Chefs Challenge Yelp With Startup Focused On Restaurant Recommendations, Not Reviews
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Two Bay Area brothers are recruiting top foodies for an anti-Yelp app that's taking the restaurant scene by storm.
San Francisco-based Chefs Feed has already raised $4 million in early stage funding and it's quickly gaining traction with millions of downloads in 24 cities.
Unlike Yelp, which features reviews from ordinary diners, Chefs Feed collects recommendations from top chefs.
"At its sort of core, it's the antithesis of Yelp or any of that user-generated rabble that has dominated food media on the Internet," Chief Executive Officer Rich Maggiotto, formerly of Zinio and AOL, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
With more than 71 million reviews, Yelp may still be king in the online restaurant review business, but it's alleged lack of transparency surrounding paid advertising have been a point of contention for restaurant owners.
And a bad review has been shown to hurt the bottom line. According to a 2011 Harvard Business School independent study, an extra star on Yelp means up to 9 percent more revenue for non-chain, independent restaurants.
Owners of Richmond's Botto Bistro said they were sick of the constant advertising inquiries from Yelp to remove or bury negative reviews in exchange for buying advertising.
Last fall, they encouraged customers to leave one-star Yelp ratings and to write negative reviews. In exchange, the Italian restaurant gave them 25 percent off any pizza and a chance to win a cooking class.
"Tell the world how horrible our establishment is, talk about the toilet seat temperature, the aliens in our bathrooms, how much you hate our food, and so on," said a statement on Botto Bistro's website. "In other words just be a professional Yelper! Hate us and we'll love you!"
A Yelp spokeswoman told CBS SF that Botto Bistro's allegations about Yelp's sales practices are not true, and that reviews and advertising are not connected. She pointed to Harvard Business School study and previous court cases that say Yelp's recommendation software does not reward advertisers or punish businesses that don't advertise.
