Review Criteria
Around the site you will find various labels on the businesses we cover, and you may be asking yourself what do they all mean? Here’s a simple guide to how I review, from the highest possible rating (3 stars) down to the most minimal listings.
Something I’d like to quickly mention is that I do not spend all my time in two and three stars venues, and from my experience neither do the local Italians either. In fact, if you want to be really Italian then eating in fancy pants places all the time should definitely not be your number one priority. A coffee is a coffee and it’s good everywhere. Just go to the nearest place.
Review Criteria Summary: In Order (from best to worse)
- ☆☆☆ Three Star
- ☆☆ Two Star
- ☆ One Star
- Recommended
- Listed
plus two other recognition categories, Vintage Classic and Trendy Buzz New
SEE DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH CRITERIA BELOW 👇 (best read from the bottom up)
☆☆☆
3 Star
Three-star venues meet the same criteria as a two-star venue but, to the best of my knowledge, have a good focus on sustainability.
In these venues you won’t find any disposable plastic, they purchase from sustainable suppliers and use renewable energy sources (and if they don’t please let me know and I will downgrade them!)
☆☆
2 Star
Outstanding quality.
A two-star venue is absolutely worth a visit and travelling to get there if you can. These places are good enough for you to plan your morning/afternoon/evening around. These venues are special and are well above and beyond the average level of quality.
Whilst I try not to get too obsessed with consistency (all venues have off days), these guys are on top of their game pretty much all of the time. A two-star venue has everything you get from a one-star venue, plus a little magic.
☆
1 Star
Great quality.
One-star venues are worth travelling to even if they’re in an annoying place. If they’re a 45-minute walk from wherever you are, or they only have a table a 6.45 or 11 pm; they’ll be worth the trip anyway. Go to one of these on your holiday, if you can.
All one-star venues will have been visited by me (or someone I trust) several times, and I’ll have determined that for some reason - they’re great!
Recommended
A recommended venue is exactly what it sounds like, I recommend you go there if you’re nearby!
Generally, if you’re deciding where to go and have a recommended venue near you, it’s definitely worth trying that place before making do with another place.
I would spend about 15-30 minutes trying to get into a recommended venue.
Listed
All venues listed on the site are worthy of a trip through their front doors. They have at some point welcomed me with hospitality, and served their stated purpose well on at least one occasion.
I generally avoid negative reviews (though if a place really fucks me over I might blog about it), so if you know somewhere that I haven’t listed it’s either because I don’t think they do what they state that well, or more likely because I haven’t been there yet.
If you know somewhere that you think is awesome and think it should be included on the site, please message me here.
Vintage Classic
‘Vintage Classic’ venues are places that have been serving for at least 10 years and are nearly always full of locals enjoying plates/drinks/items that are typical of the local area.
These venues are particularly recommended for their genuinely enjoyable; traditional, local experience (rather than outstanding quality in their field).
Trendy Buzz New
These venues are new in town and are definitely buzz AF. If you like buzz, these places are for you.