Ask a Restaurant Critic #1

In April, I asked my followers what questions they wanted to ask a critic. I divided their questions into four categories: Minnesota-based questions, questions on being a critic, questions about how I review restaurants, and hot takes. This is one of four pieces coming out where I answer my followers’ questions. This piece is all about my review process. The other three categories are coming out over the next couple of months. Have a question you want to ask me about how I review, Minnesota dining, or any hot takes?? Drop it in the comments!

If it’s over two hours from Minneapolis, it’s a minimum of three times, because traveling for work is expensive, and because I try to visit as many places as possible in a year. This is pretty standard. Most critics visit a restaurant three times. I find that I learn a lot more–and my pieces develop more character–if I go more than that, though. If it’s under two hours from my house, I normally go five or more times. I went to Marrow and Thai Pop in Rochester five times each. I visited Bellecour seven times to re-try dishes where I had errors in earlier visits. I visited Dahlia nine times to try a bunch of seasonal pastries. I go as much as I can, because I think my readers greatly benefit from repeat visits.

I don’t review restaurants that don’t meet my code of ethics. I also regularly go to very small restaurants to see if I might review them positively, but more than once, I have realized halfway through writing that my review would have to be significantly mixed or negative. For an indie restaurant without a lot of acclaim or press, I’m not going to give them a negative review. The only time I work on a mixed or negative review is if the restaurant has press, acclaim, awards, tons of influencer hype, is exceptionally expensive, or is a part of a restaurant group that has multiple restaurants. Those are my two main exceptions.

I have eaten at over ¼ of the restaurants in the state. This year, I’ll likely cross the ⅓ mark. So a lot of the answer to this is that I eat out a lot, and I try to give every spot a fair shake. Sue’s Drive-In is a good example of a more off-the-beaten-path restaurant, as you have to go out of your way to get there unless you go to a cabin right there. I found it because I was trying to find (and eat at) every drive-in in the state. It’s definitely worth a pit stop for the housemade onion rings, but I only know about it because I did hours of research on drive-ins. A lot of how I find spots comes down to a lot of research, like how I Googled “bakery in [insert county here]” to find all the bakeries in the state, or just moving a map on my phone with the word “bakery” as the search.

My reviews of Marrow and Dahlia are good examples of this. Typically, I wait for at least one menu turnover. I reviewed Marrow from October-March. Dahlia, I made sure to go in for three of their special menus, like St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. I think it’s important to remember that reviews are snapshots in time, and the menu I’m reviewing might be better (or worse) than a future menu. I also try to figure out what the staples are on a menu and eat those. Myriel, for example, has a rotating menu, but the duck and the pie are always available.

Similar to the question above, I try to figure out what the staples are. But I also try to figure out where a menu might be weaker. For example, at a restaurant without a pastry chef, I’m eating all the desserts, because I want to be able to give an honest picture of the restaurant to my readers. In general, though, I eat broadly across all dish categories and proteins.