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Yelp
Rating Details »
Categories: Local Flavor, Mass Media
Neighborhood: SOMA706 Mission St
(between 3rd St & Opera Aly)
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 908-3801
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- No
2022 reviews for Yelp
This business is a Yelp Sponsor
2/16/2009
12/6/2009
12/5/2009
12/4/2009
12/2/2009
Updated - 12/1/2009
Updated - 11/30/2009
Updated - 11/29/2009
11/26/2009
11/27/2009
11/30/2009
12/7/2009
Updated - 11/23/2009
12/4/2009
11/26/2009
Updated - 11/23/2009
11/25/2009
Updated - 12/5/2009
11/21/2009
12/3/2009
12/3/2009
11/20/2009
Updated - 11/16/2009
Updated - 11/17/2009
12/2/2009
11/22/2009
Updated - 11/19/2009
11/13/2009
2 photos
Updated - 11/13/2009
Updated - 12/1/2009
11/20/2009
11/18/2009
11/14/2009
11/7/2009
11/6/2009
12/1/2009
11/11/2009
Updated - 11/4/2009
11/10/2009
10/30/2009
One of the Business' Favorite Reviews What's This?
Why oh why did it take me so long to find Yelp? It's a goldmine of information. I think it's especially cool that Yelp has parties every once in awhile for Yelp Users. That's cool that they show they appreciate my content and reviews.
I've also noticed business owners have the opportunity to contact reviewers on Yelp. I've had business owners apologize for my bad experiences OR sometimes write me and help me understand if I have some misunderstandings about their business. Cool!
Thank you Yelp!
You have introduced me to new places to go, eat, shop and play.
You have introduced me to people with whom to go to these places.
I'm in like with you!!!!!!!
As a painting and Drywall contractor in Walnut Creek CA we signed up with Yelp 6 months ago and had a great run for about 3 months.
Reviews came in and so did the work. We had a huge response that was directly related to the quality and quantity of the reviews we recieved.
In the fourth month, reviewsa began to drop off and as this trend continued, I contacted my account manager to express concern as we where also seeing a drop in calls. She explained, "this was the algorythm and that it is there for the users, to protect agains t schills and blah blah blah.."
By the end of the fifth month we had gone from 17 reviews to only one! The phone had nearly stopped ringing. This was a catastrophe for us in this economy. I pleeded with Yelp to return at least a few reviews, they claimed "they have no control over that."
I asked to be let out of my contract, they refused, after several heated e-mails with my account manager and then her manager, and finally a threat to take them to small claims court and file claim with Visa for non reciept of services, they let me out.
This was a gut wrentching experience, it was like having someone tell you you have Ferrari you can drive any time you want, you drive it, you love it, you take care of it, and one day you go out to the garage and there's a brown Pinto sitting there, (that won't start!)
We have had no more calls from our Yelp add because they kicked all our reviews off.
BEWARE OF THIS BAIT AND SWITCH BY THE FRIENDLY SALESPERSON ON THE PHONE WHO SAYS; "Have you ever thought about becoming a Yelp sponser?"
Remember what Nancy Reagan said...
"JUST SAY NO!!!!!!!"
1) You know you're on your way when your name is now a verb ... Ex: Did you google that?
2) A coworker just sent an email out to our entire company asking for recommendations and all the responses were yelp links.
3) There is a Yelp review about Yelp ... with over a 1000 reviews no less.
4) How else would I get hate mail for "shooting my mouth off about shit you don't know anything about." and other nuggets from other Yelpers and business owners.
5) If you've engaged in, witnessed or heard about casual encounters through Yelp ... it's so much classier than Craigslist.
Let me start off by saying I love YELP. I love what it is and I use it daily. My review is coming from the point of view of a business owner.
I've attended many social media and networking events and they talk about using YELP as a strategy. I believe this fully. However, we are a global organization and our customers are spread out in over 85 countries. Whenever they do a YELP review for us and they are NOT from the Bay Area it is usually taken down by YELP fairly quickly!?!?
A review is a review. If YELP plans to grow into the international markets doing these types of things is so ultimately limiting. We've gone from 15+ reviews now down to 3?! We promote YELP and we continue to get beat down. How do we build a strategy for our business if our customer reviews are being deleted? I want to promote YELP, but right now I'm pretty damn upset by the double message they are sending.
