1. I don’t accept free meals to review.
2. I will not trade advertising reviews for discounts or free meals.
3. I will accept free items, since there are restaurants that just randomly give out free items to try, I’ve tried to clearly mention this when it happens.
4. I’m as anonymous as possible. I don’t go out in public with my EatInOC.com superhero outfit (with matching cape). I don’t tell servers, owners, or managers of my intention.
5. I choose to post a review of a restaurant after I visit the restaurant. You might notice that I have more positive reviews them negative reviews, that’s because I don’t always review the bad after the fact. Most the negative reviews I have were for places that standout as just plain bad, or places I had terrible service (which is completely subjective).
6. I give my readers as accurate account of my visit to the restaurant as possible.
7. My reviews are completely subjective and may not reflect your opinions or the actual day to day quality of the restaurants I review. I don’t have the resources to visit a restaurant numerous times to build up my review, I choose to do my reviews based on single visits. I will attempt to point out bad service if I receive it but will do my best to refrain from letting it cloud my judgment on the quality of the food and that of the restaurant.
If I visit a restaurant for a special event I will not rate the review of the meal (Such as when I went to Veggie Grill). If I attend a special event I will notify my readers of such. Coupons don’t count as free meals. I do occasionally post about events I attend or events I have been sent press releases for but these are clearly labeled as such and no bartering of advertising was done.
In addition to this code, I also follow the eGullet Ethics Code for Online Writers.
