I politely responded that margaritas were not their forte, and then provided what I thought was a very balanced review of the atmosphere, the food, and the prices. Apparently that did not pass the review, and was never posted. Within the same month, my sister wrote a post stating that she thought Scylla's ice cream tasted like "freezer burnt, store-bought, non-fat frozen yogurt" and it made it onto the website. Seems to be neither rhyme nor reason to the process.

Anyhow, my $0.02.

Anyhow, I politely responded that margaritas were not their forte, and then provided what I thought was a very balanced review of the atmosphere, the food, and the prices.

Altho I certainly have not made a systematic study, one of the criteria for rejection may be commentary on other posters' remarks, since I don't recall having seen much if any that kind of inter-reviewer back-and-forth. (That's what makes LTH so much fun.)

On the other hand, I find metromix to be a good source for basic info, an occasional Trib review, and location (particularly nearby establishments), as well as what disgruntled employees and the owner's friends and relatives are thinking.

I find Metromix to be a good source for basic info, but have not posted any reviews since discovering LTH and chowhound. In the past, when I have posted reviews they always have appeared several days later. There are some really bad reviews of places on Metromix, so I don't believe that it is their policy not to post negative reviews. I have noticed, however, that some strings of very positive reviews look to be obviously fake (i.e., posted by owners/management of the establishment in question).

Metromix is a good phone book for me - restaurant yellow pages, if you will. I do read the reviews about a place once or twice a year, but there is so little substance to them in general. The good ones all read something like - "great place, great deal." The bad ones are usually more detailed, but the detail is mostly "too expensive for what I got" or "the service was terrible, and there was lipstick on my water glass."

For me, those types of reviews are useless, since I will tolerate bad service if the food is good, and every place has problems at times, so one bad post means nothing.

Unless you know a reviewer based on a body of work, and have somehow calibrated your tastes to theirs, the only way to use a review is by looking at the details, not the conclusion. And Metromix reviews are mostly just conclusions.

A long time ago I offended a poster on CH who posted a long, semi-enthusiastic review on some place near UIC on a messy, snowy night. The content of the post was something like, "It was warm, welcoming, we received lots of personal attention. And the food was okay. It is a great place." I replied saying that this was not going to make me go there, since there are a lot of places with nice staff, and good food, so unless there was something good about the food, it was just a nice story. This ticked off the original poster.

I yearn to reply to the posters on Metromix - tell me about what is on the plate, and why it is special!

one of the criteria for rejection may be commentary on other posters' remarks, since I don't recall having seen much if any that kind of inter-reviewer back-and-forth. (That's what makes LTH so much fun.)

More than that, it's why Metromix isn't very useful for that-- there's no opportunity to develop any sense of another reviewers' tastes, likes and dislikes, level of experience with the cuisine, etc. I have no idea, on Metromix, if you've ever eaten at anything other than Bennigan's, where just the fact that you're here at all tells me something about your level of sophistication, and I have more insight than that for probably 75 or 100 people by now. The sites that focus on restaurant information (or laser focus on same) are actually less informative than the sites that allow a little digression, because that's where I find out what makes your restaurant opinions tick.

What is Metromix


Just kidding, it’s a phone book for a lot of us. I will give them one better, they have organized data, you can search for similar restaurants by cuisine, byob policy, distance from a certain venue and neighborhood.

All this would be resolved by Gleam’s suggestions of tagging. However in the meantime, you can also re-read the tips on searching. Quite often I “hack” search which pulls up to many posts. A little work on your search skills pays off greatly.

That said, what has already been alluded to here, is what I love about LTH: the Siskel & Ebert effect. Its that back and forth or debate about a restaurant that Siskel & Ebert brought to movie reviews. I never completely agreed with either Siskel or Ebert, but listening to the debate, I had a better idea for the strengths and weaknesses of each others argument…they also could not cheat without being called on it by the other, a check and balance if you will.

I like being the bad boys of restaurant reviews, I think diners will respect LTH because of its integrity. It’s the perfect model. LTH is not profit or space driven and LTH does not limit debate based on positive or negative opinions (or for that matter try to balance them to represent both sides).

However, for everyone’s benefit, if they haven’t appeared earlier in the thread, please add the address and phone number of the restaurants discussed in the thread at the end of your post.

I do want to make clear that tagging isn't something LTH could easily implement. There's only one third-party phpBB mod that does it, that I've seen, and it looks pretty mediocre.

It's more something I wish phpBB would implement themselves in a future release.

The best thing about Metromix is the fairly decent searching. Pick a type of food, a few locations, and a couple price ranges and go. It's not always perfect, but it sure helps jog the memory.

Metromix is a reference source, period. Basic info, Addresses... maybe a link to a Vettel review. Clicking on the reviews is just a bad idea.

Anyway, heartily disagree about La Luce, have had 2 fantastic meals there in the past 2 months. Had the house spinach-ricotta ravioli, with brown butter and fried sage last time, fantastic.

ab wrote:Anyway, heartily disagree about La Luce, have had 2 fantastic meals there in the past 2 months. Had the house spinach-ricotta ravioli, with brown butter and fried sage last time, fantastic.

