Trip Advisor - proof that there's something "askew" ?

[Lorenzoid]

You're right about that, but they don't see pizza as an American food. Hamburgers and hot dogs yes, but pizza is an Italian food. . . .

Whether non-Americans "see pizza as an American food"--that is, a food native to America--isn't really the question. The question is whether non-Americans associate the word "pizza" with New York or Chicago or at least with America. Granted, it was mainly Italian immigrants not Americans who eventually spread pizza all over the world, but it might not have happened if America hadn't demonstrated how crazy people can be for pizza. I suspect you're right in that most non-Americans don't make the connection. Oh well. We already get accused of dumping our fast food on the world. It's just as well we don't get blamed for pizza.

 

[dfx]

Whether non-Americans "see pizza as an American food"--that is, a food native to America--isn't really the question. The question is whether non-Americans associate the word "pizza" with New York or Chicago or at least with America. Granted, it was mainly Italian immigrants not Americans who eventually spread pizza all over the world, but it might not have happened if America hadn't demonstrated how crazy people can be for pizza.

I'm not a historian by a long shot, but I know that our little town had Italian restaurants (which mostly meant pizza and pasta) way before the first McDonald's opened its doors. And they were complete with take-out and delivery.

 

[Wingy]

Im a moderator on a travel site and the question as to the legitimacy of some reviews on Trip Advisor has been hashed out at length after TA was accused of paying or promoting favourable reviews - which is actually not the case. Its a general quide, a very general guide and far from a tool Id use for scuba specific trip planning. Sure, use the reviews of a hotel or restaurant - they are users own opinions - if we had a one size fits all world would be rather ridiculous. The rating system is simply based on ''hits'' so TAs no. 1 attraction in a city is simply the one more people have reviewed than the no 2 attraction (or pizza shop). Often they tend to stay at number one because, tripadvisor said it was no. 1 so I went there instead of no. 2. I prefer reading a divers blog than relying on tripadvisor. If found some absolute gems of place from blogs that never even get a look in at TA - use your own judgement - if the hotel manager has tourettes syndrome and apologises in advance for screaming German M*********kr at you when he serves breakfast, you can either take that as a good reason to stay away or take it as an experience that turned out to be hilarious. Do I use TA as a reference for scuba diving destinations or operators - no. Have I looked at a destination and taken a look at scuba outfit reviews - yes - but then I will do a lot more indepth research using scuba specific sites.

 

[Rhone Man]

For the record, I find American pizza much better than native Italian pizza on the whole.

 

[lajoyce]

When you say "Pizza", what is the destination? After New York and Chicago, I'm pretty well done.

Trip Advisor came up with a list at TripAdvisor Serves Up America's Top 10 Cities For Pizza <-Click on this if you want a goofy list of the "best pizza"

San Diego was #1, NYC was #4, and Chicago wasn't in the Top 10.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Hilariously, this is on the front page of one of the NYC free daily rags today

am New York - am New York

 

[supergaijin]

If you say Chicago, anywhere worldwide, the first thing anybody says is ...

Not much to be honest. I always laugh at this america-centric attitude about 'the world'- most of 'us' honestly don't think about the States that often. It doesn't come up in daily conversation.

Sorry to hijack.

 

[dfx]

Right, so TA says that San Diego has the best pizza. New Yorkers disagree, because obviously to them, New York has the best pizza. The Chicago guy also disagrees, because he thinks Chicago is the pizza capital of the world (?)

And that's supposed to be proof? I'd take the result of a large-scale survey over any isolated personal opinions any day, even if the survey is based on completely unrepresentative data and so has little to no significance, which I suspect is the case with TA.

 

[lajoyce]

I'd take the result of a large-scale survey over any isolated personal opinions any day, even if the survey is based on completely unrepresentative data and so has little to no significance, which I suspect is the case with TA.

The rating system is simply based on ''hits'' so TAs no. 1 attraction in a city is simply the one more people have reviewed than the no 2 attraction (or pizza shop).

There you go. "Best pizza" or even "top city for pizza" is misleading, and it's something people will get riled up about and will generate hits and ad revenue (why do you think a free ny daily rag put it on the cover?). Here we can find data for "cities with more pizza places that got more reviews" or some other fudgey internet-hit/review based metric. To me that says more about the quantity of pizza parlors relative to the population of the city who writes reviews on Trip Advisor or whatever is most relevant to Trip Advisor's ranking system than what pizza is "best".

 

[DjDiverDan]

Jumping off the topic of Pizza, it has been my experience that Trip Advisor Reviews are NOT reliable at all, not only for scuba diving posts, but other reviews as well. The review system used by TA is subject to being gamed. Let me give an example. I travel quite often (2-3 times a year) to Cozumel. And I am definitely a Foodie -- I'm always on the lookout for new great restaurants. About 4 years ago, I was going to Cozumel, and it was recommended by someone that I trust that I try out a new restaurant in Cozumel, Danube. I ate there, and the meal was outstanding in every way. The food was done perfectly, the service was great, the view out over the Ocean was fantastic. It was just an excellent experience. So I posted a rave review on TA. At the time, there were a number of other rave reviews, including at least 6 from friends of mine (none of whom were from Cozumel or had any interest in the restaurant). Danube had very quickly moved up to #1 on TA's list of recommended restaurants for Cozumel. But less than a week later, my review, along with every other positive review of Danube, has disappeared from TA. It seems an anonymous tipster had claimed to TA that Danube was paying customers for great reviews (not true) and was posting its own reviews under fake names (again, not true, at least so far as I know). TA never attempted to verify this tip, it just deleted EVERY positive review of Danube, and demoted Danube to the very bottom of its list of Cozumel Restaurants. Danube was shut down for lack of business within 4 months. If it is that easy for a competitor to kill a restaurant on Trip Advisor, I just don't think its ratings should be trusted at all.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I make the best pizza. I started working in a "Chicago Style" pizza joint when I was 14, so I have had decades to perfect my skills. The secret of course is to drink beer while you roll the pizza out and let it rise. A couple of hours and a 6 pack later you will enjoy a fantastic pizza regardless the final product. Heck I dropped a raw pizza on the floor, picked it up, cooked it, drank a couple more beers and it tasted great!

As for TA, the information is worthless. You can always find some good reviews form plants and some bad reviews from someone that is pissed off. It does flag if an operation is managed poorly or if it is outstanding based on the overall ratings. For the actual advise on the most interesting sites and best dive ops it is very hard to top ScubaBoard because its chock full of dive fanatics (along with a few weirdos).