A short Twitter conversation started turning the gears a little for me here. Plus, I start to think about big picture items and how/what I am going to change when the sun goes down on 12/31 and a New Year starts. With great enthusiasm and hope that even though 2009 was awesome, that 2010 could be….awesomer.
This site started because I thought that I had something to say that is a little different than others (read: different, not saying better). At first, no one read it and now the amount of people and comments they make still surprises me. I can’t thank everyone enough for being part of this “community.”
We get to see where people click on our site and the “About Us” section has remained in the top five though out the history of the blog. Which makes me think that someone landed here by searching for a review and then wondered, “what is the deal with these guys?!” So assuming that many of you have read that section (which you should if you haven’t), I want to take the opportunity to explain a few things on the site.
The site is called “Would I Buy It Again?” not “Should You Buy It Again?” First and foremost, this is an entertainment blog that just happens to talk about food. It just basically opens the door to some of the experiences that we have had. Great restaurants have bad nights, and then others have nights that are far better than normal. Keep in mind that we are only reviewing the items that we had, some people call these “meal reviews.” Call them what you want, but if I have a five course meal and five courses are all bad and service was bad, I tend to think that something is very wrong and I don’t need to go back two more times. The comments usually correct this issue when people say “you should’ve tried the…”
Review = conversation. We started calling our reviews “review” just because more people search for that keyword…just being honest. In fact, they are probably not a traditional review but a mere conversation about our experience.
Moderation/comments and content. We send plenty of troll comments to the trash, but there are others we leave out there. At times, there is a fine line between an opinions and attacks. If you are reading the comments, take a second and think about the people that could be commenting. Maybe an employee that just got fired from a restaurant and is pissed. Who knows really. If I don’t like a comment, I will trash it…no biggie really and don’t get upset. Half the time I will send you an e-mail.
As far as content…there is no one in our pocket forcing us to post content. Our inbox is full of e-mails with people asking for promos, visit requests, etc. If I take a promo for a review, then I will tell you. If I get a chuckle out of it, it tends to make the site (Hardee’s Stuff), or if I find it informative and interesting to read, then that will make it too (MCL Blog from last week, etc.). We don’t even have ads so I think that is another sign that we are totally independent.
Almost done rambling:
The Indy Food Scene is continually bashed in this city, along with the Midwestern palette. It’s nonsense really. I have had many of great meals in this city. Steaks at Eddie Merlot’s, Burgers at Boogie Burger, consistently awesome OAKLEY bistro, Truffle/Parm Fries at Taste, Chili Cheese Etouffe at Yats, Pizza at Pizzology, cheap Chinese at Sesame, old school fine dinning at Deeter’s and I know that this is odd to say, but some of the best taquerias in the country. Oh yeah, breaded pork tenderloins rock, take that New York City! :) So for those of you complain about Indy being “chain city”, and if you want more local, then go to more local places. $$$$ speaks a lot louder than blogs.
Bottom line…we try to post something everyday because I have had e-mails from people saying they love to wake up, get to work and scroll through their blog list and read ours. I would never suggest that even if I give an item/restaurant a “No” rating that YOU shouldn’t try it. As an independent thinker, it is your responsibility to form your own opinion. This blog is not a buyers guide.
Okay, I am done. As always, thanks for reading and letting me jump on a very rare soapbox-y post. Back to biz on Monday.
-wibia
Keep up the solid work guys. I agree with your definition of review…sure it’s fine to give something a score and a consensus but the bottom line is that it’s really just an opinion. You will never please everyone and we all have different tastes. My favorite part of this blogging business is getting the feedback from comments either liking/disliking or just giving an opinion like “that looks awesome” or “that looks disgusting”. It always makes me laugh when comments become mini fights…over like a french fry or something. Anyways…great year WIBIA crew…looking forward to 2010.
This post should go into a permanent section about what the site is about or the user guide for the site.
Love the site, and the way you present your ‘reviews’. I am always looking for new local places to eat and have found several on your site. While I don’t always agree with your reviews, you clearly state that they are based on YOUR experience for THAT visit. If everyone liked the same exact thing the world would be a bland bland thing. Bland is about the worst thing that I can say when food in involved.
Keep up the great blog! I look forward to reading it daily!!!
Thanks Lance!
Keep on doing your thing, guys. WIBIA and GrubGrade are my two fave food blogs, and I wouldn’t want you to change a thing
I love what you’re doing. And your positive reviews of a few places have encouraged me to branch out and try new restaurants (bringing some friends along with me). So realize you’re changing lives, at least food-wise, in a good way, and broadening our horizons. Keep up the good work – I visit your site a couple of times a week now to see what’s new to try.
On a downer note, it looked to me like Stanley’s Deli was closed the other day when I went to half-priced books. My buddy and I loved that place, and wouldn’t have found it without your site. Hopefully it’s not shut down, but it kind of looked that way.
Yeah, it’s officially closed now. It’s too bad because they really did make a pretty solid sandwich.
They also had the best black and white cookies in Indy (that I’ve found). I’m an east coast guy originally, so that’s something I miss out here.