The Criteria

Well, I have decided to begin a blog to chronicle my eating exploits. In my experience, it has been difficult to find reliable food guides for smaller regions, which is where I seem to spend the vast majority of my time. With my developing appreciation for food, increased travel, and some eating battle buddies (esp. Sean), I decided it would make more sense for me to begin my own archives of my eating experiences.

Naturally, the process must begin with establishing criteria for grading/critiquing foods. I know from previous experience making lists that my archetypes of importance evolve with time; therefore, be advised that no matter what I use as my original benchmarks, they will change as I notice better options. However, I will do my best to adhere to some core principles: food quality (the most important), atmosphere, price, service, ease of experience (i.e. finding it, parking, ordering, paying, etc). Again, what I use to actually judge these criterion will assuredly change, but the principle will remain the same.

I prefer an academically based grading system as opposed to a number system. Either way, both systems are rather arbitrary, but I will attempt to develop consistency with my rankings; otherwise, what's the point of using this as a reference???? Generally speaking, and subject to change, this will be the system:

A's: outstanding
B's: above average
C's: average
D's: below average
F's: don't bother

(+'s and -'s will be used too in order to make the grades more accurately reflect the experience. For example, the best dinner in the world would receive an A+ and the worst an F-)

If this idea is more than a single passing fancy, I will definitely attempt to recruit friends and associates from around the great world of the US Army, with a sprinkling of civilians, to create a library of geography and food. When posting, I will use the following system for "Titles:" Location (city, state), Type of Food (i.e. American, Chinese, Italian, etc), and the Name of the Restaurant. I hope any readers find this reference useful and feel free to post comments with suggestions for restaurants/dishes or anecdotes of your experiences at places listed in the blog.

Happy Eating,
Brandon