Independent by design

No paid placements

Restaurants cannot pay to be included, to move up, or to be removed. We don't sell sponsored slots, "featured" badges or upgraded listings. A restaurant's position comes only from the criteria in our methodology.

Real reviews from real diners

Every ranking starts with what real diners actually say. We use genuine public reviews only, and we work to keep them that way:

• We filter out review spam and sudden bursts of reviews that look coordinated.
• We discount reviews that appear incentivized, such as ones left in exchange for a discount or a freebie.
• We weight reviews by how many people left them and how recent they are, so a handful of glowing (or angry) reviews can't swing a score.
• We never write, buy or solicit reviews for any restaurant.

Our own visit notes are kept separate from the review data and are always labeled as ours.

Honest labels

• Every listing is marked Visited or Data-only, so you know whether we've eaten there.
• Every list shows the date it was last updated.
• Photos are our own unless credited otherwise.

Corrections

If we get a fact wrong, such as hours, an address, a closure or a detail about the menu, we fix it and update the list's date. Factual corrections never change a restaurant's score on their own; a score only changes when the underlying criteria change.

Requests from restaurants

Restaurants are welcome to point out factual errors or let us know they've opened. We don't add, move or remove listings on request, and we don't share scores with restaurants ahead of publication.

Updates and closures

We re-score lists on a regular cycle so they reflect current reviews. Closed restaurants are removed as soon as we confirm the closure, and big changes such as a new chef or a move trigger a fresh look.