Something is broken with this system and I wish to see some improvement for the small to mid-sized online business trying to build credibility for future customers? Is YELP the place to do it? Hmmm? Maybe not.
Don't get me wrong, Yelp has a lot of great info from consumers like myself. And this is really great when you want to find out the real 411 regarding a business.
However, it seems that Yelp staff is good at trolling around the site and removing any reviews they can, even if they're not harmful in any way. I can see removing malicious reviews and fake reviews, but harmless ones? C'mon!
Once again they've targeted me, this time for posting a review that was not a 'first person experience'. Ok, now this review was for Alta Bates hospital, so excuse me for not having a baby and never needing surgery for anything. However I did put that my mom works there and has work there for nearly 25 years. Also my brother was born there (RIP Rich). Was is wrong for me to post that? Apparently Yelp thought so! Boooo!
Ya'll need to start focusing more on cracking down on fake and malicious reviews, instead of wasting time removing harmless ones. And this one may be removed, but I don't give a damn..I'm gonna say what I have to say!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/21/2009
I agree with prior posters; why keep deleting the negative reviews (I've had it done to me once)?… Read more »
Did a bit of research:
http://www.eastbayexpr...
http://www.sfweekly.co...
Enjoy!
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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11/15/2009
Update: Elite status removed. Read more »
These people have no backbone. They will remove feedback, pictures and basically do whatever they feel is ok to make their site palatable. This site is not give a true feedback representation to any shop or service provider.
They deleted 3 reviews left for my business and then deleted all the pics of the custom bikes I have built. They also deleted a review I left for a terrible business siting i was a competitor when i was actually a customer.
YELP IS A DISAPPOINTMENT AND NOT WORTH THE TIME!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/6/2009
NOT WORHT THE TIME. ITS MORE THAN LIKELY THAT ANY NEGATIVE CONTENT LEFT FOR ANYONE/SERVICE HAS BEEN… Read more »
On thanksgiving day, i am thankful for many things- including my family, friends and i wanted to give a little thanks to YELP and the YELP community!!!
Through yelp, no longer do i find myself doing the same boring thing everyday, not knowing where to go to eat and ordering the same meal over and over. I have found hundreds of new places i want to try and have found many new things i love to eat that i never knew existed- All here on yelp!!! It has changed the way i view food! No longer do i just gobble- i take a picture first! (haha!). i notice that the bf also eats differently now---even though he's not a yelper, i know that he "thinks" like one now as he takes a bite of his meal! i can see it in his eyes. :P
And the food lessons! I would have never have known that a macaroon was different from a macaron, that boars head meat is not boars head meat, and that there's a million ways to assemble a simple thing such as a burger or a cupcake!
more importantly,over the few months on here, i have made some wonderful friends on here!. it started with a few comments here and there and UFCs, and now i am on here all the time, reading new reviews and excited to see what people are saying about the new places i want to try. And getting feedback from what i thought about the places i tried is also wonderful and heartwarming that people actually take the time to read what i thought!!!
So Thank You to Yelp and all the wonderful Yelpers out there!
Have a happy happy thanksgiving!!!
Dear Yelp,
My review on "Hyatt on Union Square Fountain" was moved to under the business name, "Hyatt Regency" for some reason.
The fountain is located next to "Grand Hyatt" not "Hyatt Regency".
They are totally different and if you have the policy of "Real People. Real Reviews" you need to fix it since I did not write the review for "Hyatt Regency".
Please move it to "Grand Hyatt".
Thanks!
Manabu
Goodness such abuse on this site.
Oh well, controversy is well, appealing sometimes.
I just got a "fuck off" from a lady that lost her dog in the forum section and she refused to take any responsibility that in reality it was her fault that she lost her dog. I even apologized for being brutally honest in my kindness of heart and duh, no acceptance (well never). I was hoping to deliver the message that we must treat our dogs like human beings and attend to them at all costs otherwise, who knows what will happen to the dog. And in this case, her dog got stolen or who knows what gawd happened. But I hope the new owner is treating it like a human being at least.
Apparently, the owner of the dog emailed me, "if someone gets raped do you blame them too?"
Goodness, must we compare rape victims to a whining lady who left her dog outside on Market street for whatever amount of time and then she found it missing? Come on, this is not fourth grade here! Apparently it is like that and frankly I have no patience anymore for those silly nutshells.
This is really like highschool again kids, shall we ever go back again? Come on!!!!
