Is Zagat Doomed?

Back when antediluvian diners sought opinions without the help of the Internet, Tim and Nina Zagat built a restaurant survey and ranking empire, which grew into a sprawling international family of guides on everything from dating to dumping. Just before the financial collapse really got nasty, they tried to sell the whole enterprise for $200 million, and are rumored to have turned down offers as high as $100 million. Today, the Post finds the Zagats in deep weeds, largely due to competitors like Yelp, which now boasts more than 7 million U.S. visitors per month with reviews on all sorts of things, including Zagat! By comparison, Zagat's website, which requires a $25 annual fee, averaged just 270,000 unique visitors last month. The company laid off 16 people, and the Zagats have given up trying to sell it. As one Yelper opines, "If Zagat was the bomb, [Yelp] wouldn't exist, so thanks for sucking so bad, Zagat. I almost was forced to go to Chinese food in Chinatown due to an out-of-town colleague who had armed himself with Zagat and biblical notions of self importance... In the end, I won and we ended up at a real restaurant that didn't have to pay for a review." Well, not exactly.

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By John Del Signore in Food on September 9, 2009 3:08 PM

Comments [rss]

Powerhugs

I don't feel bad for Zagat's turning down such a low $100M offer but the reality is that they pretty much had the restaurant guide market via paperback to their own for decades correct? Like everything else, with the advent of the internet there are countless of imitators and/or competitors out there competing for our attention...Hey Zagat just try and change with the time a little and get rid of those ridiculous fees or you will go the way that AOL did with their memberships...

Ed

Both Yelp and Zagat suck, simply because members of the general public are terrible judges of what makes a good restaurant. There is a reason restaurant chains exist, after all. So you are pretty much spending time reading worthless opinions. Both have some use in terms of listing phone numbers and addresses.

savedbyzero

I miss Vindigo

Potty Boy

It's easy to dump on Zagat's. I used to use it at one time, but have moved much past it as I grew older and hopefully, more sophisticated, now finding it of minimal use (or as Mr Mel says, only as a phone directory). But it did serve its purpose at one time. And for that, it was a useful tool. No more, no less.

Mr Mel

Zagat's is a phone directory, period

hotstepper

zagat is useful for those who like their dining options spoon-fed with a side of ambiguous proportions, while yelp is only fun for trying to find an ounce of truth within an anonymous commenting system (like here, but with the bonus of indigestion and possible food poisoning).

maevemealone

I always found Zagat more confusing than helpful. I also don't like Yelp, too many opinions creates too much noise.

Kojak

True on both points, but at least Yelp is better than Citysearch... ugh

Gwinny

Citysearch's format blows -- it won't let you just browse restaurants in a certain neighborhood. Yelp is much better in that respect.

ANGRYGOD11

Zagat's is still useful for high-end places.

I don't trust the snarky comments Yelpers leave to prove how worldly and clever they think they are.

JMH

Then why do you trust the snarky comments Zagat reviewers write to prove how worldly and clever they think they are?

MT

I like Zagat's. I'll always be a fan of that little book. It was fun just reading the thing sometimes.

jaycjay

I suppose it could be. If you're just reading the thing, and not actually heeding its recommendations.

The Edge

"I almost was forced to go to Chinese food in Chinatown"

Oh, the horror.

pastaboy12

the bomb? really? is it the late 90's all of a sudden?

NannyState

When it comes to Zagat, yes. 1998 to be precise.

miz coaster

LOL

JacqueMehoff

good one, NS.

1998, when I worked in the entertainment industry, that book was on every desk and every year a new one get's expensed.

ed_Extinct

Offered $100MM and they turned it down? Really $100MM wasn't enough?

Cry me a river...

JenChungsBaby

Zagat's "sucks ass and always has" and it's reviews are "cheap and unfulfilling." It managed to carve an "old-school niche" for itself but it's getting "buried by new media." Who cares about Zagat's any more except "people who arrive early for the senior citizen special?"