I'm here to testify that it takes absolutely no credentials to write about restaurants. So there's no shortage of people on the internet who will tell you where they think you should dine when visiting, say, Phoenix.
As it happens, though, I was recently in Phoenix when a couple of sportswriter buddies of mine continued their habit of raving about a particular internet food advisory site called Roadfood.com. I thought it would be a good site to pass along to you, despite the fact that Roadfood.com doesn't include any Waco restaurants on its list.
The time is coming when Waco as a town and its restaurants will no longer be able to be overlooked, but I'm letting go of the need for recognition for now.
Anyway, my friends convinced me to check out Roadfood.com and write about it. Here's my assessment of the up-side as well as the flip side.
The up side: This is one of those list sites that's fun to peruse simply for the sake of saying "Oh yeah, I've eaten there and it was awesome" or "I don't know who told them to go there, but there's way better places." For example: El Pollo Regio in Austin is on their list but Franklin Barbecue is not, and that makes me feel superior. But the best thing is the ability to search by city. This seems like it would be no more use than just using urbanspoon, but it is. Roadfood's restaurant scope is so limited that you get a feel for somebody's best-of-the-best. So instead of judging whether 88 percent of people liking a given restaurant means anything, you have Roadfood saying "here's three places in San Antonio that we consider noteworthy."
The flip side: The strength is also a weakness. It's a limited picture. There are no Waco restaurants on the list, as mentioned. I'm traveling to Lubbock next week and there are no restaurants listed there either. There are no restaurants listed in College Station either. So that's three cities with large universities in them and you're telling me none of them has a restaurant of note? Don't buy it. But it's a work in progress, so I'm not going to argue with them or my friends who dig Roadfood.
In fact, I'll continue to refer to it when needed.
