Choosing a restaurant in Lynchburg

Recently there was a reshuffling of restaurant rankings in Lynchburg. When I looked more closely at rankings, suddenly a number of previously highly rated restaurants had a 1 star ranking without an accompanying review (All of the written reviews were glowing). One of the now highly rated restaurants (which had a legitimate 1 star with a review) was the only one which did not have a poor rating without an accompanying review. This looks like a shameless attempt of an owner trying to rig the ratings. So, when choosing a restaurant in L%26#39;burg, I would recommend actually reading through the reviews rather than just looking at the rating.

BTW, I do not own or have any financial interest in any Lynchburg restaurants...I only want visitors to sample the best of what this town has to offer. Rigging the reviews doesn%26#39;t allow that to happen.

Choosing a restaurant in Lynchburg

I%26#39;m sorry, I%26#39;m getting lost in the text. I enjoy several Lynchburg restaurants. I also have a problem understanding TA%26#39;s ratings.

Can you repost for someone like me who gets tangled in sort of double negatives and understandable difficulties when not naming names.

I daresay one can name restauratns already printed on TA%26#39;s restaurant ratings.

I do get that you don%26#39;t agree with the reshuffling and new ratings. I don%26#39;t either.

Choosing a restaurant in Lynchburg

Sorry. I will try to be more clear in my explanation...

I noticed recently that there was a significant shuffling of the restaurant rankings and wondered why that was. If you click on most of the formerly high ranking restaurants (Dish, Blue Marlin, Magnolia Foods for example), you will notice that someone has given each of them a one out of five rating, but there is no accompanying review. It looks suspiciously like someone who did not like the rankings went through and gave all of these highly rated restaurants a one out of five ranking without any feedback about why such a low score. Also, all of these poor ratings seemed to appear at the same time. I personally don%26#39;t think TA should accept such a low numerical ranking without a written review to support it.

I think I see what you%26#39;re talking about. There%26#39;s that rating sort of bar at the top of each hotel%26#39;s page of reviews. There are indeed the reviews described as poor...yet no such review written.

I also noticed there seems to be a different number of reviews listed according to that bar than there are actual reviews written.

So I tried to just rate and click submit. But it didn%26#39;t work. TA wanted a review, name, etc. So I don%26#39;t know how there are more reviews for the bar system than there are in writing.

For example, Hot and Cold Cafe, the first one, has ';6 Ratings';, 5 seem to be excellent and 1 poor. Yet at the top and the bottom of all the reviews it says ';Reviews of Hot and Cold Cafe (1-4 of 4)';

Exactly. Sorry I didn%26#39;t explain it well the first time. I don%26#39;t understand where those additional ratings without reviews come from. Did someone actually submit these ratings or is this TA%26#39;s way of weighting if a restaurant only has a few reviews? I don%26#39;t get it. If this is explained somewhere on the website, I haven%26#39;t found it. What I was really unhappy about is that they seemed to appear at around the same time and significantly affected the order of the restaurants.

I completely respect that others may not enjoy the same restaurants that I do and would encourage everyone to voice their opinions, but think any numerical rating should be accompanied by a review. In the meantime, I hope that people looking for restaurants take the time to scroll through the list and read the written reviews. There are now some excellent restaurants with glowing reviews hidden much further down on the list than they should be.

Hotels and b%26amp;bs are just as confusing. I%26#39;ve had friends in those businesses in other states, other areas, even ask TA how they figured out their rating system and it came down to it being some sort of complicated computerized system that even the people corresponding from TA didn%26#39;t fully understand. But if you%26#39;re interested, there has to be someone who does and some business owner jor consumer who isn%26#39;t easily brushed off.

Of course, as you know, for those written reviews %26#39;excellent%26#39; is a matter of personal opinion. Perhaps the reveiwer is in the fast food mode or what%26#39;s cheapest for the large family to eat out or the area has a lot of college students whatever. So some places to eat that others might pass over are %26#39;excellent%26#39; to them.

Same thing with accommodations.