Grow up people. Mature! I know it's far from going to happen. But it's so depressing to see such negativity one after another in the talk section. Caroline, you must avoid!
Yelp is a wonderful and genius-like idea that has revolutionized our lives and our communities.
The only thing is that we hope members can be mature adults about it but only on Mars would that happen.
So sad but so true.
I will continue yelping so I can portray my voice in the community and hope that someone is reached.
In any case, yelp, you make an effort to do a great job, and I think you mean well. So great job at least. I commend you for your efforts.
Do you deserve three stars maybe? Hmmmm, let me get back to you (soon).
I Love Yelp !!!
Just an awesome place! ALMOST perfect.
But why do you not let me give a place no stars? I want to know when my peers think a place deserved no stars.
Just because a place exists, they deserve a star? Why? It is misleading.
So, I penalize Yelp one star for not letting us give businesses no stars!
If you allow us to give nasty places no stars, I will give you a five star rating. Until then, you get only four stars.
How do you like them apples? ;)
(great site, I recommend you to everyone)
I still believe in what I wrote in my initial review, but some things have changed. Rather than just dwell on the negative I will explain the parts of Yelp that I think need improvement and what they could do to improve.
1.) Rules: So, I unknowingly violated TOS by posting threads about a contest that I was in. I was just asking for support. It was un Yelp related. I did not realize that this violated TOS. Well, I had been Elite for 3 years. I had a clean record. I was a great member of the site. They refused to give me my Elite status back because of this said unknowning TOS violation. Instead of just taking things away like that, I think that Yelp should review the record of the person in question, and how serious the infraction was. This was so small an issue that I was shocked. I think my 3 years of being a positive member of Yelp should have been considered. Couldn't they have given me a warning instead? After 3 years?!?! Rethink this Yelp; you are losing great members, send warnings when the infraction is as silly as this one was.
2.) HQ's response to issues: Before this Elite debacle, I had issues with some Yelpers that were bullying and saying vicious things about me. I reported it to Yelp HQ with facts to back it up. It took them 3 weeks to respond. When I finally got a response it was a template. They did not address my specific situation. I emailed back asking for a response about my specific situation and not just a template. That was weeks ago and I have yet to get a response. I know they get a lot of messages, but they really should respond to issues quickly and personalized. It made me feel like my serious concerns were not so serious to them. What I reported was violations of the TOS, so I do think that their response turn around time should be improved.
Just some small tweaks would make the Yelp experience better. I still love me some Yelp, but I am disappointed and saddened by the way some things are handled.
I will keep on Yelping though and show HQ that I will earn my Elite status back.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/4/2008
My 200th review? YELP!!!! Yelp, you saved my life. For realz. I moved to Boston in May 2006 from… Read more »
I'm really disappointed in Yelp. I learned today that they removed a post I wrote sharing some very negative experiences with a business. They left only the glowing, five-star reviews up and removed my one bad one-star review. Why? I couldn't understand why they would do this! My post was very appropriate and completely true to my experience. I didn't even use the "f-word". Then I noticed the business is a "yelp sponsor". Gee ... could that be why they deleted my negative (and who knows how many OTHER negative) posts? I had heard users don't get a true picture of what's really up with businesses because yelp is often managing and omitting posts. Honestly, I didn't believe it could be true - until it happened to me. BAD yelp!
So Yeah, I don't beleive for a minute that Yelp is legit! Funny my negative review & all the other negative reviews for a plastic surgeon Dr Aycock were removed! Hmmm isn't that funny! What a f-ing joke!
This will be my last yelp. I have seen several other negatives removed especiallly for a big business. Yeah, yelp sent me a nice note giving lame reasons my negative was removed. I asked questions and revieved a canned answer- answering none of my questions! The other negatives were removed 1 by 1. You can only see one of the negatives if you look at my compliments by Michael G. I guess since Dr Aycock has an ad on his yelp when you look to yelp him one can easily assume $$ talks and negative ads get removed!
For profit Whores! F-ing B.S. Fuck Yelp
Yelp is Bullshit!
"Casper" at Yelp HQ recently sent an email informing me that they had removed some of my reviews which had been flagged by the "community" for falling outside the review guidelines. Bullshit!
The "community" we're talking about here is a group of semi-anonymous, amateur critics on the internet. How noble, hide behind the virtual community. Bullshit!
