Marek and I will visit a restaurant for breakfast. Then we’ll carefully consider several key points about the experience and together we agree on a rating. In general, we talk about these things:
- Is the business, the location, or the decor unique in some way? Extra points if Elvis, or Metallica, ever ate there.
- Do the people like Marek? Extra points given for lollipops, playing cars with him, or taking him on a tour of the facility.
- Are the staff friendly? Do they seem to know regulars by name?
- Are the customers friendly? Do they seem to be regulars?
- Is the cost reasonable?
- Does the menu have anything special or unique? Extra points for secret recipes, menus with stories about how a particular recipe was passed down for generations, or simply unique or bizarre offerings.
- Is the coffee hot, black, and bottomless?
- Are the pancakes good?
- Are the eggs good?
- Is the bacon good?
- Does Marek eat anything? Everything?
- Do we have a good time and look forward to our next visit?
We give ratings of up to five pancakes, one for each element of food, people, interesting quirks, cost, and Marek’s general reaction. For example, an overpriced, bland place with moderately cordial people but really good food, where Marek finishes a whole pancake and is comfortable enough to quietly play cars, this would be a two and a half pancake review:
