“Best of” time again
Citysearch has released their “Best of” restaurants list (among others) for Portland, and there may be a few surprises. For instance, on the “Best of steak restaurants” list, where is El Gaucho?
Anyway, in deference to Nick, who hates my “Best/Worst” lists due to my lack of insight, I offer this depository of information compiled by the votes of a large number of people with questionable insight.
It’s not the lack of insight. It’s the lack of research and comprehensiveness. (And I don’t think I said “hate”, I just find the title frustrating and the lack of research frustrating because people will read these and find them in google and use them, I assume.)
Citysearch is a different sort of annoying. It’s all based on voting with little to no threshold for people to vote. Some 10 year old could be voting for best steakhouse. People who’ve never been to the restaurants they’re voting for or who have only been to one steakhouse are voting. It could overwhelmed by people in the tech center of Beaverton or by young people without much eating experience. And, I think it’s quite obvious that there was what is essentially cheating on the voting this time. There are places that shouldn’t be on these lists at all that are making it into the top three — places that hardly anyone knows of and that aren’t very good. Seems that some places decided to have have everyone on staff vote.
Thus you have ridiculous lists like best steak without El Gaucho, probably the best of the bunch. Baja Grill and the Original Taco House beat out legitimate Mexican restaurants. Terrible pizza like American Dream and mediocre pizza like Old Town and Pizzicato beat out Apizza Scholls and even Hot Lips.
The lists are rather useless. Zagat was a better guide. Citysearch’s editorial ratings and reviews are pretty decent, but the “people’s choices” just suck.
Nick, have they always been this way? In the past I have let the Best Of stuff persuade me to try something new. Is the cyberstuffing of the ballot boxes new? Is there a more reliable place to look? How does this list stack up against the WW list I voted in recently?
I’m sorry to be so full of questions but I just realized these are all things I want to know and the coffee just kicked in.
I don’t ever remember liking the results of Citysearch’s polls, but I haven’t tried to establish a trend. I sometimes look at them to see if there’s something on the list I haven’t heard of or tried, but personally I don’t pay attention to the actual results. The editors’ picks are much more reliable.
I rarely see polls that come up with good results. Even the Portland Monthly’s chefs polls were pretty weak. (I don’t often think chefs make good tipsters. Most of the time other people are eating, they’re working.) Zagat had/has a big enough base of people who are generally foodies that it probably is better than most. Though now that the voting is online, it’s probably worse in many ways. Afterall, I get requests to vote in San Francisco, Hawaii, Chicago, and other places I only occasionally visit. Plus, I’ve heard that in bigger markets there’s some serious ballot stuffing that occurs on occasion.
Did the WW give the results of their best of yet? I imagine it will be typical. It should be skewed towards a younger crowd and slightly alternative crowd. Not quite as skewed as if it was the Mercury, though. (btw, I know that at least a few restaurants sent out mass emails to get people to vote in this.)
Polls always have a tendency to create demand that “proves” themselves, too. Elsewhere it’s been named the Zagat Effect.
I think better sources than the polls are the dining guides from the newspapers and magazines. Better than that are websites such as Chowhound and eGullet and PortlandFood.org where you can discuss with people and learn who is worth trusting — and where you know all the people are food lovers and hopefully out there exploring more than the average Citysearch voter.
Not to demean you in any way, Nick, but it seems like anyone who doesn’t have your sensibilities is wrong. Zagat is wrong. Citysearch is wrong. Clearly, I’m usually wrong. I notice over at PortlandFood.org, a cite you reference, you are a “Food God,” and your site, Extramsg.com, figures prominently into many of the posts there. No wonder you actually recommend them.
I read your typical comment “the ‘people’s choices’ just suck” and that is the very same attitude that spills out of every comment you make.
My “Best/Worst” lists are, as Betsy once commented, designed to instigate discussion of what places people regard as best/worst.
In fact, if you look at the genesis of my work as Metblog’s Best of/Worst of guy, you’ll see that I clearly never said I was always right. I support this point with the following quotes from that post:
“Count on my posts to regularly give a perspective on the bests and worsts of Portland.”
“Or, if I don’t have a perspective, count on me to ask you for one.”
“So, tell me about Portland’s best and worst vets. Leave a comment. Please be serious. Eventually, when someone Google’s ‘Portland’s best vet,’ they may see your handiwork.”
“No, really, please comment. Blogs work best that way…”
Your comments, to me, are a mixed bag. You certainly give your ideas of what’s good or bad in town. But you do so while trashing other people’s ideas. I don’t mind you saying that you disagree, or why you disagree, but I wish you were a little more congenial in your approach. That’s the kind of constructive discussion I’m looking for…
Citysearch isn’t a person. Neither is Zagat. Entities or polls don’t have opinions. People do. Citysearch doesn’t have a sensibility. Zagat doesn’t have a sensibility. And their polls don’t have a sensibility. They’re just mish-mashes of opinions. But what are the sensibilities of the voters? What are their backgrounds? Where else have they eaten?
The “people’s” choices do generally suck. (I put “people” in scare quotes because who the hell are the people? I mean, there’s no poll that has more than a very small percentage of the total population and things like Citysearch, Zagat, or WW are going to have even a more narrow cross-section of a population than a more scientific poll.) Think about what the “people” generally choose: McDonald’s, Olive Garden, Budweiser, Pizza Hut, etc. It’s the choice for mediocrity that puts price and recognizability above quality.
When I’m looking for what movies to go watch, I don’t see what movies made the most at the box office that week. I don’t care what “the people” think is best. I want to know what people who truly love movies, especially those I’ve learned to trust and those who see a lot of movies, think are good. When I’m looking for new CDs to buy, I don’t care so much what’s on the top 40. I want to know what people who truly love music, and people whose opinions I respect, are listening to and recommending. The same with food.
This is an old argument that at least goes back to the Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Plato. In Plato’s Republic, he makes a strong argument for limiting democracy. Our founders took that to heart and created a country that is not a pure democracy. Why? Because “the people” often make stupid decisions and react on limited knowledge. That’s why we have representatives who we hope will study issues, etc, and come up with better solutions to problems than just having laws all be referendums.
Nothing has satired the will of the people better than The Simpsons. Mobs are always portrayed as easily swayed, reactionary, not afraid to act based on cursory knowledge. There’s a lot of truth to that. So why trust “the people” rather than an expert who has studied a subject, explored a subject, and especially one you’ve learned to trust?
It’s not whether my opinions (or yours) are right or wrong. But they are justified, qualified, and hopefully informed. There are plenty of people whose opinions I disagree with but respect. But they give solid reasons for their opinions and have made efforts to find out what places are considered the best and try them, or qualify their opinions.
Honestly, I haven’t paid attention to your best/worst when it hasn’t related to food. But it is a blog, not a message board or chat forum, so as the blogger, the main poster, I think your best/worst comes with a certain pretense of authority. You really don’t think you have an obligation to do a little extra legwork to find out what might be best? To move beyond the national chains and see what opinions might already be out there and try at least a couple of the generally considered best places?
btw, everyone who has made more than 300 posts on PortlandFood.org is a food god. There are other designations, such as stomach stretcher and plate licker.