I do like that TA has been putting beside every reviewer%26#39;s name the number of contributions that reviewer has made so that one has a better idea of whether the reviewer is a plant or not. I do wish there were an option for the reviewer to click about the reviewer%26#39;s situation, such as ';family 2 kids'; ';larger family'; ';frugal college student';....fun, non-invasive kind of tags so readers could ascertain the reviewer%26#39;s perspective on the restaurant. (I do know there%26#39;s the brief description of the restaurant below its name.)

For example, I like Depot Grill in Lynchburg. We used to really like the one that closed...Meriwether%26#39;s. We also really like the burgers and fries at Ward%26#39;s Road...something or other Guys. Three Guys? Five Guys? We also think the salads are better than other McDonald%26#39;s we%26#39;ve eaten at at the McDonald%26#39;s there near the Target and Petsmart. But I wouldn%26#39;t think they should all be rated in the same category.

While we%26#39;re on it....Mexican...we ate a while ago at Mi Patron%26#39;s on the way to Bedford. I think we were still in Forest. It%26#39;s in a little shopping plaza. We enjoyed it. Have you eaten there and what are your thoughts on it?

I haven%26#39;t tried that Mexican restaurant, though will keep it in mind. Since La Plaza Allegre and Los Chipotles closed, I don%26#39;t think there is good Mexican in L%26#39;burg. ( I recognize that I am in the minority in not loving La Carreta).

This week I plan to try Mangia, which just opened in the spot on Rivermont where Shads (then Vines) used to be. It%26#39;s Italian and owned by the same chef that owns Dish (which I love). I would like to see something succeed in that spot.

I agree with you that there should be different categories of restaurants and that it is useful when reviews include circumstances like ';On a budget';, ';in a hurry';, ';great with kids'; etc.

And finally Explorer3, I have seen a number of your posts on this site and always appreciate them. They seem really fair and honest, and also very positive about Lynchburg. We really love the quality of life here, and it%26#39;s nice to read reviews by someone else who appreciates the Burg.

So Shad%26#39;s is something new. We knew it before it was Shad%26#39;s. We enjoyed the room on the left with the tall windows but especially liked eating outside on nice days. We went years ago several times with friends in that area. At the time it was said...they say...that if you sat just a little while outside at Trotter%26#39;s you%26#39;d see several people you knew pass by. We were there after hearing that and, sure enough, our friends saw friends in many cars that passed and several people they knew walking dogs, children or just strolling themselves. It was a great little spot. It%26#39;s historic too. There was a woman in her 80s or older who said she went there when she attended Randolph Macon (well, Randolph now) and the place was called something the young ladies shortened to ';The Drug';. They%26#39;d go to the Drug for a soda. When you started at college you%26#39;d start a bill and pay every so often. (I can%26#39;t recall if she said it was sent home to daddy or if daddy sent the money for her to pay...but daddy was involved.)

La Carreta. I know there%26#39;s a new one at the Wards Road shopping area but haven%26#39;t eaten there. We did stop a few years ago at the one on...can%26#39;t remember if it%26#39;s Old Forest or Lakeside Dr? The taco filling was sort of a meat paste. Perhaps it%26#39;s different now or perhaps one restaurant makes it differently than the other. While we haven%26#39;t yet been to Mexico, we%26#39;ve had Mexican in southern Texas and it was so good. We kind of gave up on red meat at northern Mexican places so we only tried the chicken dishes at Mi Patron and liked them very much. The staff was very nice too. It%26#39;s clean, professionally furnished. We even like the flat screen on the wall with Mexican tv on.

Mountaincachers, thanks for your compliment and for your good sound info.

Hi, Thought I would let you know that we ate at Mangia last night. I would HIGHLY recommend it. Nice selection of salads and appetizers in addition to pasta. There were also some non pasta entrees such as soft shell crab, quail, and veal. We wound up splitting a bunch of appetizers and then sharing an entree (one of the specials) just so we could try more things on the menu. The pasta is also available in half serving sizes too, which I wish more restaurants would do.

Thanks so much.

Just a thought...have you written an inside page on Lynchburg%26#39;s restaurants?

I haven%26#39;t written an inside page...not even sure how I would do that.