An Explanation of How New Jersey Leisure Guide Restaurant Reviews Are Determined

Often times we receive responses from restaurant owners who write to disagree with our restaurant reviews. This is certainly understandable. However, this is a service for restaurant diners who are looking for information on a restaurant and want to hear about the consensus of what other diners and critics have experienced and not what the owners have to say.

You would be hard pressed to find another website, magazine, or newspaper that does research and analysis and draws upon the views of the restaurant diners and our staff restaurants visits to come up with the best review and rating of restaurants that are representative of the dining public.

I often hear from restaurant owners who say that they don't take much stock in restaurant reviews. For the most part I agree. They shouldn't rely on a review from just one restaurant critic. However, they are quick to put up the plaques at the entrance of their restaurant that provide favorable commentary from restaurant critics, even though many of the reviews are dated and from years past and many executive chefs past.

The Methodology Used to Determine Our Restaurant Reviews and Ratings

First of all, we recognize that all restaurants have off-nights and that all restaurant critics and diners have had experiences that may not be representative of the restaurants performance. We are careful to try and spot these comments and give them little or no value in our analysis. We also try to value the current experiences of the diners, looking out for dated reviews of restaurants that have since changed owners, executive chefs, and wait staffs that render these comments as outdated.

To ensure we are providing comprehensive and representative rating and reviews, we seek out data from our viewers, dining patrons, and staff personal visits, as well as research from the internet and the print media to corroborate our findings to ensure there is consensus.

Where there is strong consensus and consistency amongst a large audience, the review is likely to be more in line to what the prospective diner is apt to experience.

The process of finding consensus means placing little value to a dining patrons comment that is way out of line with the consensus, good or bad.

Our Reviews Should be Taken As Informed Opinion
While we do extensive research to ensure the most representative review of a restaurant, and because we rely on the subjective tastes and opinions of restaurant patrons and our staff, similar to movie and book critics, our reviews should be taken as informed opinion and not fact.

Our Policy on Sharing Diner Comments
It is our policy to not share individual comments from the dining public and the staff of New Jersey leisure Guide with restaurant owners. Individual comments may not be consistent with the majority and therefore are apt to mislead the person viewing the comment out of context.