Disclaimer

Lately I’ve been receiving two common questions from folks who follow my articles and restauranteurs who’d welcome me to visit them for a possible review. The two questions are:

Are you paid for your reviews?
Do you monetize your blog?

I thought it would be smart to put a disclaimer on the site addressing these questions so that if anyone were wondering they could easily find the answers. In short, the answers to both of these questions are “No.”

I AM NOT PAID FOR THE RESTAURANT REVIEWS I WRITE.

My opinions are based on the experience that I have when I visit the restaurant. I also do a lot of research before considering a restaurant for review (so I’m not wasting my time and money eating at places that aren’t going to make the cut). For the blog I look for 3 firm criteria and 1 optional criteria:

Good Food.
Good Value.
Good Service
Optional: An Interesting Story

If a restaurant doesn’t meet those criteria then I don’t write about them. It’s that simple. I enjoy writing, but I have to be passionate with what I write about. I wouldn’t enjoy writing about a restaurant that doesn’t impress me. So if you’re reading my articles and wondering what I got from it the answer is right there written in the article. I got that experience that I’m writing about and those opinions are my own.

I DO NOT HAVE PAID ADVERTISERS ON MY BLOG.

There are no paid advertiser banners on my blog. That being said, I do participate in affiliate programs such as Booking.com, Agoda.com, and GetYourGuide.com. If visitors use the links that may be in the articles then I get a small commission from the company’s commission. THE PRICES ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN IF YOU WENT DIRECTLY TO THE WEBSITE.

(NEW QUESTION – 16SEP20)

DO YOU GET FREE FOOD?

This is a new question I received from some folks on Twitter and it was pointed out to me that it was not addressed in this disclaimer. I hope to remedy that. The answer is “sometimes”. The 3 main situations are this:

1. A restaurant reaches out to me to invite me for a review. After researching if I think it’d be a good fit for the blog (meeting my criteria) I will accept. I usually eat what it is that they offer me, and it’s not expected that I pay, so I don’t. I get free food in this situation.

2. I’m invited to a media/news event of a restaurant opening. I get free food. Everyone does. But often it doesn’t result in an article, usually a Facebook post or Instagram post.

3. I reach out to a restaurant that I am interested in reviewing. I reach out to them because I want to include their story in the article (and need them to tell me) and I want their recommendations for what to eat. In this case I always expect to pay and I ask for the bill. Sometimes they decline to charge me, sometimes they give me a discount on the bill, and sometimes I pay full price. I’m quite happy to pay full price. But I don’t make it weird for them by insisting on it if they want to comp me.

Regardless if it’s free or not I write about the experience I have, and I try my best to share their story as they tell it.

Any questions?

I want folks to trust that my opinions are my own and not paid for advertisements masquerading as an article. I believe the restaurants that I review are special and worth writing about. It’s my hope this disclaimer answers the questions folks might have about “what I’m getting from it.”. But if it doesn’t and you still have questions please feel free to reach out to me directly through the contact page.