Being evaluations of a service, company or product, reviews are important in our everyday decision-making processes. “You choose” is the worst answer anyone can give when trying to figure out where to go for a drink with friends, what restaurant to go for tonight or what company to choose for the services you need. Of course, you can always order food at home online, but even there you need to know good services.
Which one should I choose? Should I go for something I already know or try a new one? Would it be a good idea to trust my relatives’ advice or should I look for online reviews? Where do I find such reviews and which apps are the best ones? All these answers and many others can be found in our article for the day.
Urbanspoon – Restaurant and Food Reviews
Specifically designed for food lovers, Urbanspoon is your classic food-finder application that can be used for both iOS and Android operating systems. By choosing the town and type of food, as well as the price target, you can find random suggestions by simply shaking your device in case you’re using iOS. With over a million different restaurants to choose from, Urbanspoon has been rated as a top reviews app, and it is currently used by more than 20 million customers. You can browse menus and photos, look for reviews and directions while you’re also allowed to make a reservation directly through the app. The app is available in the US, as well as Australia, New Zeeland, Canada, the UK and Ireland, and the location can be changed with just a few clicks. This way, you’re also able to use it while you’re traveling. Coming only in English for the moment, it requires iOS v6.0 or Android v2.3.3 or newer version of these two. Download it for free and find out more about its features here.
Yellow Pages
Who hasn’t heard of Yellow Pages? It is famous as a website and telephone book that helps you find everything you need in the area nearby. However, with the evolution of technology these days, it became much more than that – it is a free app for iOS, Windows, BlackBerry and Android devices. Requiring Windows 7, Blackberry 10, iOS 7.0 or Android 2.0, this is one of the most powerful app that help you locate any business you’re looking for and discover new places to try. Whether you’re looking for the nearest gas station, a good taxi company, a nice restaurant, a good shopping center, a hotel or a car service, you’ll have it all in one place – on Yellow Pages. And because finding the place is not all, you also have the option of checking ratings and reviews of each place you find. All the places are rated with stars from 1 to 5, and any of the previous clients can easily post a review and share his opinion. The app is available in English only, and it now comes with hands-free voice navigation that helps you find the place you want to try next. If you’re looking for restaurants, you can check menus and make reservations, and if you’re interested in cinemas, you can easily browse showtimes, and then rate and review your favorite places.
Yelp
Very similar to the Yellow Pages application, this one is another great way to find nearby pubs, restaurants, cafes and many others. You can narrow the search by simply choosing your location and price, as well as checking the “what’s open now” box. This app is not only for going out, though. It can also help you find addressed, phone numbers and directions for thousands of different businesses. After reading their reviews and getting tips about each of the places, you can choose to either call them from your mobile phone or add the address into Google Maps for additional indications on how to get there.
Crazy Menu
Another reviews app that is entirely dedicated to eating out is Crazy Menu. This one lets you choose from over 500,000 available restaurants and directly order or make a reservation using the tool. Apart from that, Crazy Menu also likes being social, which is why it lets you set a Twitter or Facebook status using the same application.
As shown in the video above, you can look for restaurants nearby, personalize your searching by price and type of food, and then choose the ones you like. The ratings are: “avoid”, “like it” and “must try”, and you will be able to see what your friends who use the same app already think about the restaurant you’re looking at. Below the ratings section, you can click for addition information – “read reviews” – and open the menu to see what you could order. Within the shortcut section, you will have access to a list of main dishes they serve. This way, you can select your favorite item and place your order. You will then have to go to the nearby restaurant and either pick it up or eat it there. The Crazy Menu app only comes in English and has been designed to suit most iOS devices. Unfortunately, there is no Android or Windows application available at the moment, but those of you who have and iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch can use it for free if their device runs on iOS v2.2.1 or a newer one.
Zomato
Zomato was initially created as a restaurant finder, but it slowly became one of the most appreciated apps when it comes to finding honest reviews on places for dinning. Whether you’re looking for a Dine-out, Takeaway, Nightlife or Delivery, you can find all the information you need using this app. It lets you see menus, pictures, phone numbers and directions, as well as other users’ reviews and ratings. Apart from that, you can build a ”Wishlist” with all the places you’d like to try while you keep track of those you’ve already tried – add them to the “Been there” list. It also comes with recommendations that allow you to explore your own city, and it is currently available for most cities in the UK, India, UAE, New Zeeland, South Africa, Europe, Asia and South America. The tool comes in English, Czech, Catalan, Spanish, Turkish and plenty of other languages, and it requires iOS v7.0, Windows v7.5, BlackBerry v7.0 or Android v2.2.
Qype
Being an iPhone and Android application, Qype is a miracle for those living or travelling in any of the European States. It comes with a category for shops, as well as one for restaurants, pubs, bars and hotels/hostels. Depending on what exactly you’re trying to find, it will show you a list of nearby suggestions ordered by their rating. The latter is calculated based on the average score from all the people who’ve attended and rated the venue before. The interface is very easy to use, comes with instructions and lets you open the location in Google Maps for additional directions. Similar to Yelp but more focused on the “eating out” section, this app is free to download, and it requires iOS v2.2.1 or Android v2.2. It only comes in English at the moment, but it is available for all big cities around the world, although there seems to be a bigger UK community.
Foursquare
You probably heard of Foursquare before – this is a popular website where you can check in, post pictures and review places you visited. Whether it’s a new restaurant in town, a nighclub or shopping center, you checked out an interesting cinema or simply went to a new city, you can share your opinion with friends on this platform. The even better news is that you can now use the Foursquare app to do the same thing directly from your mobile phone, without even having to go to the official web page. This way you can keep up with all of your friends’ adventures and make sure that you never miss a party. The requirements are Android v2.2 or iOS v7.0, and the app comes in a variety of languages including French, Russian, Turkish and Thai. Apart from just being social, this application also lets you find the nearest place of interest – best nearby, special, food, nightlife, coffee, shopping, sights, arts and outdoors are just a few of the categories to choose from. Once you find a place you like, you can see ratings from 1 to 10, check how many people liked this place, how many checked in and which one of your friends appreciates it. Below the introductory section that includes the address, rating, phone number and other relevant details, you will see a “comments” section. This one is very similar to the reviews that you find on most similar websites. There you can check if people are genuinely happy with the place, had a bad or good experience, etc.
