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Welcome new members - to access the AMAZING, life-changing Dining Guide, all you have to do is post one time.

Why don't you introduce yourselves in this thread right ----------> HERE <----------

Or maybe write about a recent dining experience you've had? The Dining Guide will be your index to find every major restaurant in the area - even though I'm the author, I use it myself almost every single day. If you don't have access to it yet, and are looking for a specific restaurant, the best way to do it is through Google, like this:

"donrockwell citronelle"

If you search on that (or whatever other restaurant you're looking for, alongside of donrockwell (with no spaces)), it will come up #1.

And even if you can't find the exact topic, I'll make sure it gets in there for you - my organizational skills are supremo (except when I'm trying to find my car keys). smile.gif

Have at it, and welcome!

Cheers,
Rocks.

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Oh, oh dear. I just got this in my inbox. NOT intentional on my part. MKTYE?!?!?!? :D:blink::(

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Rocks,

You might want to change the website for Tacklebox in the dining guide... the correct address is http://tackleboxrestaurant.com/ the current one....is NOT for the restaurant. If this was intentional, then you know, haha...except I'm at work right now. Just a heads up.

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Oh, oh dear. I just got this in my inbox. NOT intentional on my part. MKTYE?!?!?!? :D:blink::(

---

Rocks,

You might want to change the website for Tacklebox in the dining guide... the correct address is http://tackleboxrestaurant.com/ the current one....is NOT for the restaurant. If this was intentional, then you know, haha...except I'm at work right now. Just a heads up.

As I thought more about it got more funny, AND i was super thankful there weren't pictures and the like...

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Was checking out their web site to see if they are open for lunch during the week (nope) and saw this quote and found it interesting. I wonder if any other restaurants are using recommendations from this site.

It appears to be derived from its listing at the top of the "Pizza" category in the "Multiple Locations" section of the Dining Guide.

Who "voted"? Isn't the Dining Guide based solely on Don's personal experiences?

Jake is correct, and "voted" isn't the right word. I am (needless to say) influenced and steered by the postings on this website, but I am solely responsible for the rankings in the Dining Guide. In terms of other restaurants citing it, Eola is another recent example.

At the risk of sounding ambitious, I fully intend for the Dining Guide to be considered the definitive dining reference in the DC area. I understand it's not very "wordy," but the distillation of its content involves thousands of hours and an unspeakable amount of money. I'm about a week away from having it up-to-the-minute current, where it will remain from that point forward.

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where it will remain from that point forward.

Maybe the Restaurant Association of Washington or some similar industry group should invest in a Lloyds of London insurance policy on your gastro-intestinal tract and circulatory system. Should, God forbid, you develop a cholesterol problem or something else affecting your dietary habits, it could spell disaster for the DC Metro Dining Scene. :(
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Merry Christmas

(PS People often ask me how they can help support this website - many have offered money, and I've always refused. But there is one thing you can do that's quick and easy - just "Reshare" this Facebook post during prime-time, maybe with a comment asking others to spread the word. It's the only way the word will get out there - I'm ignored by the local media (because I'm supposedly "competition"), I'm too local for the national media to care, and I suppose I'm despised by many a PR rep (which I'm proud of). Very frustrating, but I've accepted that it's never going to change unless I go national and get proper funding. Our membership directors and forum hosts deserve better than what they get here, which is a whole lot of nothing.)

Cheers,

Rocks

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[Thanks for the advice.

I've said what I have to say here.

Don: I won't revive the arguments about whether to split up the threads for these discussion board purposes --do what you will -- but please, please, please, add the leading (i.e., at least italicized) "multiple location" restaurants -- Jaleo, SushiKo, Masai Wok, Negril, Honey Pig, VIet Goel, Taqueria Distrito Federal, Super Pollo, Ray's, Teaism, Pho75 -- to their respective geographic sections of the Dining Guides. If others are like me, they turn to those sections when they find themselves in a particular neighborhood, and with these great choices in absentia, we do not see a complete list of optimal choices. Which leads to less-than-optimal eating . . . .

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Don: I won't revive the arguments about whether to split up the threads for these discussion board purposes --do what you will -- but please, please, please, add the leading (i.e., at least italicized) "multiple location" restaurants -- Jaleo, SushiKo, Masai Wok, Negril, Honey Pig, VIet Goel, Taqueria Distrito Federal, Super Pollo, Ray's, Teaism, Pho75 -- to their respective geographic sections of the Dining Guides. If others are like me, they turn to those sections when they find themselves in a particular neighborhood, and with these great choices in absentia, we do not see a complete list of optimal choices. Which leads to less-than-optimal eating . . . .

I definitely agree! I was having a hard time finding Jaleo in the dining guide (also Rasika, for some reason) and eventually did a search in the forums, which took a while. The Dining Guide is so incredibly useful, and keeping restaurants with multiple locations listed in each of their locations would make it still more useful!

