The growth of online restaurant reviews make every customer a potential critic.

by Maria Coppola

 And they’re not just interested in your food. Customers are taking note of the ambiance, service, personality and attitude of staff, and the cleanliness of your restaurant. These all paint a picture for potential customers that help them anticipate what their overall experience at your restaurant will be.

Your star rating in online restaurant reviews can be even more important. It allow consumers to form an immediate impression of your restaurant, good or bad.

Simply put, online reviews can help make or break your restaurant’s success. So, making sure you know what people are saying and replying to concerns are nearly as important as getting food out of your kitchen.

WHY ONLINE RESTAURANT REVIEWS MATTER

Sites such as Yelp, Open Table and TripAdvisor are transforming not just the online restaurant review business but the entire restaurant industry as a whole. They offer a platform and an opportunity for nearly every restaurant in business to build and develop an online reputation.

In the past, restaurant owners were skeptical of such online review sites. They felt that the reviews were false, misleading or written by competitors just wanting to post bad online reviews about them.

But with so many sites in the business of providing customers with online restaurant reviews, it doesn’t really matter what restaurant owners think. Consumers will visit review sites and will form an opinion before ever visiting a restaurant. If the majority of the reviews are positive, then consumers will form a positive impression and decide where to spend their money. If reviews are negative, they will move on to another option.

Online restaurant reviews are the top category of reviews researched and read online. And consumers are reported to read online restaurant reviews more than twice as often as doctor and/or dentist reviews, which is the second most popular category.

Also, more than half (53 percent) of 18- to 34-year-olds use online restaurant reviews to make dining decisions. In addition, 47 percent of frequent full-service restaurant customers read online reviews before choosing a dining establishment.