Why Restaurantor Exists
Making a choice on a restaurant is harder than you might think.
Search results include lots of ratings, short reviews, sponsored content, outdated suggestions, social media buzz, and lists with similar suggestions. A high rating is usually a convincing argument, but it does not explain if an establishment is a perfect option for a family dinner, a date spot, a business meeting, a quick breakfast, a celebration, or just a weekend visit.
Restaurantor was developed to make this task easier.
Our site includes information from local investigations, recent customers’ experiences, information about the menu, pricing expectations, service trends, atmosphere, location, and overall community sentiments. Instead of taking one rating as an ultimate argument, we try to identify the general tendencies.
This allows us to give an answer to a more relevant question:
Why might this place be a good choice for you?
What We Do Differently
This is why we believe that a helpful restaurant guide must provide some context.
It could happen that a restaurant is great, yet not suitable for your special occasion. An innovative concept must get its due recognition, yet popularity doesnât equal excellence. At the same time, a small local restaurant that has fewer reviews than some other places could become a perfect find.
Our contributors consider all the factors.
Depending on a guide, these may include the following:
- The recent comments of the clients and repeated review trends
- Focus and variety of the menu, as well as the prices
- Service and hospitality
- Atmosphere and dining experience
- Reputation in the neighborhood
- Sustainability over time
- Accessibility and visitation information
- Dietary options when it is appropriate
- Context in terms of the neighborhood and location
- Suitability for different kinds of occasions
- Personal observation if there is any
We donât pretend to have any personal experience where it wasnât possible. The editorial research will be treated accordingly, while personal experience will always be marked separately from the public knowledge.
This makes the difference for us.
How Our Research Process Works
There is no one score by which a location is decided upon for inclusion into any one of our guides.
Starting from the city, neighborhood, cuisine, or dining occasion that we hope to cover, we then look for promising candidates, which we assess through several sources instead of one.
We examine what is often celebrated in repeated reviews, but we are equally keen to note complaints that occur in a consistent pattern. We verify if current experiences coincide with past experiences. We also gauge if prices reflect what the visitors receive and if the business lives up to its own standards.
Context is important too.
The dining room at a destination hotel is not judged in the same manner as a restaurant meant for lunching. A classic diner and an expensive tasting menu experience do not fulfill the same need; therefore, our reviewers take into account who the intended guest is for a particular place.
The goal is not to create the same guide every time. The goal is to create a useful guide.
Built Around Regional Knowledge
The coverage of Restaurantor in the United States is split between regional writers so that nobody tries to comprehend everything about every region simultaneously.
Food culture differs rapidly from one state to another. Barbeque culture varies from region to region. The food culture of the coastal city is different from the food culture of the mountain town. A food culture that emerges from tourism is entirely different from the food culture dominated by the locals.
That is the reason for geographical division among our team members.
Each member has his own geographic and demographic focus on a defined set of states where he gains knowledge about the cities, preferences, speciality foods, and practical differences of the region.
Meet the Restaurantor Team
Some of our contributors write using professional pen names to protect their identities. Geographical obligations and thematic expertise of each member are defined.
| Team Member | Role / Focus | Primary Coverage |
| Mian Noor Shah | Founder, developer, editorial direction, platform strategy | Overall U.S. coverage and future global expansion |
| Liana Westcott | Fine dining, Asian cuisines, Mexican food, seafood, vegan and trend-driven concepts | California, Hawaii |
| Maren Hollis | Urban dining, international cuisine, cafés, bakeries, emerging concepts | New York, New Jersey, Vermont |
Who Founded Restaurantor?
Restaurantor was developed by Mian Noor Shah, who is a software engineer and web developer with an extensive background in developing digital products and an immense interest in discovering food-related things and researching local businesses.
The development of this platform was based on a vision that would integrate editorial content into a structured technical system that can expand city-by-city.
Mian is responsible for the development of Restaurantor.com, the development of editorial content on the platform, the organization of regional content, and the development of its information architecture.
Mianâs responsibilities include the fusion of software engineering, publishing, search, local discovery, and food research.
Our Editorial Principles
Trust is earned.
Here are some of the guidelines we try to keep in mind when publishing anything:
Always make it clear what you are recommending and on what basis.
Research, public opinion, and personal experience are all different things.
Seek patterns, not anomalies.
A positive or negative single review is often not the whole story.
Consider the purpose of the reader.
Different searches are made by people looking for brunches, gourmet restaurants, family restaurants, late-night snacks, romantic meals, and restaurants near hotels, respectively.
Keep information relevant.
Location, cost, accessibility, type of service, atmosphere, and menu may be as important as popularity.
Update when necessary.
Concepts, menus, service, price, and ownership of a restaurant may all change with time.
How We Think About Reviews
Feedback from the web can provide a lot of valuable data but requires proper analysis.
We do not believe that all opinions are equal and that it is enough to take an average star rating into account.
We focus our attention on common patterns.
If people are repeatedly mentioning good service, large servings, a specialty dish, poor parking options, long queues, or inconsistencies in the offered food quality, it might give more information than just a rating.
The time factor is also taken into account.
A restaurant that was great several years ago might have changed significantly by now.
Local Guides, Not Generic Lists
Restaurantor is designed around geographic discovery.
Contributors develop and maintain content related to states, cities, neighborhoods, types of cuisine, and specific eating needs. Thus, readers will get information that is closer to their actual decision-making point.
Instead of just ranking restaurants, we try to explain why one should consider a certain place.
Instead of just listing the best places out there, we try to give reasons for such recommendations.
Starting in the United States, Expanding Worldwide
The US will be the initial and the most important phase of our expansion.
Our current setup is designed to serve all the fifty states via regional contributors who know the market they represent.
However, the ultimate vision is even bigger.
With the growth of our network, we will be able to recruit additional contributors and operate in Canada, Mexico, Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Africa, and many other regions.
The local approach will stay the same.
It means that new regions should be represented by individuals who know the cultural, geographical, culinary, and other specifics of the region.
What Readers Can Expect From Restaurantor
In case you come to Restaurantor, our aim is to provide you with enough information to make your choice confidently.
This could be anything from finding a local hidden gem, comparing several restaurants for dinner, choosing a restaurant according to the occasion, or even finding the reasons why some of the businesses stand out among others.
We do not believe that there is a single restaurant that would suit everyone.
On the contrary, our task is to help you find the restaurant that suits you according to your location, budget, and occasion.