Rant of the Day: I read a Newsday’s Best Long Island Restaurants on the Water and I started to bang my head against my desk! This is another one of Newsday’s Best Of Long Island series. For those who do not know or cannot figure it out based upon the title, the Best of Long Island consists of restaurants and businesses that Newsday endorses is the best in their category.
While I like the concept of a Best of Long Island series, my main issue is that the restaurants and other places of business included tend not to be the best in their category. I have to assume that their inclusion is due to some other factors and probably based upon who advertises with them and how much their budget is. I am offended that an editorial decision is driven by their sales department. Maybe I am just naive.
But I do not know how The Boat Yard and the Sunset Club are included in the Best Long Island Restaurants on the Water. Also how is Azteca Deli included in the 10Best Mexican Restaurants on Long Island and in their 50Best Restaurants on Long Island, how is Sripraphai and Mala Madre Taqueria included when there were better restaurants that they could have included in general as well as these categories?
Continuing my rant, a best of series should focus on the best in an industry. If we are talking about food, you need to consider the quality of the food, the service, décor and other things impacting the dining experience. You can not just add up the advertising dollars spent.
We need to avoid being sucked into their self-proclaimed best of series and find an independent review that we can rely on. I am going to take a look at Four Leaf Best of Long Island winners to see if they legitimate.