How long do you wait to go back to a restaurant after reading a bad review? Tom C., St. Louis
I know you’re expecting me to say I’d wait a month, three months, maybe a year, but that’s not the case. In most instances, I’d return to the restaurant in question immediately, and here’s why.
There is no better wake-up call for a restaurant than a mediocre or bad review. If the criticism is justified, savvy restaurants consider it a blessing. If it’s unjustified or mean-spirited, a poor review forces the restaurant to at least examine what was criticized.
A mediocre or poor restaurant review is the culinary equivalent of kicking a bee’s nest. Almost immediately after the review is published, the chef and owner meet to discuss what can and should be done. Believe me, things change in a hurry. Recipes get fine-tuned, sauces get tweaked, menu items get 86’d, people get fired, and purveyors get reevaluated.
Within a day, the freshly reviewed restaurant is (maybe for the first time since it opened) operating at maximum performance level. The kitchen staff may have been read the riot act; the same with the front of the house. At least in the short term, the restaurant is being run with military precision, aiming for zero defects. Staffers will admit this period is a little less fun and a little more work, but the net result is positive. And the change in attitude often extends to the long term.
That’s why the best time to check out a restaurant is immediately after a poor review. Remember also that such a review negatively impacts the restaurant’s business. Most people simply elect to stay away, so crowds are light. That’s another reason I return immediately.
The exception I make is in the case of a really bad review or a bad review of the same place in different publications, which recently has happened in St. Louis several times. This can indicate more serious problems.
Most restaurant reviews are generally positive to mediocre, with most criticisms being easily fixable. When one encounters a horrible review (or multiple negative reviews), the criticism is usually justified. Remember that in most cases, the reviewer has made several trips to the restaurant and drawn the same negative conclusion. The restaurant was not having “a bad day”; it was having several, usually telegraphing the need for a major overhaul, which takes time.
In those cases, I'll stay away until I see a new chef, a new look, a new GM—some significant sign of improvement.
