Anyone heard of this "Ahha Box"?

[MaxH]

Note, I'm not inquiring about this site's evident one or two attempts to post on eG -- what I saw was a not very informative invitation saying little at all about the site, its concept, who is behind it, etc.

But as an avid follower of restaurant commentary sites online (and their history), before looking into this one further, I wonder if any eG regular or other third party knows more (like the points I mentioned, since the poster from "ahha box" did not evidently offer such basic info). Quick Google check discloses pitches posted in various US food-related fora online; also one automated report mentioning that the domain name itself became vacant less than a month ago (which may be irrelevant). For now I'm assuming it's a legitimate restaurant-info site, though when anyone enters such a long-standing and crowded field, it is very natural to explain yourself further, what differentiates your approach, etc.

[ahha Box]

Max,

thanks for the question, we are a review site from restaurants and travel and are just getting started, We started the site after have a hard time finding and being about to compare listings we liked. One thing that we are working on is our Compare button on each listing, which places that listing on hold on the bottom and allows to to then revisit and compare listings side by side. We are also working on and hope to have running a full social network for registered members, to communicate, save listings they like, and share it with others.

While the field for review sites is crowed, we are enjoying working on this project and want to make a place where users and restaurant owners have a free of charge place to get listed and share their experience.

Started in early 2012 Ahha Box's online community of foodies who find and share information on restaurants and their experiences is starting to grow. With a database of more than 100,000 restaurants thousands of new listings every day.

Once again thanks for asking about us, I have enjoyed your post and have added our About Us page as a result and hope to hear any other suggestion as we go forward on the site. We are hoping that experts in the restaurant community such as yourself will help guide us to creating a a better mousetrap. Would love to have you or other members write reviews and let us know what they like and what we can do better.

Bill,

Ahha Box Webmaster

[MaxH]

Thanks for the comments, Bill. As you may know if you have spent some time reading this particular eGullet forum, the subject of online restaurant ratings and commentaries has long history here, including a recent detailed discussion of strengths and weaknesses.

While the field for review sites is crowed, we are enjoying working on this project and want to make a place where users and restaurant owners have a free of charge place to get listed and share their experience.

As a user of such sites I remain curious about how, specifically, you differentiate yours from others, very well established, that invite restaurant listings and ratings. For example the metropolitan US Restaurant Guides sites (middle-late 1990s), Chowhound (since late 1990s), and Yelp (since 2006) all also fit the description quoted above, with some degree of social-network features as well.

[Edited to empahasize link.]

Edited April 18, 2012 by MaxH (log)

[ahha Box]

Max, Thanks for the link, Right now we are still working on getting all of the US into the database and working out any kinks related to listings, searching and reviews. Shortly though the Users back-end will be expanded to allow registered users more control of their experience. We want this site to allow users to compare and save listing and reviews they like, have their own notes and comments, share their experiences with friends on site. Basically have a place to track their own experiences. I am also working on including more information at the owner and editor levels. So users can advance search more specific places to try, such as only places with waterfronts, outside seating and non smoking. The problem with adding to many criteria though is big databases are slow, but too much information overwhelms users. SO i am trying to work out the right level or information to track and how to display it.

Bill