Mike Caprio
mikecap@theWorld.com
Introduction Professional Personal Writing Art
Mike's Restaurant Reviews

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: *
6-18Never Again!
19-26Shameful
27-33Unacceptable
34-41Needs Work
42-47Good
48-53Great
54-57Rising Star
58-60Superior

* Please take note - as stated above, if a restaurant falls below a certain average value in any category, it is downgraded one level.


Back To Home Page

Back To Top


The information on this page is copyright ©2000-2002 by Mike Caprio, mikecap@theWorld.com. Permission to quote passages or use information herein is granted for personal, non-commercial use only. All other uses must be approved of in writing by the author and copyright holder. Unauthorized use will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act