Bullshit! The removal email mentioned "lack of first hand experience at the business". Bullshit! I had been to every business reviewed on multiple occasions. My reviews were clearly not outside of the review guidelines as they precisely represented my customer experience. They were not conflicts of interest, heresay, personal attacks, irrelevant, plagarism, or blank.
Bullshit! Oh, I almost forgot - the removal email also happened to link to four Yelp sites - FOR PROFIT whores. I no longer believe Yelp is an objective source of information.
Fuck Yelp! Fuck this "community"!
Bullshit!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/8/2007
First of all, I love Yelp. I would be inconceivably bored at work without it.
Here are my… Read more »
With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I figured what better way to honor the holiday then to write a review for something I'm thankful for....YELP! I yelp'd my first place on January 16th, and over the last year, I've written 96 reviews, gained a bunch of new friends, happily joined a group of amazing writers called "Yelp Elite," and learned that Yelping to song lyrics is kind of "my thing."
And rather than try to explain WHY I'm thankful for Yelp, I'll let the Black Eyed Peas guide me...my apologies to them for this little tribute to "I've Gotta Feelin"...
I gotta feeling that Yelp's gonna make it a good night
That a review is gonna help me eat right
Send me a brunch, lunch or dinner in-in-vite
Tonight's the night
Let's search a place
Write a review
Let's make a case
Go out and smash it
Or say Oh My God
5 stars for the store
That sells black cod!
Enough said....thanks Yelp community for helping me realize the value of community opinion, the comraderie associated with being a Yelper and the secret wish for ROTDs or mentions in the Weekly Yelp!
Back down to 2 stars after Got Junk is continually allwoed to write fake reviews and spam the site.http://www.yelp.com/bi... at least they are consistent and open a new account at least once a week. Real people real reviews? WTF has happened?
3 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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1/13/2009
It seems that Yelp has agreed to the fact that my Yelp business profile does not meet the… Read more »
Yelp's holiday party, Yelp Unwrapped!:
http://www.yelp.com/ev...
Nice rip off (the name and pretty much the logo) of Oakland Unwrapped!:
http://www.OaklandUnwr...
Oakland Unwrapped is a nonprofit and does amazing events and work to support indie businesses and artists in the East Bay. Yelp, on the other hand has a history of extorting small businesses. Nice one, Yelp.
* I'm tired of paragraphs.
* Bullet points are much easier.
* In general I like Yelp
* But there are problems
* Quite often it feels like people prefer cheap restaurants over expensive ones
* And the top San Francisco restaurants list has always been absurd
* I love Arizmendi Bakery and Rosamunde Sausage Grill as much as anyone.
* But neither and many others are the absolute best in this city.
* And don't get me started on Submarine Center
* There is no way a mediocre sub shop deserves such a lofty ranking
* Another case of sentimentality trumping reality.
* Maybe Yelp should split the category in 2; fine dining and casual dining
* Yeah- I like that idea.
*I also don't like that people aren't paid for their reviews
* Someday when Yelp goes public or is bought out, the people who work for Yelp will be quite well off.
*But those of us who did most of the work will get nothing
* I'm not sure about this crowdsourcing thing
* I also don't like the reviews that are more about the reviewer than the thing being reviewed.
* But I have found wonderful new things because of this place
* And the Yelpers I've met have been really nice
* And the handful of Yelp employees have also been cool
*So there you go.
I, too, drank the punch and became enamored of the Yelp show. After over a year and multiple reviews, I see the dark underbelly of what this site really is. Yelp arbitrarily, and without cause, will remove your reviews (positive and negative alike, though usually the negative ones more often than not)--even if they are all legitimate and non-offensive. I thought that Yelp was a community endeavor where everyday folk could voice their view. In truth, Yelp is a company which is built around trying to squeeze a profit by pulling the wool over the eyes of consumers via payoffs from negatively reviewed companies. Looks like it's back to word of mouth for me. Shame on you Yelp.
One star for helping me find talented tradesmen.
Minus two stars for empowering hipsters to write stupidass travelogues about their epic adventures of going to eat something and going to drink something. http://www.sfweekly.co...
Minus two stars for obviously harassing and degrading business owners in an attempt to make Yelp profitable: http://gpsobsessed.com...
Google -- please hurry and build a handy Yelp-killing app that is impartial and not another douchey money-grabbing startup.
