My favorite that I’ve used for years, foursquare, is shutting down in a few days. Pretty bummed because I found some of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to with it. 15 years and thousands of reviews, all in the trash now.
Google maps is useless for most cities, in mine every restaurant has a 4.7-4.8, and seems gamed.
Yelp is an awful company I’d rather not use, and its based on top reviewers, rather than reviews.
Tripadvisor is missing way too much to be useful.
What are ppl using nowadays?
None. I just ask locals and walk aroundc, go by vibes and prices.
A restaurant with a fuckton of options? Probably bad, as the cook(s) can’t make them all. So it’s either low quality or prepared instead of freshly made.
A restaurant with a handful or less than dozen of options for each course? Seems good.
If it’s expensive as fuck, and in a busy area, skip. Probably a tourist trap.
The decor isn’t necessarily important, but if it’s a place that is very noisy, it doesn’t have good acoustics. So that’s a skip. Ideally you want a restaurant where you do have some people but it’s not so loud, so you can eat in peace.
Depending on your preferences, look also if they have allergy/diet options and accessibility features. Those that do may be a little more expensive, but not by much hopefully.
No idea about decor.