Thursday, May 15, 2008

Simplifying Restaurant Search


Usually we rely on family and friends opinions to make our buying decisions. But sometimes rather than asking a handful of people, there’s an option to rely on the wisdom of the crowds, getting the opinion of the masses. Whether you are planning to buy a new HDTV, camera, a new dress, or just want to visit a restaurant in your own city or elsewhere; social recommendations play a major role in making those choices. Restaurant recommendations work in a similar fashion.

If you want to eat great Sushi while you are in New York, what would you do – run a Google search? Certainly, the first few search results will take one to online restaurant reviews and recommendations sites like CitySearch or some Yahoo! Local pages. But, what if one could get everything in just one site – reviews, recommendations, menus, timings, discounts, prices and cuisines? There are some restaurant guides that do just that, say for example BooRah.

BooRah’s an online restaurant review guide that is pulling & summarizing reviews from other review sources across the web. First-time diners can get valuable information just by browsing user reviews. One can get to know everything about the food, service, ambience, local favorites, and restaurant specialties too. User-generated content dominates in the Web 2.0 world, it’s better than the flashy advertisements with all hype and no real meat.

Any web surfer knows for sure that Google, Yahoo, MSN or Ask are the top spots to land in if they are searching for stuff on the web. In a similar way Retrevo can be a one-stop-search option if users are looking for the best deals, discounts, manuals and all sorts of info on consumer electronics. Likewise an online restaurant guide is the place to land in to search for a fine dining guide in your neighborhood or elsewhere.

Life’s just got easier with technology and gadgets running the show for us, most of the times. With no laptop/computer at hand, searching for online restaurant reviews isn’t that difficult anymore, as some restaurant search engines offer their services over the mobile as well.

So the next time your stomach craves for Mexican cuisine in New York or Tacos in Atlanta, you know there’s a restaurants directory that will open the whole enchilada for you to choose from.

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