When I first started on Yelp, I was really happy. There are so many new sites out there and every now and again one takes off. This was one and I could see why. It is easy to navigate, well designed, and purposeful. However my excitement quickly turned to disappointment when I realized that I was spending all this time reviewing and no one but me was seeing them. I would have never noticed if I wouldn't have asked my mom to go review a business we both used and she said she didn't see mine. At first I thought it was a fluke, then I logged in as my husband and lo and behold, non of my reviews were showing to the public. And none of HIS were showing!!
So I emailed support and I was told that it wasn't for violating any rules, it was due to the automated system choosing to hide my reviews. No reason, no criteria was listed for us to follow. Just natural selection. This TOTALLY defeats the purpose of social media and has discouraged me from reviewing anymore. The represnstitive asked for feedback and told him that we need the option to have a REAL person lift this ban or whatever it is. It never happened.
SO I don't even know why am writing this, it will probably never be seen but what the heck. I have already wasted hours and hours on this site, I figured I would give it one try. Maybe my last post will actually show.
TO THE FOLKS AT YELP. This system you have sucks. Eventually a new site will come out, one that doesn't censor peoples reviews or hide them needlessly and your site will disappear. It is too bad really, it could have been great.\
TO YELPERS. Use a friends account and check to see if your reviews are REALLY there. You will see them if you are logged in as yourself, but as someone else, you don't exist. How does it feel to be entertaining and reviewing for yourself?? Not so fun anymore is it?!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/30/2009
When I first started on Yelp, I was really happy. There are so many new sites out there and every… Read more »
Yelp!!!
WHY did you removed 3 NEW reviewes again from my Business??? This is legitimate reviewes, that was put there 4 day ago. WHY are you doing this.WHY??
Please STOP! This is soo annoying already!
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/30/2009
Yelp! Please!!!!!!!
WHY are you blocking my business page. I just got an e-mail from YOU that I got… Read more »
Yelp is a scam, end of story. It is common knowledge that they will add and remove reviews as they see fit. Lets see how long this review lasts!
Beyond the fact that Yelp is a scam is the fact that the rating system is a joke. 5 stars for a dive? There is no such thing as a 5 star dive, end of story. I'm sick of seeing cheap dives with good food that have the same ratings the same as some of the best restaurants on the planet.
The star system should be abolished and replaced with something simple that makes sense. How about a simple positive, negative or neutral?
I knew it would only be a matter of time before I got to 200!
I think the reason that I first joined was after my hairdresser told me about a website online that someone left him a bad review. In disbelief I had to see it for myself and leave review to show him some love.
I have since used it all the time as a resource for vacations, business trips, and also just to get to know my own city better. I then was introduced to the talk threads where the real crazy in people comes out, and also checked out the events pages to know what is going on from festivals to movies to concerts.
I have met a lot of great people by going to events listed and becoming Elite and also gotten to go to a lot of cool events, I can only hope it continues to get better!
In response to Kai who doesn't know what he is talking about http://www.yelp.com/bi...
--- Begin Kai's Comments ---
The point is: If you are legitimate, help Yelp to see this. Add friends, review more than a handful of places, put your real name, put real pictures of yourself, etc.
---End Kai's Comments ---
Helloooo............. What if I don't care to have a lot of friends on yelp? What if I just want yelp for yelp sake? What if someone doesn't want to put their picture up because they are private or just don't want to be recognized in some places they review?
Kai you are Yelp sycophant looking for Elite status in 2010.
Worship...
-Kult of the Piggy!
PS - Please read (and make useful,funny, cool) my review Hostile (the horror movie) like review of the worst most and most villain Asian Market ever @ http://www.yelp.com/bi...
PPS - Yelp has led me wrong a few times too. http://www.yelp.com/li...
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/17/2009
I never go anywhere anymore without yelping, but I do not like how reviews get yanked because people… Read more »
This review was written for "Denver Yelp" but has been moved to the generic Yelp/SanFran. It only applies to Denver since that's where I've done most of my sharing.
No matter how you come to be a "yelper", this version of the nationwide phenomenon will welcome you to their fold. There may be the errant "troll" lurking on the talk threads just as there are on any popular public forum but don't let that deter you from sharing whatever size slice of the pie that is your life with others. The risk is worth it to find people who appreciate what you have to offer as much as you reciprocate that feeling for all that they bring to the table. Led by the fresh and fun community manager Laura L, I would encourage you to take advantage of all that yelp has to offer including the badge of being "elite" that grants you the advantage of access to events that are sponsored and therefor FREE. Great people, great food, great drink, what else could you ask for?
