Frank Bruni Blows Whistle on Zagatgate (16 For Scandal, 12 For Prose, 6 For Level of Interest)
This popular survey "is to some extent a gauge of how intensely a restaurant's fans love it," with some restaurants receiving points based on "vigorous get-out-the-vote efforts." Keep in mind that "diners aren't randomly polled for their opinions; instead, they volunteer those opinions, and they sometimes do so out of a rooting interest for a favorite restaurant." It might be false modesty to say that ratings "are the fruit of many people's opinions, which gives the ratings a potential usefulness much greater than, say, an individual critic's stars," but in the end you need "just be careful" and, perhaps, consult with a real restaurant critic.
