So, one of my top commenter-givers, Sharpshooter, has given me permission to borrow her scale of restaurant ratings. I’ve not been so terribly accurate on these things before, but I’m taking her scale and adding to it whatever I think is necessary. Here we go!
The major points of the scale will be:
Food and Drink Quality
Cleanliness
Service
Cost vs. Product
and my own special additions,
Atmosphere
Vegetarian and Modified Diet Friendliness
The scores will then be combined to form an overall score.
I plan to do the scale on a 5 Smiley Faces scale including half Smiley Faces. So that means technically it’s a 10 point scale condensed into half points, ha!
An explanation of each item:
Food and Drink Quality. Well, this is self-explanatory; is the food and drink good or not? Is it good but with room for improvement? What can be improved?
Cleanliness. Is the restaurant clean? How about the bathrooms? The cleanliness of a business’s bathrooms often indicate how clean the rest of the establishment is, so a quick visit even to freshen up or wash your hands is worth it.
Service. Are the servers polite? Are they making an effort to please? Are they obviously stressed but still trying their best to keep you as the patron happy?
Cost vs. Product. Is the food appropriately priced? Do you get what you pay for? Do you get more than you bargain for, or do you get ripped off by paying a steeper price than you should have?
Atmosphere: What is the decor like? Is the establishment tastefully decorated? Is the decoration thematic for the type of food being eaten (Asian, Mexican, Italian, and so on)? Is the lighting appropriate to the type of restaurant? Is the music too loud, too soft, or inappropriate? Do the people eating at the restaurant seem to be enjoying themselves, the atmosphere, and do the servers and patrons seem to be getting along well and having fun with the dining experience, or is strictly a “business-only” type attitude?
Vegetarian and Modified Diet Friendliness. Does the restaurant offer vegetarian-friendly dishes? Does the restaurant offer low-calorie and heart healthy choices? Are there gluten-free options? Are there options to substitute a lower calorie food in place of a higher calorie food?
The lowest possible score in this scale is actually a Frowning Face, which is technically the absence of any Smiley Faces.
But you can bet that if I give a restaurant a Frowning Face, I’ve probably been bailed out of jail after having set fire to the place. If a restaurant is truly so awful that they can’t even score half a Smiley Face, then they should probably be put out of their misery.
So, let’s apply the New Scale to Applebee’s, shall we?
Food and Drink Quality: Not especially great but better than eating at Friday’s. 3.5 Smiles.
Cleanliness: Very clean, actually, surprisingly enough. The bathrooms were very nice. 5 Smiles.
Service: Oh, boy, this is where they lose a lot! I’ll give them the credit that they were busy, so the service was 2 Smiles.
Cost vs. Product: Like most restaurants, I feel that the food is generally overpriced for its quality. In this regard, though, they aren’t different from many restaurants, and I really did like the lime on the Potato Twisters. 3 Smiles.
Atmosphere: This is where Applebee’s Shined; the lights were great, the karaoke was great, everyone seemed almost like one big, happy family singing along. 5 Smiles.
Vegetarian/Modified Diet Friendliness: Well, there were a few things a pesco-vegetarian such as myself could have eaten, but to be fair, not many people in this area are into the whole vegetarian thing, so I can’t judge Applebee’s too harshly for this. I’ll give them 2.5 Smiles.
This brings us to an Overall Score of…
3.5 Smiley Faces!
All right, Applebee’s, the fact that your atmosphere was nice really saved you here.
Now, everyone, get your nosh on!
Beaux
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