Reviews are important, and although businesses (restaurants included) would like to read glowing reviews praising them for their excellence the bad ones can be just as helpful/important. Negative reviews have a very important place and can in fact benefit a restaurant, allow me to tell you why:
They Can Identify Problem Areas – Highlighting problems with service or food is often easier when a restaurant is being looked at with a fresh pair of eyes. Take onboard negative comments and ‘fix’ the issues to make improvements.
People Don’t Like Things That Are Too Good To Be True – Finding pages and pages of positive reviews can sometimes leave a customer feeling uneasy. The old saying of ‘you can’t please everyone’ is especially true when it comes to food. If a restaurant has no negative reviews it sometimes leaves me with a feeling that the reviews may be fake or even paid for , maybe i’m a cynic but I firmly believe that no restaurant can possibly please every diner and often find that people are quicker to share a bad experience than a good one.
Turn It Into A Positive Experience – How a negative review is dealt with says more about the restaurant/business than the actual review. The term ‘kill them with kindness’ comes to mind. If you take the time to thank the reviewer and handle the situation with grace rather than go straight on the defensive it will reflect much better on you and show off how great you are with customer service – which is an essential part to the dining experience.
Similarly when writing reviews be honest, your opinions will become much less valued if you just fluff over the bad and only write about the good. How can any readers trust you if your reviews are only ever focusing on the good.
Food Geek is a fantastic example of a restaurant review site. It is impartial, honest, and a reliable source for restaurant finds! So when you write a review keep it simple, but most importantly keep it honest.