I use a
1-30 rating system similar to the Zagat Southwest Restaurant Survey,
however, unlike Zagat, I don't survey anyone. Although
I used to rate each restaurant for the quality of food (taste and
portion), atmosphere, and service, my primary consideration was always
whether or not the meal or aperitif pleases my pedantic palette.
Therefore, I no longer rate a restaurant's atmosphere or service,
although they will be mentioned where warranted.
In all
fairness, I won't rate the quality of a restaurant's food until I've
dined there at least two times (except for out of town restaurants)
although you can probably tell from my comments what rating would have
been accorded.
A bit more about my
rating system: We don't imbibe "adult beverages" and with the exception of salsa
and chips, we sometimes don't order appetizers with our meals. Therefore, cost estimates
may be somewhat conservative.
You will also note a tremendous number of
restaurants listed as "Gone But Not Forgotten", many having
closed because they couldn't survive the onslaught
of corporate chains and the competition from casinos. Many new restaurants open with
great fanfare only to be consumed by competition--about 80% of restaurants headed by
people with little experience in the industry will fail within the first three
years. In Albuquerque, that percentage may be even higher. Those restaurants
which do survive, however, warrant your patronage if not loyalty.
My rail
against corporate restaurants and their copycat food could occupy an
entire Web site, but insofar as 21st century dining in America is
concerned, I might be in the minority. To me, diners flocking to
new franchised restaurants bring to mind a certain piper's followers--or
at least the behavior painted in the clever limerick below:
An
epicure dining at Cree
Found a rather large mouse in his stew.
Said the waiter, “Don’t shout,
Or wave it about,
Or the rest will be wanting one too.”
It's
not even as though American diners are held captive by the exclusivity
of corporate restaurants. In many cases, far superior mom and pop
restaurants exist, albeit usually without the loud ambience,
almost
inordinate variety,
huge portions and low
prices provided
by well
bankrolled franchises. It's
no wonder nearly so many new restaurants close.
Throughout this Web site,
I postulate with some degree of cynicism that many Albuquerque diners
are sheep-like in their docile loyalty to corporate chains, but the
truth is they're more akin to Pavlov's dogs. Madison Avenue
jingles and commercials make them salivate at the thought of the latest
offering from Olive Garden and that ilk. The thought of trying
something new, different and non-chain doesn't cross their minds and if
it did, the heretical concept would be quickly dismissed with apologies
to their favorite chain. Their loss! Adventurous chowhounds
daring enough to deviate (gasp) from the well-beaten path to the nearest
chain frequently discover real gems--those remarkable family-owned
restaurants whose arsenal in the competition for hungry diners consists
of reasonable portions of great meals at reasonable prices. For
these mom and pop restaurants, word of mouth is crucial to survival and
through this bully pulpit, I'll do my best to extol the great value and
virtue of supporting local restaurants.
I should also mention
that one of the core values espoused by my place of business is "risk-taking", a
value I practice in ordering meals as well as in performing my job. Generally
ordering the most adventurous sounding entries offered, a world of epicurean delights has
been opened to me. It baffles me that otherwise intelligent co-workers won't try
anything more adventurous than meat and potatoes and company outings tend to be held at
such establishments as Chili's and Applebee's.
Before traveling I scour
the internet for information on the "best of" restaurants at my
destination. There are two particularly good frames of reference I
use--Chowhound.com in which savvy
diners who have blazed the trails in pursuit of gustatory treasures post
their findings for us all to benefit from; and Roadfood.com,
the wonderful Web site of Michael and Jane Stern, America's foremost
experts on dining as an American cultural event.
I find it tragically funny that in such "sophisticated" cities as Phoenix
and Las Vegas, diners select Olive Garden as the best Italian restaurant (what's next,
Denny's for having the best American cuisine?). Sometimes I question the opinions of
restaurant critics (and their supposedly more didactic palates), but I'd rather put my
money on them than on the trough-diving mentality of most American diners.
Here's
my 1-30 scale:
| 26-30 |
A rare jewel;
an outstanding dining experience; more than food--it's edible
art; among the best in the country. |
$$$$ |
Over $65 for
two |
| 20-25 |
Very Good to
Excellent; always high quality; you can't go wrong; a
difficult rating to achieve |
$$$ |
$35-$65 for
two |
| 15-19 |
Good
to Very Good; where most restaurants land. |
$$ |
$17-$45 for
two |
| 10-14 |
Good to Fair;
unfortunately most American and Italian restaurants in
Albuquerque should land in this rating space |
$ |
Under $17 for
two |
| 1-9 |
Place skull
and crossbones image on the door and have the food hauled away
to the WIP (Waste Isolation Project) site. |
|
* |
An asterisk (*)
denotes my first review (not necessarily first visit) of a
restaurant. I use this symbol when reviewing Albuquerque
and Albuquerque area restaurants, but will rate restaurants
elsewhere even after only one visit. |
I have yet to dine at a
"perfect" 30 restaurant but would rate a dining experience at
such an ideal as absolutely flawless with uncompromising standards and
an obvious commitment on the restaurant's part to providing a dining
experience I would want to repeat over and over again. Obviously
the food would have to be more than good; it would have to tantalize,
titillate, enrapt my taste buds with every morsel. Every facet of
the meal would have to be like a well synchronized and beautiful ballet
in which each course is a prelude to the next and leaves you lusting for
the next bite. I've rated some restaurants in the high 20s and
some of them were nearly of the "30" caliber.
If a
1-30 rating system doesn't make sense to you, the following guide might
help. I essentially multiplied each numeric rating by 3.3 to
arrive at a more traditional 100 point rating system. Using that
multiplier, a restaurant rated 30 would translate to a perfect (or as
close to it as possible) 99.9 points which rounds up to 100. I
also show what a 1-10 equivalent rating would be.
| 30
= 99.9 (100) |
10 |
19
= 62.7 (63) |
6 |
| 29
= 95.7 (96) |
18
= 69.4 (60) |
| 28
= 92.4 (92) |
9 |
17
= 56.1 (56) |
| 27
= 89.1 (89) |
16
= 52.8 (53) |
5 |
| 26
= 85.8 (86) |
15
= 49.5 (50) |
| 25=
82.5 (83) |
8 |
14
= 46.2 (47) |
| 24
= 79.2 (79) |
13
= 42.9 (43) |
4 |
| 23
= 75.9 (76) |
12
= 39.6 (40) |
| 22
= 72.6 (73) |
7 |
11
= 36.3 (36) |
| 21
= 69.3 (69) |
10
= 33.3 (33) |
3 |
| 20
= 66.0 (66) |
|
|
