{"id":434,"date":"2008-07-07T11:08:36","date_gmt":"2008-07-07T18:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434"},"modified":"2026-04-12T10:23:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:23:48","slug":"gils-rating-system","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434","title":{"rendered":"Gil’s Rating System"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
RATING<\/strong><\/td>\nDEFINITION<\/strong><\/td>\n# OF RESTAURANTS<\/strong>
\n(As of 6 April 2026<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Extraordinary<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n\u00a0 The standard-bearer; top-tier restaurant; unforgettable dining experience; highest level of quality; rare and remarkable.<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Exceptional<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n\u00a0 Superior quality; above and beyond nearly all restaurants; harmonious blend of high-quality cuisine, impeccable service, and a curated atmosphere, characterized by consistency<\/td>\n6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Outstanding<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

\u00a0 A stand-out; delivers a memorable dining experience through a harmonious blend of exceptional food, attentive service, and consistent quality<\/td>\n95<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Excellent<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n\u00a0 High quality dining experience; very good to excellent food, attentive service, and a well-maintained atmosphere; worth a detour.<\/td>\n204<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Very Good<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n\u00a0Good to very good food; generally solid; delivers consistent quality, strong technique, and a comfortable, enjoyable dining experience<\/td>\n186<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Good<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n\u00a0 Good food, decent service, and a clean environment; provides a satisfactory, dependable, and standard experience<\/td>\n73<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
N\/R (Not Rated)<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n\u00a0 I won’t rate a restaurant until after my second visit.\u00a0 The N\/R distiction is also used for restaurants not quite good enough to land under any other category.<\/td>\n319<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

There you have it, my official rating system.\u00a0\u00a0Until April, 2026, I used a 1-30 rating system similar to Zagat Restaurant Survey, however, unlike Zagat, I don’t survey anyone.\u00a0 These ratings are mine exclusively.\u00a0 Your opinion, of course, may vary. Although I once rated each restaurant for the quality of food (taste and portion), atmosphere, and service, my primary consideration has always been the experiential aspects of a restaurant visit.\u00a0 Because I tend to visit restaurants with people I love, those visits may be skewed toward a higher rating than when I dine alone.<\/p>\n

In all fairness, I won’t rate the quality of a restaurant’s food until I’ve dined there at least two times ( although you can probably tell from my comments what rating would have been accorded).\u00a0 There are more “N\/R (Not Rated) restaurants on my list than any other category.\u00a0 There are also fewer restaurants receiving my highest ratings (Extraordinary and Exceptional), but that’s largely because I haven’t visited those restaurants more than once.\u00a0 Distance is the primary reason.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The other bias to which I will admit is a bias against corporate (chain) restaurants.\u00a0 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:<\/p>\n

An epicure dining at Cree
\nFound a rather large mouse in his stew.
\nSaid the waiter, \u201cDon\u2019t shout,
\nOr wave it about,
\nOr the rest will be wanting one too<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s not even as though American diners are held captive by the exclusivity of corporate restaurants. In most cases, far superior mom and pop restaurants exist, albeit usually without the loud ambiance,almost inordinate variety, huge portions and low prices provided by well bankrolled franchises. It’s no wonder nearly so many new restaurants close.<\/p>\n

I should also mention that one of the core values espoused by a former place of employment is “risk-taking”, a value I practice in ordering meals as well as in having performed my job. Generally ordering the most adventurous sounding entries offered, a world of epicurean delights has been opened to me. It baffled 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RATING DEFINITION # OF RESTAURANTS (As of 6 April 2026 Extraordinary \u00a0 The standard-bearer; top-tier restaurant; unforgettable dining experience; highest level of quality; rare and remarkable. 1 Exceptional \u00a0 Superior quality; above and beyond nearly all restaurants; harmonious blend of high-quality cuisine, impeccable service, and a curated atmosphere, characterized by consistency 6 Outstanding   \u00a0 A stand-out; delivers a memorable dining experience through a harmonious blend of exceptional food, attentive service, and consistent quality 95 Excellent \u00a0 High quality dining experience; very good to excellent food, attentive service, and a well-maintained atmosphere; worth a detour. 204 Very Good \u00a0Good to very good food; generally solid; delivers consistent quality, strong technique, and a comfortable, enjoyable dining experience 186 Good \u00a0 Good…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-434","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nGil's Rating System - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gil's Rating System - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RATING DEFINITION # OF RESTAURANTS (As of 6 April 2026 Extraordinary \u00a0 The standard-bearer; top-tier restaurant; unforgettable dining experience; highest level of quality; rare and remarkable. 1 Exceptional \u00a0 Superior quality; above and beyond nearly all restaurants; harmonious blend of high-quality cuisine, impeccable service, and a curated atmosphere, characterized by consistency 6 Outstanding   \u00a0 A stand-out; delivers a memorable dining experience through a harmonious blend of exceptional food, attentive service, and consistent quality 95 Excellent \u00a0 High quality dining experience; very good to excellent food, attentive service, and a well-maintained atmosphere; worth a detour. 204 Very Good \u00a0Good to very good food; generally solid; delivers consistent quality, strong technique, and a comfortable, enjoyable dining experience 186 Good \u00a0 Good…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-12T16:23:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?page_id=434\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?page_id=434\",\"name\":\"Gil's Rating System - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-07-07T18:08:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-12T16:23:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?page_id=434#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?page_id=434\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?page_id=434#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gil’s Rating System\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\",\"description\":\"Follow the Culinary Ruminations of New Mexico's Sesquipedalian Sybarite. 1,522 Restaurant Reviews, More Than 14,900 Visitor Comments...And Counting!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gil's Rating System - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gil's Rating System - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog","og_description":"RATING DEFINITION # OF RESTAURANTS (As of 6 April 2026 Extraordinary \u00a0 The standard-bearer; top-tier restaurant; unforgettable dining experience; highest level of quality; rare and remarkable. 1 Exceptional \u00a0 Superior quality; above and beyond nearly all restaurants; harmonious blend of high-quality cuisine, impeccable service, and a curated atmosphere, characterized by consistency 6 Outstanding   \u00a0 A stand-out; delivers a memorable dining experience through a harmonious blend of exceptional food, attentive service, and consistent quality 95 Excellent \u00a0 High quality dining experience; very good to excellent food, attentive service, and a well-maintained atmosphere; worth a detour. 204 Very Good \u00a0Good to very good food; generally solid; delivers consistent quality, strong technique, and a comfortable, enjoyable dining experience 186 Good \u00a0 Good…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434","og_site_name":"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog","article_modified_time":"2026-04-12T16:23:48+00:00","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434","url":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434","name":"Gil's Rating System - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-07-07T18:08:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-12T16:23:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?page_id=434#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gil’s Rating System"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/","name":"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog","description":"Follow the Culinary Ruminations of New Mexico's Sesquipedalian Sybarite. 1,522 Restaurant Reviews, More Than 14,900 Visitor Comments...And Counting!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/#organization","name":"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog","url":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79639,"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/434\/revisions\/79639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}