Heartily disagree with whom? Me and Mike G (who had great experiences there) or eatchicago and any other naysayers? Not to mention, I don't exactly disagree with the naysayers; they were describing their own meals, not mine, and I think there were real, objective differences in our experiences (e.g., eatchicago's braciole was clearly not cooked right, while mine was). In a real sense, it is impossible to disagree with (1) the facts of their experience (they were what they were) or (2) their opinions of that particular experience (unless you were there to share it). Each review is a "data point," and no single review can tell it all, or "tell it like it is" (in a broad sense). Each review tells it like it was, for that reviewer at that meal. Although this means LTH is not a source for singular, oracular pronouncements and therefore not as convenient as reading just the editorial reviews at Metromix or another source, I and a lot of other folks here really appreciate the due diligence, debate and dialogue model of LTH.

P.S. This is precisely the sort of thread that would benefit from some sort of content tabbing approach, if the software would only allow it.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:In a real sense, it is impossible to disagree with (1) the facts of their experience (they were what they were) or (2) their opinions of that particular experience (unless you were there to share it). Each review is a "data point," and no single review can tell it all, or "tell it like it is" (in a broad sense). Each review tells it like it was, for that reviewer at that meal.

Excellently expressed.

Hammond

marno wrote:Anyhow, I politely responded that margaritas were not their forte, and then provided what I thought was a very balanced review of the atmosphere, the food, and the prices. .. Within the same month, my sister wrote a post stating that she thought Scylla's ice cream tasted like "freezer burnt, store-bought, non-fat frozen yogurt" and it made it onto the website. Seems to be neither rhyme nor reason to the process.
Anyhow, my $0.02.

I'd say the criticism of the margarita was probably off base but not so for Scylla. For the $$ it charges and the quality that implies, I think it's perfectly valid to complain about crappy ice cream if you're paying $7 for an "ice cream tasting" dessert.

Although, since the ice cream was probably the best part of my meal there, not to mention in flavors no store-bought frozen yogurt would dream of being, I still find the comment inexplicable.

But it's a data point!

Mike G wrote:But it's a data point!

Data points are good in themselves, and all data point recordation should be highly encouraged. This should be distinguished from the lists of conclusions that litter Metromix. It was you and/or dickson who was excoriating that phenomenon earlier in this thread. It would be disingenuous to say that all data points are created equal (we know some folks have a special expertise or keen perception and understanding that could elevate their observations to the top of the curve, at least within their special sphere of knowledge and observational power). But that is not a productive debate or one we want or need to engage in here; the posts speak for themselves, and the particular excellences of particular posters hereon should be readily discernible to anyone who takes the time to read this forum regularly. And to reiterate my thesis -- All actual data points are good ... let's have more of them, and let Metromix wallow and drown in the muck of unsupported conclusions, shills and invective. (But I still do love those Metromix search features ... )

I once saw a review on a spot listed in Metromix that hadn't opened yet. It hadn't even had any of those preview nights for friends. Paper was still on the windows. And of course the review said it was the best place whoever had eaten. I sent an email via the link to let them know and it was removed that day. But I suspect it would have stayed if I hadn't sent them a message.

leek wrote:I once saw a review on a spot listed in Metromix that hadn't opened yet. It hadn't even had any of those preview nights for friends. Paper was still on the windows. And of course the review said it was the best place whoever had eaten. I sent an email via the link to let them know and it was removed that day. But I suspect it would have stayed if I hadn't sent them a message.

Did you email the poster or the editors of Metromix (or both)? Because the editors ought to be aware of the potential for fraud on their site.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Did you email the poster or the editors of Metromix (or both)? Because the editors ought to be aware of the potential for fraud on their site.

The editors.

JimInLoganSquare wrote:Did you email the poster or the editors of Metromix (or both)? Because the editors ought to be aware of the potential for fraud on their site.

No lawyer, but I think "fraud" may be a little harsh. Or perhaps not.

Any way, here's another Metromix fabrication based upon PR materials rather than direct experience. About Kizoku, they say "The menu remains basically the same, but now offers a few French and Italian dishes in addition to traditional Japanese fare and, of course, sushi."

I've been calling Kizoku for over 3 months to see if they have instituted the French and Italian menu, and they keep telling me 2-3 weeks. I'm not sure it's ever going to happen, and it doesn't really matter much, but the point is: Metromix is trying to provide information about restaurants. Because they don't always go to eat at these places, they sometimes get the information wrong.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:[[No lawyer, but I think "fraud" may be a little harsh. Or perhaps not.

Under common law, three elements are required to prove fraud: a material false statement made with an intent to deceive (scienter), a victim’s reliance on the statement and damages.

So, we clearly have the first two elements (any statement that purports to be an evaluation of food served at a non-existent restaurant is both false and materially so, and unless the posting was the result of an infinite number of typing moneys, I have to assume it was known to the author as false and intended to deceive the readers). So there's your scienter. Assuming we rely on what we read in Metromix (which we do), and assuming we were harmed by that reliance (which we were maybe not so much, maybe just nominally) then, by golly--it was fraud! Even if the damages were nominal, at worst.

So, anyway, what was the point here?

Good luck pursuing the message poster (who is the party who perpetrated the "fraud"), and not Metromix, with a fraud claim. It probably was an innocent mistake by Metromix, who, it sounds like, immediately removed the message. At any rate, I think that this all goes to show that the "reviews" posted on Metromix frequently are unreliable.

Ron A. wrote:Good luck pursuing the message poster (who is the party who perpetrated the "fraud"), and not Metromix, with a fraud claim. It probably was an innocent mistake by Metromix, who, it sounds like, immediately removed the message. At any rate, I think that this all goes to show that the "reviews" posted on Metromix frequently are unreliable.

Yep. The fact that Metromix doesn't require registration (or at least it didn't last time I looked) is another problem -- posters are basically anonymous and unaccountable. Unlike here, where the Mods will track you down like a dog.