food4thought

So, how about sending the restaurant owner a private message, stating that you'd like to give her an opportunity to present her opinion, but that you think her response letters are too antagonistic in tone? Or there are some other possible options. I recommend researching the paths that Yelp has taken in addressing business owners who feel that they've been wronged by the sort of relatively anonymous reviews that appear on sites like yours. I do not recommend offering to remove negative reviews in exchange for advertising revenue, as Yelp has been accused of doing, but looking into some of the controversies and responses they've experienced is a good place to start. This forum, while it does provide helpful information about lots of topics, is probably not the best place to get advice on this sort of thing. I read the Yelp article and actually talked to a business owner (non-food related) Peters Audio Stereo in San Franciso who told me Yelp has Blacklisted his business for failing to advertise on with them. The store had no negative reviews, all were positive what they did was remove Peters Audio Stereo from their search feature. Your question about not posting the review on our site is simple the owner attempted to submit the writings as a "restaurant review" including giving it a rating of 5 smiley faces in an attempt to munipulate the ratings which is a violation of our posting policy and currently we do not allow business owners the ability to post comments but we are considering that options for members. Unlike Yelp we don't allow business owners the ability to buy advertising we feel it would create a conflict like what we are seeing over at Yelp! Again thank you so very much for your insite, you have some very valid points.

Actually, I was trying to figure out a way to respond to the restaurant owner and was at a lost for words, we receive tons of reviews over the last 10 years but this was the first review to leave me speechless (and that's saying a lot) I needed to put it in front of some experts or foodies to get some honest feedback .....There really is nothing sinister in this post I just needed some insite, but to get the insite I felt I needed to tell the whole story...... For the record whenever someone submits a review and rates their business with smiley faces their submission gives we8there.com full ownership of the review therefore giving we8there.com implied permission to republish the content as we feel the need. I don't know either one of the individuals and we have not and will not post the owners review because it violates our posting policy but I feel the need to respond....... Thank you for asking I hope I answered your question(s)

Direct review response I am writing in response to Margaret Gleason's review of this restaurant. Margaret's history of restaurant reviews indicate that this person likes buffets and likes LARGE amounts of food! She eats chicken wings and bacon and complains when there isn't enough food. This restaurant is a healthy place with generous portions but overweight, unhealthy individuals would NEVER find what we do pleasurable because they are accustomed to eating grease, meat, toxic waste and sugar! Our restaurant has only in-house made PURE and organic food that is prepared fresh to order! Margaret unfortunately seems to think that every restaurant should be a fast food restaurant and she even had the nerve to make a comment about the St Pete Times food critic, Laura Reilly, who has exemplary credentials and experience! Not to mention that Laura Reilly has laid waste to some 5-star restaurants but she has given us a rave review! In fact, her review is what prompted Ms. Gleason to come to our restaurant. Our average guest's check is $18-20. This is not cheap but it is also not expensive or over-priced as Ms Gleason eludes. Our menu is excellent, the food is phenomenal and we are so busy that reservations are suggested. I would not trust any review by this person as she does not have a clear idea of what healthy eating is, prefers to gouge herself on buffets with bacon, cheese and fried foods, and generally doesn't seem to have anything nice to say about any restaurant that serves food for more than $7/per person! Please don't just take my word for it, look at her reviews of other restauarants and you will see what I mean! Please check out Leafy Greens Cafe at our new St Petersburg location and enjoy REAL food at good prices and excellent service and great company! Don't be surprised if the other guests start to chat with you when you are here - this is an experience of friendship and community-- everyone has a great time! Our customers generally come to our restaurant several times per week because our food is so delicious and so hard to make that the average person would rather visit us than attempt to duplicate what we do! We actually offer anyone our recipes if they want too - we are in the business of introducing people to wellness - not just feeding people. Our food and our philosophy has changed people's lives! Email sent to we8there.com offices First, I want to say that I think it’s rude and unfair to allow someone to inadvertently place derogatory information about a company on your website and you don’t notify the person or allow the company to respond to their complaints. Of course I don’t quite understand why someone who obviously isn’t a vegan would step into a restaurant the weekend following a stellar review by the main news tabloid’s top food critic to slander a restaurant that was packed with people! The person who wrote the review of our restaurant failed to mention that all of the food prepared at our restaurant was raw and made in-house and they obviously have no idea about the time-intensiveness of what we do. They also felt the portions were small indicating that they know absolutely nothing about raw food as our portions are twice as large as the only other raw food restaurant in the area and our prices are equal to theirs! When someone orders gazpacho and the portion is 2 full cups and they complain, it seems to me that the complaint is coming from someone who is not conscious of portioning and has no idea what they are talking about! We give a generous helping of our soups. Our $14 ‘sandwich’ is prepared on a bread that takes 24 hours to prepare, literally and the portion is so large that most people only order a half portion. This person who complained obviously has a huge appetite and hasn’t been eating well for a long time – or their body would not crave more and MORE! Also, don’t you find it interesting that they were complaining that the food was “marginal” and then continued by saying that the portions were too small? Sounds pretty ridiculous to me! Our food is EXCELLENT and we have been reviewed by 6 critics all of whom raved about it! Also, EVERYTHING is organic and prepared from scratch, one dish at a time – not even our lettuce is pre-cut and we have never even called SYSCO once! We have only fresh food at the restaurant and I object to a person being able to slander a company with no founded basis and then your company conscientiously submits your website to the search engines and damages the company’s reputation! I would appreciate it if you would remove this review from our listing. You are welcome to go to our website and read the review that got this particular person to come into our restaurant in the first place. I appreciate your website and hope you will help us to grow our company. Our restaurant was only open for 6 weeks when this person decided to be a food critic with no basis! Our company is very well respected and we are in great standing with the vegan community despite her review! Be well, Denise Becknell Owner Leafy Greens Café To read the actual review that prompted this response go to http://www.we8there.com/rest_detail.php?busid=9423

