Restaurant Recommendations

How do you go about recommending a restaurant to a friend? (local, visiting, really any friend…)

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Welcome, @imuss! For context, what’s the reason for your question?

Sometimes people are simply making pleasant conversation and other times they have a specific purpose behind their inquiry—so it helps the community here to understand why someone is asking. :blush:

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Thanks for the welcome, Denise! I’m mostly curious about how other people approach the process and what makes it tricky/easier. I’ve been thinking about ways to make it easier to send people recs, and think it’s important to understand how people go out the process now :slight_smile:

Curious if you are a UX researcher by any chance, or researching a project or product? I ask because folks here have wanted to know that when they decide to respond.

Sorry, what does “UX” ( Researcher ) signify ?

I am a publishing journalist so I am always researching valid data on one thing or another.

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Oh gotcha. Not in any formal way? I’m working on a product but not for a big company/UX team, etc. Hope that helps

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Hi @Barca! In the digital (online) world of publishing, UX means “user experience.” I should have spelled that one out!

And for anyone who may be curious: Web teams in larger organizations will have UX researchers who investigate what people need from a particular type of page or a website, so that it can be designed and written to meet those needs.

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I moved this to Culture board.

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Welcome to the forum, Isabel

I have two sorts of friends - those in real life and e-friends who I know through, say, forums.

In terms of "real"friends/family, I eat out more than most, if not all of them. So, I can get asked for an opinion. My response obviously depends on what question I’m being asked - say, an Indian restaurant or somewhere for a special occasion. Because these are real people, I’d generally know what sort of places/foods they like so a response can be easy (if not always successful).

E-friends are tricky. I don’t really "know " them, except in terms of their online persona. I review most meals out and post them to this site, Tripadvisor and, from time to time, other places. What I’d do with, say, the casual enquiry about a recommendation for an Indian restaurants, is to say, “I like Restaurant X, here’s the review I posted about our last meal”. I also play on a particular Tripadvisor forum where folk regularly ask “where should we eat” in the resort. These are not necessarily even particular e-friends and I may know next to nothing about what they like, so I usually do little more than list the places where we’ve recently enjoyed meals and invite them to do their own research on the places or just go and give them a try.

John

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Quite familiar with UX Researcher Support Teams however, I have never seen them called “UX” …

Thank you for explaining. Have a lovely weekend.

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Hmmm, I wonder if “UX” is more of a US and English-language term then? That would be interesting. (The international web teams I have worked with in my job have all used English as their common language for collaboration, so that’s the only view I have.)

Have a lovely weekend as well!

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Unless I know their tastes really, really well (like my family), I’ll ask a series of questions that in essence boils down to “What do YOU like”. Are they overly picky or are willing to try new things? Do they have any dietary issues or restrictions? Are they afraid of spice? What’s their budget? Do they want “best local thing” (like cioppino here in the SF Bay Area)?

I used to have to do this in NYC when I was a tour guide. That’s how I once ended up taking a Midwestern family (with kids) to the 2nd Avenue Deli, and telling them that hamburgers weren’t really what the place was known for.

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In France, they are called UX design as well, but maybe more familiar with people working in communication, web design, interface design in apps etc.

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Would any of us be on food sites if we didn’t feel passionately about our own opinions, including telling others what we believe to be the way and the truth of where the best or unique reside?
:slight_smile:

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^ This, what @StephanieL says. I try to find out what the person wants to experience and recommend based on their wants and needs.

Since the pandemic started, how well a restaurant does takeout and curbside or low-contact pickup is what I focus on.

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Out of town guests, I keep a few printed menus at home, send restaurant links before they arrive or let them decide when they arrive; especially if they are paying.

Good friends or family-we all have our favorites and rotate taking turns on the final decisions after txting suggestions several days prior.

Where do I find my resto bucket list? Food magazines, HO, travel sites, newspapers and of course word of mouth resides everywhere…

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