CJ's got 4 stars for Gary's on Spring

[Robin Garr]

I like the restaurant, too. What do you think of the review?

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/en ... /13366273/

I like the restaurant, too. What do you think of the review?

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/en ... /13366273/

Had a not-great experience there the one time I went. No hard feelings, though; anyone can have an off night, and the manager I spoke with afterwards was very apologetic and offered to make it up to us. There have just been too many other places I'm interested in trying to give it a second chance.

I thought she did a good job with the review. Her description of the porches made me want to go back and check them out.

This did make me chuckle: "...and formality never rears its head." Oh, no! Dreaded formality! God forbid we should be forced out of casual comfort.

[Robin Garr]

A lot of the folks on Facebook are commenting about how all the dish photos are heavily decorated with paprika, and wondering if they're all served that way. My guess, that came out of a photo session and their wish to make the dishes look bright. Especially in the CJ, where all the color photos seem to go beige.

Hands down Nancy's best review yet! Well balanced, illustrative without being chatty. This review felt far more natural than any of her other efforts. I hope this is her voice and that it is here to stay! The test will be to see if she can handle a negative review with the same skill.

Her review definitely makes me want to put Gary's on the short list of places to try at next opportunity.

Well done!

[Robin Garr]

Well done!

I did hear a rumor that she went over and introduced herself to management after dinner, which struck me as a somewhat odd thing for a reviewer to do. I'm trying not to judge, but wonder what you folks think.

Dammit, Robin. I'm trying to be all sunshine and rainbows over here after I was accused of being a grump and then you go and ask a follow up question like this!

I think it's gauche. Inevitably people are going to find out what their favorite critic looks like, they are people after all, right? But to introduce is a bit much. At least it was AFTER the experience.

[Robin Garr]

I was accused of being a grump

I've known grumps. You're no grump. You'll have to work at it for years to get there!

I have it from a source very close to that establishment that they knew it was going to be a four star review before publication. I always thought that was a no-no in restaurant reviewing. I am still getting used to her style, but it "appears" it is going the way of "write no evil" at the CJ.

[Robin Garr]

I am still getting used to her style, but it "appears" it is going the way of "write no evil" at the CJ.

I'm not sure I go along with that, Suzi. This is her first four-star review, but she's had some pretty tart comments in some of the others, tart enough that I was surprised Gannett let them happen.

I do wonder how she'll handle it if she reviews any past PR clients, but I'm not sure there were too many of them. She did some work for Jeff Jarfi a few years ago, but he's not involved in any current operations, is he? Does anyone know who else she's worked with, if anybody?

Well done!

I did hear a rumor that she went over and introduced herself to management after dinner, which struck me as a somewhat odd thing for a reviewer to do. I'm trying not to judge, but wonder what you folks think.

What do I think ? I think that for whatever reason you are a mission from God to try and make this woman look bad. Right down to the Faux News technique of "some people are saying".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYA9ufivbDw

(seriously, ya'll need to watch this video - funny as all hell)

Anyway, since you asked, my feelings are that If ya'll can't name names (Suzi, Robin, etc)...("a lot of folks on Facebook", "I have it from a source very close to that establishment", etc)...then don't say it. Personally I wish this woman could respond to some your criticisms and put you all in your place. As it stands right now (and I'm being both serious and objective) every time you post this kind of topic it comes off sounding like some kind of jealous-sniveling-nose-in-the-air-lets-set-the-bitch-up-speak-from-some-old-bitty....Conversations I've had with "some people" indicate I am FAR from the only one who feels this way.

Thanks for asking though.

[Robin Garr]

What do I think ?

Steve, why don't you just go out on your Garage Illogic patio and have another six-pack and then a nice long nap? I'm about sick of you worrying about what you think I'm saying between the lines with your curmudgeonly little old angry retired guy attitude.

Now, why don't you ask me what I really think?

Steve - did it occur to you I might be protecting an employee or a vendor? Should people lose their jobs because you want to know? I maybe should not have told the tale "out of school", but it is out there and I was not asked to keep it a secret. As to whether the CJ soft pedals bad reviews, I have thought the same thing of the last few reviewers at the CJ, it is no secret. This is the first word I have said about the lady and I am not trying to make anyone look bad. Perhaps I was not clear - I was wondering if it was a rookie mistake.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and most here, including you, are expressing theirs. How they are expressed is another matter. I would never call you names for expressing your opinion.

[Robin Garr]

100% agree with Steve.

Thanks for your opinion, Carl, and welcome to the forum.

Steve and Carl, I don't know where you guys are coming from with your comments. Your defending a wet behind the ears restaurant reviewer for a dying newspaper who you don't even know yet you are dishing, for lack of a more appropriate word, the creator and owner of this website who has been doing restaurant reviews forever! You also are calling out another poster on this forum (Suzi) who has long been a cool collective voice of reason in most threads for posting some behind the scenes information she had heard. Steve, we know quite often you get off track with your posts and berate things that most of us don't agree with but that's something we've come to love about you and respect you for it! Carl, on the other hand is a first-time poster who we have no knowledge of. He joined through Facebook or he has nothing on his page except a bunch of likes and 3 friends so we have no way of scaling his knowledge of anything. I'll keep my overall opinions of the new CJ reviewer to myself but I just wanted you guys to know that I don't feel criticizing other people's opinions is appropriate in many cases, especially not this one!

This seems her best review so far in terms of reader experience, for me anyway. The only nits I pick are the occasional use of a semicolon between independent and dependent clauses instead of always between two independent clauses. That's always bugged me in the press. In fairness, that was what they taught us in the early '70s and that's far enough in the past that accepted English might have changed. I still can't get over the use of "impact" as a verb. When I was young the only thing that was "impacted" was a molar. We'd also have been dinged on our grade in school for using sentence fragments, but that seems to work in practice because it makes the article sound more conversational. So I don't mind those in the review.

I do like that she gets right down to brass tacks about the restaurant and their food. Twenty years ago I didn't mind reading reviews that spent not inconsiderable ink on topics other than the restaurant itself. It was a pleasant mental excursion in a time of less constant media bombardment. Back then I had the C-J to read each day and once a week I'd get Newsweek, once a month World Press Review and that was about it as I wasn't using the Internet for news. Today I have around 20 websites with constantly updated news content that I try to view on a daily basis. As a result I have found myself coping by skipping the first two or three paragraphs in local restaurant reviews in order to get to the meat of the matter. Miller got to the point in the first sentence and stayed with it from start to finish. Hopefully she'll keep it up.