Sitting in a restaurant off the Mendocino Coast and being ignored by the wait staff for what felt like an eternity is how We8there.com was conceived. The year was 1999 somewhere around breakfast time; Carmen Jones and I were sitting in the Sandpiper Restaurant in Gualala, California. We became angry because we could see the server and she could see us, but for somewhere around 10 to 15 minutes, she just walked right past us and never bothered to ask if we wanted a glass of spit or anything. Believe it or not We8there.com has been online without interruption since September 1999, for the past ten years we have watched websites come and go. Of course as soon as we come up with an idea to put on the web, the dot.com bubble bursts, go figure! Most of the companies we were partnered up with were closing their doors faster than you can say IPO. Everyone was saying, “wow, we8there.com is incredible,” “you’re going to make millions,” “I wish I had thought of that”, the funny thing was that almost everyone except we8there.com was making millions! Every person with something to sell was calling our home office phone trying to sell us something …”Get better rankings”, “build up your trust score”, “Let us host your account for only a bazillion dollars a month”, at first I bought into some of those pitches until I discovered nothing changed, I still had the same ranking and was losing money. Some of the best talent in the web business came on board to help move we8there.com forward including, Jean-Louis Brunet, who designed our incredible infrastructure; the man is quite simply, a genius! You see, I don’t now squat about designing or creating a website, I simply like to create ideas and try to see them to fruition. I am delighted to see them become something more than just an idea. Jean-Louis used his creative genius to make the site safe and fun for the whole family. Jean-Louis introduced me to Connie Seidel, of Seidel and Associates, Connie created the user interface that you see today and he is as well, another extremely talented web designer. Carmen Jones, who co-founded we8there, is a gifted Vice President, who is a virtual wellspring employment and human resource law. Lionel Mosley, our very brilliant CFO, is a 30-year IBM professional who tries to keep me from tossing any money we make down the drain. We have invested a lot of time and energy in an effort to make We8there.com a household name and after 10 years you would think its time to give up. But we will not!!! We8there.com has a unique niche and a following, when I see we8there.com family members like Ryan Johnson, who has posted more than 530 reviews or Loris F., who is getting close to 100 reviews and all the other new and faithful reviewers, I have to continue to try to make this site as successful as it can be…To all those venture capital firms who log on to we8there.com, (I know that you do, because I read them in our referral logs), take a second or third look. We are happy to forward a business plan, if you are interested. We8there.com is not a flash in the pan website, we here to stay. It’s because of our faithful users, that we have remained a strong presence. We8there is here for the people and I hope in 10 more years that I can write another Stanley’s Corner and have tons, upon tons of good news… In my bedroom, there is a news article hanging on my wall that says. “Turner Broadcasting acquires We8there Communications for 50 million dollars”, I created that article, so I could have some motivation, something to dream about..Little old “me”, Stanley Roberts, from Camden New Jersey wanting a dream to come true …

Oh god how I miss Scrapple!! I was back in Philly two years ago and had some at the Oregon Diner, I was in hog heaven (no pun intended) If someone were to send me some Scrapple overnight I would send them a cool We8there.com embroidered tee shirt Black or Gray large or extra large!! Please please......don't make me beg!!!

