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Here are the results of This Week Community Newspapers online readers poll of the best dining in Columbus.
The results definitely seem to reflect more of a suburban slant with so many corporate chains making the list. I see Panera listed about 4 times. Still, there are plenty of Downtown picks.
Bob Evans has the best salads in Columbus?? The chopped salad at Northstar has got to be better than anything at Bob Evans.
And Graeter’s the best ice cream?? I have always thought Graeter’s is very over-rated. Give me Jeni’s or even Emack & Bolio’s any day.
I am also a little suprised to see Starbucks beat Cup O Joe.
Link: The Columbus Underground Top Ten Best Restaurants Reader Poll Results
Olive Garden for Best Italian. HAHAHA.
These polls always crack me up a little bit.
oooh, and Applebee’s? I will admit I saw a commercial (yes, actually watched a commercial) a few weeks ago about some new salad they had with avocado in it that looked pretty good….but then I thought, oh yeah, this is at Applebee’s. :P haha.
Panera sweeps the awards btw.
I like panera
/shrug
I don’t think I have ever had a good experience in any Panera. Must just be me. But I have given that place a few tries and it has all been disappointing.
/shrug
There is a difference between ‘like’ and ‘best.’
The fundamental problem with these surveys is access. Chains have the advantage as it is more likely people have been to places with multiple locations and if they dine in groups are more likely to go to places that are well-known and are proximate.
Surveys are worthless for high-end restaurants as well unless you can guarantee that people have been to the nearly all the places in the past year or so. People who dine at the high-end infrequently will remember that awesome meal at the Refectory from 6 yrs ago and still rate it on the survey.
A.
This is simply embarrassing. Is there going to be a little plaque hanging in Bob Evans now, “READERS CHOICE AWARD 2007!“?
Taco Bell got runner-up for “best burritos.”
I’ve never seen a readers’ poll so thoroughly undermine its own reputation as a consumer’s beacon. I will be looking for these plaques at restaurants I plan on dining in, and when I see one I will think “oh, this is a place enjoyed by people who think Taco Bell has the second-best burritos in town.”
To all you budding newspaper editors: If this is the quality of readers your paper is getting, maybe it’s time to pack it in.
ahh, JimL2. so glad you can post again. :)
cracking me up.
I like Panera. But I wouldn’t list it among the best in Columbus.
It really makes me wonder….
When people list places like Panera and Bob Evans in a “Best of Columbus Dining” poll, do they actually believe that this place is among the best that the Columbus dining scene has to offer???? Or do they really mean it in a more “this is a place I like to go” kind of way?
It really makes me wonder….
When people list places like Panera and Bob Evans in a “Best of Columbus Dining” poll, do they actually believe that this place is among the best that the Columbus dining scene has to offer???? Or do they really mean it in a more “this is a place I like to go” kind of way?
Apparently you have never experienced a knife and fork sandwich.
I wish I was kidding.
I wish I was kidding.
What is a knife and fork sandwich?
That poll makes me want to stab myself in the head.
We must form an army. An army to stop people from eating at chain restaurants constantly, and thinking that this is the best food in C-bus. This kind of crap is one of the reasons why people think Columbus has no culture.
But then, being able to eat the same food here as you can in another city or state can be comforting and reassuring, and that sells. It’s the American way.
::sigh::
I wish I was kidding.
What is a knife and fork sandwich?
I think it is something served at Bob Evans? I remember seeing commercials for this a while ago…
The knife and fork sandwiches have gotten worse after bob evans, mostly because some restaurants now call them “knife and forkers.” forkers sounds too much like….
and since spooning leads to forking does that means that spooners leads to knife and forkers?
I’ve had too much to drink.
::sigh::
…or another country. I was in Germany with a co-worker who physically/emotionally needed to eat at McDonalds every couple of days. Don’t underestimate comfort…
Remember, we’re all still clearly “underground”, and very much in the minority by having an urban mindset in this city.
Not to over-analyze this silly article, but all but 4 or so are destination restaurants – i.e. you know exactly where you’re going to park before you leave your suburban home. More comfort.
Case in point – my suburban dad wants to take my aunt and uncle downtown tomorrow. He enjoys our place, likes to show off Columbus’ redevelopment. Where he wants to go for dinner? Columbus Brew Co…
Even people with the right intentions still kinda miss the big picture. But hey, it could have been Smoky Bones or something. It’s all relative. Baby steps.
Andrew really hits the nail on the head here — ANY kind of “best of” poll is going to be strongly biased towards the highest common denominator. So naturally, a wider variety of people are going to be more familiar with chains than they are with smaller, local/independent locations. Simply compare traffic – I guarantee Graeter’s sells more scoops of ice cream each year than Jeni’s. More people have that as a reference, so more people list that as their favorite. If this poll allowed people to pick more than one thing (like listing their top 5 – I don’t know how this one actually worked), then you’d see that even moreso, since Panera might not be anyone’s number ONE pick (well, it’s my mother’s, but that’s beside the point), but it COULD be quite a few people’s #2 and #3 picks — which on average, could lead to ending up #1 in the poll results.
The exact same thing worked for the CU poll here – it’s just the highest common denominator was very different than the larger population polled – but the same population biases showed though here too — only instead of Panera sweeping everything, it’s Northstar and Liz Lessner spots. *shrug*
Well, remember too what “This Week” is. As a newspaper that targets neighborhoods, most of which are suburbs and even further out than that. I mean, the readership of This Week: Licking County or This Week: Canal Winchester aren’t going to be overly familiar with the offerings of downtown CBus like this message board is.
So many things could be said about the poll. I will comment and say, fine, bring all Jeni’s Buttermilk Strawberry to me :)
They do have neighborhood news for Clintonville, Grandview, and German Village though.
Can you make the next vote NOT include franchises..they get plenty of support. Benevolence, Banana Bean, Brioso….out in the far away lands there are locally owned and operated spots too–diner type places out yonder.
I’d like to see the results of the readers poll if they divided all of the votes by the number of locations.
i.e. In the best breakfast category, Banana Bean’s votes get divided by 1 location, Northstar Cafe’s votes get divided by 2 locations, while Bob Evans’ votes get divided by 20-something.
That would have more validity and get rid of the volume advantage of some of the larger chains.