Using the Internet to find things has become second nature for most of us. It beats looking through the phone book and normally you can find things online that no only provide you with the standard information but also directions, customer reviews and sometimes discount coupons. So when I decided to try restaurant.com, this was in my mind. I wanted to locate some new eateries that were away from the mainstream chain variety of restaurants that we all have been to.

As I entered in restauarant.com I noticed that the navigation area was simple to use. OK. It’s a plain Jane website with very little fanfare. Which to me is good. I wasn’t bombarded with 22,561 ads. What I was looking for was very specific. I had heard a ad on the radio last week for a Italian eating place which sounded pretty good. The owner stated he was a Jersey boy who enjoy good quality Italian food and that he and his family owned and operated the restaurant. Sounds good.

So I knew the restaurants name and location but was unable to find it at restaurant.com, which leads me to believe it may be a new listing. I was able to locate all of the standard chain joints with ease. And I did find one Italian restaurant I may just try, since the reviewers gave it 5’s all across the board. Not bad.

Maybe it’s just be but I found my experience with restaurant.com just so-so. It was OK. Or maybe I was expecting to much. I had envisioned in my head a site where I would be able to find ALL of the places to eat in my area, devoid of the junk foods. Like who doesn’t know where the closet McDonald is? How could you miss those bright golden arches.

Restaurant to me means a place where you can take your family for a sit down meal and be waited on. Not a place where I order my food at a clowns mouth and being asked, “do you want fries with your order?” Example. I selected American Cuisine and Arby’s was listed. They should add one more category to their listings. Junk or real food!

My overall experience at restaurant.com was OK. Would I use it again? Maybe. But here is my question to you. What sites have you found on the Internet do you use when you going restaurant hunting?

Let us know. Comments welcome

Tags: restaurants, internet, locate, area