How does this site differ from Yelp? To start with, the CEO of Yelp made over 9 million last year and I make…well a little bit less with this site. I will be quick to admit that a well-paid CEO does not make the site bad or less useful. However, you will notice that whenever you search for food on that other site—and maybe ask for the site to sort by top rated places—you will always get five or six places at the top that aren’t that great. Those are restaurants that paid for ads. Of course, the second problem with a place like Yelp is there are many, many—but hard to exactly quantify—over-the-top self-reviews, or likewise, many reviews that trash a restaurant because the waitress made a mistake. It is hard to filter the first of these out and the second one just gets in the way of honest appraisals.
This site does not aspire to be Yelp nor to be a replacement for that site. It is just a project run by someone who actually lives in, and cares about, Tampa, And hopefully, it might generate some lively discussion about the things that make Tampa good or bad. The site will continue to grow organically—I’ve been to a lot of places in Tampa over the year, but I am not basing any reviews on past visits and likewise don’t care much about past reputations.
There is an impressive amount of diversity in the representative cuisines of Tampa. Exploring them should be an adventure. It is with that spirit that I’ll say if you’ve stumbled across this site, I hope you enjoy it and do feel free to send notes about your own adventures. (And have no worries or feelings of disloyalty—be assured that Yelp will still be there when you click away.)