Our standards
Six rules every review here follows, and how a score is set.
The rules
We pay. Every visit is paid for in full. We take no ads, comps, affiliate links or paid placement, and nobody at a business knows a review is coming.
No conflicts of interest. We skip places where there could be any.
Facts first. A negative fact comes only from our own visit or from a public record we cite and date. Every opinion sits next to the fact it rests on.
Records, cited as records. We make no accusations of crime, fraud, illness or legal trouble. When a record is missing, we write that it was not found and give the date we looked; we do not write “unlicensed.” We do not name front-line staff.
A low score needs a second visit. A score under 5 means we went back. If we did not, the review says “One visit.” beside the month we went.
One reply. A business may reply once. We print the reply word for word under the review, up to 150 words.
How we score
Out of 10, always to one decimal. Each score earns one verdict.
- Go out of your way9.0 and up
- Worth it7.0 to 8.9
- Fine if you’re close5.0 to 6.9
- Skip it3.0 to 4.9
- AvoidUnder 3.0
Our score comes from our visit. The public’s numbers sit beside it in The Record, each with its source and the date we checked, and the two are never blended.
Each review opens with a trust line, such as “We paid. Visited September 2026.” It gives the month of the visit and no exact date.
When we get something wrong, the correction runs at the top of the review, with its date.