Black Cherry Wishnick is my choice hard to find but great to drink!!!

Being a born and raised Philadelphian I will only eat a true Philly Cheesteak from Jims on South Street, or Geno's in South Philly (I was not impressed with Pats which is across the street from Genos....) Simply because anything else would be a dissapointment and trust me I have been disappointed way too many times to spend 100 dollars on a fake philly Cheeseteak.

I like foodbloggers

On the advice of local television reporter Vic Lee, I made reservations at the Habana Yacht Club located next to the San Carlos Airport several miles south of San Francisco International Airport. I have driven past this restaurant hundreds of times since it opened in November of 2003 but never noticed the sign on highway 101 so I never had the privilege of dining there. If there ever were a restaurant, I would proudly make part of my monthly dining experience, Habana Yacht Club would be it! Our dinner was a pleasant experience from beginning to end. The price for the entrees was perfect and the service was way beyond my expectations! Descent size portions and a management team who is constantly checking to make sure you are completely satisfied. I asked the General Manager what make's Habana Yacht Club a great restaurant. His answer was " It's not to loud were you can't carry on a casual conversation...It's not to stuffy either in fact Habana Yacht Club is a place where you can laugh out loud and not feel uncomfortable doing so." There is more than ample parking, so you will not feel frustrated trying to find a parking space as you would in San Francisco and only a five-minute drive from San Francisco Airport, if you didn't already figure out that SFO Airport hotels are nowhere near San Francisco. Habana Yacht Club in San Carlos is a must do, really! If you are a fan of Ernest Hemmingway then you have to check out the decor it almost feels like a Hemmingway shrine. Although we are forbidden to visit Cuba, the Yacht Club has brought Cuba to us with a twist of South America for added flair. My favorite was the sugar cane skewers. I just love this place, can’t wait to go back!

I managed to get a few cans of the soon to be released, “Coke 2”, with a silver and black “C2” posted above the Classic Coca-Cola label, printed vertically on the opposites ends of the Carmine red colored can in small text is printed, “ Lower Sugar Cola”, this new brand of Coca-Cola has 18 milligrams of sugar and an equal amount of Carbs. I had heard rumors about this new drink hitting the markets along with the soon to be released low sugar, low carb version from Coke's arch rival Pepsi. I was under the impression that the C2 would be sweetened 100% by a product with the product that bears the brand name of Splenda. Splenda, or its technical name Sucralose is safe for persons on a restricted sugar diet and diabetics. What C2 contains is a combination of Aspartame and Sucralose. At first I found the taste to be rather jarring, like drinking from a fountain drink with just a little more syrup than you would get from a canned soda. Was there an aftertaste following the sampling of the new C2? Simply put yes, but not the harsh Aspartame aftertaste you would get from diet sodas. Coke 2 does have half the calories and half sugar of regular Coke, so the by adding the Aspartame and the Sucralose you still get the full Coke flavor without the feeling that you are drinking a diet soda. I would probably buy Coke 2 again, and I am interested in trying the Pepsi Edge as a comparision. While reading the can I found the following: “Phenyletonurics: Contains Phenylanine“, which is also listed as an ingredient of Diet Coke, so I was curious as to what this meant, so I Googled the terms and found this web-page so I thought I woulds share it with you:.....To read more on this article go to http://www.we8there.com/stanley.php

Four year of college, four years of college! and all I have to show is this bowl of tuna fish! I should have slept with Clinton I could be a star by now!!

Four year of college, four years of college! and all I have to show is this bowl of tuna fish! I should have slept with Clinton I could be a star by now!!

Ok here is a must do while in San Francisco there is a restaurant called Thang Long it is a Vietnamese restaurant that had a dish called Roasted Crab order that with the Garlic noodle you will fall in love the award winning menu, Thanh Long. Hordes of people travel out to the end of the Avenues to enjoy top-notch Vietnamese-fusion cuisine for reasonable prices, so make your reservations early. This restaurant is run by the same family who own Crustacean (L.A. and S.F.) and features the same delectable menu. with larger portions! It's aroung the price you quoted. I expect a full report when you finish Address: 4101 Judah St (at the corner of 47th Avenue) San Francisco, CA 94122 Phone: 415 665 1146

you sound like that's a bad thing!!!

we both published article's for and against cell phones in restaurants.... so I would guess that after a document search both opinions appeared. the rest is history?