Real People, Real Reviews, you sure about that?
I knew you guys controlled what reviews are actually visible to the public, had algorithms the manipulate default sort orders, capriciously enforce rules and select Elites, put people in Yelp time out for being bad on Talk and had various vendor controls in place, but deleting all of my spouse's reviews with no notice or reason provided goes beyond the pale.
The account had not fallen into prolonged disuse, there was a bunch of reviews spanning a couple of years with the most recent within the last month, no flags or warnings, zero reason made to just out of the blue decide to wipe it out. Then no response to inquiries about blanking out the account and expunging the reviews.
If that's the way you want to run things the tag line really needs to change to be accurate:
Artificially Manipulated Representations of People, Artificially Manipulated Reviews ...
Footnote - I began lurking on and using Yelp in 2005, and will likely continue to to some degree having committed so much time to reviews over the last several years (unless Yelp deletes my account of course), but I seriously have lost a lot of respect for it considering the account management and how misleading the represented ratings can be.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/7/2008
It is a sad day when a fun photo of Cleavon Little and Madeline Kahn as brilliantly immortalized in… Read more »
Yelp is run by the kids who were picked on in high school.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/11/2009
Before I signed up for yelp, I would search for places, and check the star ratings to get a rough… Read more »
(Writing this is the equivalent of Kramer's coffee table book on coffee tables.) Yelp works for some business with a high volume, such as restaurants and not well for other businesses, such as a private investigator agency like mine.
I have had to put up with one-star reviews from whack jobs who never even used my service because I thought they were creepy or weird or wanted something illegal. (The equivalent of giving a review to a restaurant where you thought about going into but never sat down to eat.) They would not let positive reviews stand from an actual customer who has used me two or three times. Why, because apparently he doesn't have enough reviews of worthless shit like "My dry-cleaner" or "My liposuction clinic."
Oh, and because of the nature of my business, people don't like to admit they have used a private investigator, I am not going to get a lot of reviews even when people are satisfied.
Yelp really needs to work on its fairness.
I like Yelp, and find it a very useful tool for determining new places that I would like to check out.
However, I can see that in small towns it might be less useful. If only 4 people are actively posting reviews, then you are left to their opinions, which you may or may not agree with. So the solution would be to post your own reviews, to get your opinion out there!
Obviously the idea is a good one, since offering recommendations, i.e., exchanging information, has thus far ratcheted human evolution, but I'm fairly convinced we can do a better job than this.
Please, Yelp, go after reviews written by reckless assholes, of places that, in some cases, aren't even the places --e.g.: some dude walked into the family-run bar *adjacent* to the Red Sea restaurant and proceeded gave the "Red Sea" two stars because the bartender didn't know how to make a Captain and Diet. He ends his review on this introspective note:
"Despite being drunk I felt completely out of place and awkward--it's gotta be pretty weird or I must have been more sober than I thought to be that self-aware."
AYFKM?
Another Red Sea reviewer said "the flat bread was the texture of baby flesh." Yeah, Gidget, it's called injera. It's tangy , it's smooth, it's porous. That's just what it is. Imagine if some foreign-born hill person came here and gave ice cream 2 stars because "The cold hurt my sinuses when i jammed in my nose." Thanks for the input. Be sure to write more.
Upshot: most of yelp is useless. Can't we have some button to click to get out of the HELP! I'M TALKING AND I CAN'T SHUT UP part and into actual responsible reviews? The answer is of course not, but i just wanted to put this out there. Also: go to the Red Sea. It's amazing.
Aw, shit.
Apparently my review of this little breakfast joint in East San Diego, in which I compared the hostess' mouth to a "clenched cat's butthole," almost got the poor girl fired. (To be fair her little rage-filled face seriously resembles a cat anus right after it's pinched off one of those foul smelling cat poops. Smelly, drippy little cat poops.)
BUT STILL.
While it pleases me that restaurant managers/owners take the public's opinion into account, and while I'm glad they care about their business' performance, quality, and service, I worry. Considering most of my reviews use over-the-top hyperbole and made-up words (hence: poops), I worry. I worry that peoples' jobs are at risk due to a public forum where we can really say whatever we want, truth or not.
