We at RaleighNoms want to bring you something a little better than the usual star ranking system. So we got creative (oooooh! Ahhhh!)
However, there might be some lack of being-used-to the symbols that we use. To clear up any confusion, here’s a quick run down of our use of symbols.
Overall
As this acorns clearly show, this is our overall rating. So the higher the number of black acorns, the better the restaurant is overall. Of course, this is according to our pallets and tastes and is completely arbitrary. Sorry.
Price Point
This should be pretty self-explanatory, the location of the acorn’s stem is the average price point of the menu. Granted, we’re not going to plug the prices into a MATLAB matrix and run a series of commands to check the price point (average=mean(A), if you were wondering how), but we are going to get a general feel for the menu’s price–as well as for the feel on our wallets!
Service Quality
The check stands for service! As the acorn moves closer to the double smiley the service gets better. The word equivalents to these scores, are, from left to right: bad, mediocre, good, great. We’re not going to be demanding customers, but we are going to be normal patrons expecting the usual service we would from a restaurant (food done in good time, not too rushed, not too slow, order correctness/quality of corrections).
Vegetarian Friendliness
I, (Raul) am not personally to attached to the idea of self-imposed vegetarianism (I just don’t believe in limiting my options in any aspect of my life). However, vegetarianism is a big lifestyle and health choice among many happy Americans. For that reasons, vegetarians, beware the places that have an acorn near the cow–those are anathema to your veggie-loving ways (AKA: mostly meaty dishes with pretty unappetizing veggie dishes). The far right holds the lettuce–the lettuce is where the uber-veggie places will be: the places that are so vegetarian-friendly that the word “bacon” is scarcely there–otherwise known as mostly veggie dishes. Most places will probably fall into the middle section, which offer vegetarian dishes at a normal proportion to normal ones (majority meaty, but with a goodly number of veggie ones).
Some places, like a BBQ joint, are designed to be frequented by meat eaters. Even though they may cater to vegetarians, because the entire point of going there is to rip into the flesh–those places will be marked with a cow.
Exoticism
Sometimes, you just feel adventurous. The closer to the hamburger, the closer to normal, comfortable American fare the restaurant is and the more conventional the food will be. If the acorn is on planet Earth, the food is rather exotic but still caters to the American clientele by offering safe dishes. For foreign foods, the food earns an Earth if it is relatively authentic.
In order to earn a Saturn (Out of this World), a dish must be unabashedly different. This can include a burger–as long as the majority of the place’s dishes have interesting ingredients in them. For foreign foods, it earns a Saturn if the dishes are authentic.
At the end of a review, we will place these seals, and they will look like this:
Raleigh Noms 