And it doesn't help that many Yelp! users are seriously high-maintenance, snarky asswipes who have never worked in the service industry. I wish there was a reverse-yelp so we servers could be like
"To that whore that left me 10% because I apparently didn't refill her friggin' Diet Coke for the 90th time, I was watching out for your fat ass' insulin levels. Just cause it's diet doesn't mean it's good for you, and p.s, lay off the Dior Poison. It smells like chlamydia."
I love yelping, I love using yelp to help me choose where to grub and imbibe, and I love laughing at the best Yelpers reviews. But it's dangerous, and I hope we all use our power for good (bettering our local businesses) and not evil (whining and making hasty generalizations and being sorta douchy).
P.S. Hey Yelp users: PUNCTUATION IS YOUR FRIEND.
Hi Denise,
We're writing to let you know about our decision to remove your review of Laura J.. Your review was flagged by the Yelp community, and our Support team has determined that it falls outside our Review Guidelines (http://www.yelp.com/fa...) because it contains personal attacks. Upon your next violation of this review, your account will be removed.
We review every situation with detail and take the removal of reviews very seriously.
Regards,
Noelle
Yelp User Support
San Francisco, California
Excuse me but myself and others have been called racist, crazy and I've even been told to kill myself twice by fellow Yelpers. Have they been told their accounts will be deleted or have they been put on timeouts because of personal attacks they did to me and others? No! Hypocrisy? Could be!
Not sure why and don't have to time to research it but it seems that reviews, often the negative ones mysteriously disappear from some listings. I am not speaking of my own but of others. I guess Yelp staff "trolls" the reviews and removes reviews they may not like for some reason. Gave it 2 stars because I still use the site and many of the reviews are spot on. I think they need a more hands off approach on the reviews.
If you are looking for a good opinion about a restaurant try some other review source. Yelpers seem to no little to nothing about food quality and service. A typical Yelp restaurant reviews will discuss the great time they had walking there dog at some park the afternoon before the went out to eat and oh it was such a great time, blah blah blah, and that is why I'm giving restaurant such and such 4 stars. These reviewers are a burden to the yelp community.
Yelp, please clean up some of the poorly written reviews that have absolutely nothing to do with the place they are reviewing. How about instead of being able to tag a review as useful, funny or cooll, try adding the tag absolutely freak'n useless.
More recently noticed a lot of fake reviews. Either a person motivating other morons to write negative like the lynch mob for Ocean Avenue Books. Or after reading Matt Gonzalez - Gonzalez & Leigh LLP reviews, all the positive were from his political career and not his business. Even the San Francisco Public Library reviews were mostly written by staff giving themselves 4- stars.
When trying to flag them, Yelp would not to anything to them because they were Elite members. Even when another member became verbally threatening, Yelp did nothing.
So Yelp staff do have a lot of bias even when one member flags another members reviews. Notice how all the 5 star reviews are from Elite members.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/26/2009
Yelp and the Business of Extortion. Local business owners say Yelp offers to hide negative customer… Read more »
I am one of the many that had their reviews removed from business pages for seemingly no reason. Am I really that suspicious? Is it because I have no "friends" on Yelp? Is it because my lists are whichever generic ones come up when you sign up? Because I choose to spend my time doing things other than writing 10 reviews a week? I mean, I have a picture up, doesn't that make me legit?
This hurts, Yelp. I used to rely on you for finding any new restaurant, hair stylist, or dog groomer, but now the trust is lost. Hey, the more I think about it, the more your crazy algorithm is like our flawed capital punishment system. Who cares if a few innocents get thrown out as long as we're also probably getting rid of some bad guys?
Dear Yelp,
First of all, I want to clarify, you are my mecca. Forget MySpace and Facebook, they don't have anything on you!
Damnit! I heart Yelp and there's nothing you can say or do to change my mind. People like me here, so I believe. Yelp is more than writing reviews and praising good food. It's about building new friendships with people who have common interests while making excuses to get together. What fun!
Yelp encourages people to express their opinions about real world experiences they've had about all businesses. Business can sure use an avenue like Yelp as a tool to build upon certain things that need to be improved. I'd like to say I always keep an open mind when trying something new. I take existing reviews in consideration, but ultimately my experience is what counts when writing my long detailed reviews. What my interpretation of high expectations of food and service may be different for other people.
Without Yelp, I wouldn't have anywhere to rave and rant my feelings. My personal satisfaction comes from people who read my reviews, take time to comment, and tell me if the reviews were funny, cool, or useful. Yelp, where have you been all my life?
Yours Truly,
Hogan W.