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I definitely agree! I was having a hard time finding Jaleo in the dining guide (also Rasika, for some reason) and eventually did a search in the forums, which took a while. The Dining Guide is so incredibly useful, and keeping restaurants with multiple locations listed in each of their locations would make it still more useful!

I agree, too. That's why i saved Marty's post and moved it to this thread.

Question: Would people mind if I simply put these at the bottom of each city, instead of trying to rank them along with the others? It will save me a good deal of time. I'm thinking a single line, between the active restaurants and the ones which are closed, along the lines of (for Penn Quarter, e.g.): "See also Jaleo, Capital Grille" with a link to each?

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Don: I won't revive the arguments about whether to split up the threads for these discussion board purposes --do what you will -- but please, please, please, add the leading (i.e., at least italicized) "multiple location" restaurants -- Jaleo, SushiKo, Masai Wok, Negril, Honey Pig, VIet Goel, Taqueria Distrito Federal, Super Pollo, Ray's, Teaism, Pho75 -- to their respective geographic sections of the Dining Guides. If others are like me, they turn to those sections when they find themselves in a particular neighborhood, and with these great choices in absentia, we do not see a complete list of optimal choices. Which leads to less-than-optimal eating . . . .

I definitely agree! I was having a hard time finding Jaleo in the dining guide (also Rasika, for some reason) and eventually did a search in the forums, which took a while. The Dining Guide is so incredibly useful, and keeping restaurants with multiple locations listed in each of their locations would make it still more useful!

Hear hear! In fact, just make it rule -- all local chains are split out individually into their neighborhoods. National chains, who cares?

Please, please, please do this!

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Hear hear! In fact, just make it rule -- all local chains are split out individually into their neighborhoods. National chains, who cares?

Without factoring in the administrative work it entails, I agree with this approach and believe it would add real value to the (already invaluable) Dining Guide. But considering your (Don's) point regarding the additional work involved in managing the multiple-site restaurant listings, I think your proposed solution of placing them at the bottom of each city is a reasonable compromise.

That said, if you wanted to take it a step further, some finer granularity might be warranted. For example, you can probably make the case that local enterprises with three or fewer locations warrant the same treatment (review consideration & placement) as single-location establishments. Perhaps not so different from a single local owner with multiple differently named/themed restaurants (of which we have quite a few), each of which currently has its own listing in the Dining Guide.

Dave

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Hey, speaking of which, can you comment on the dining guide South Alexandria rankings in this thread or this thread?

 

Don -

I was going to put this in the "Administrative Actions" thread but it seems appropriate for here based on your post (but feel free to move it).

Is there any way you could associate threads and restaurants with locations on a map (or more accurately, associate locations on a map with threads)?  I know the dinning guide does this, but it only has a handful of choices per location.

What I was thinking of was selecting Mt. Vernon, or Ft. Hunt or Ft. Belvoir on a map and then having the site pull up all the threads within 1 mile, 3 miles, 5 miles, etc.  For instance, in the Mt. Vernon area, there have been a bunch of threads started by "Thistle" that have been about little hole in the wall joints.  The threads are typically just one or two posts and they quickly get swallowed up by the DR machine and pushed to page 2, 3, 5.....etc.  I don't know how to find them again other than searching for "Thistle" but then I'll miss other threads like this one.

I know something like this is probably a huge, huge amount of work but I think it would really make the site more useful for out of towners or locals who have a meeting in XXXXX or YYYYYY and they want to get a bite but don't know the area well.

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Don -

I was going to put this in the "Administrative Actions" thread but it seems appropriate for here based on your post (but feel free to move it).

Is there any way you could associate threads and restaurants with locations on a map (or more accurately, associate locations on a map with threads)?  I know the dinning guide does this, but it only has a handful of choices per location.

What I was thinking of was selecting Mt. Vernon, or Ft. Hunt or Ft. Belvoir on a map and then having the site pull up all the threads within 1 mile, 3 miles, 5 miles, etc.  For instance, in the Mt. Vernon area, there have been a bunch of threads started by "Thistle" that have been about little hole in the wall joints.  The threads are typically just one or two posts and they quickly get swallowed up by the DR machine and pushed to page 2, 3, 5.....etc.  I don't know how to find them again other than searching for "Thistle" but then I'll miss other threads like this one.

I know something like this is probably a huge, huge amount of work but I think it would really make the site more useful for out of towners or locals who have a meeting in XXXXX or YYYYYY and they want to get a bite but don't know the area well.

The first person ever to come up with this idea was Nashman1975, many years ago. We even discussed it over dinner.

There is indeed a way to use Google Maps to do this, and it's not hard at all; I just haven't figured out how, and even if I did, I wouldn't have the time (though I *am* always looking for volunteers!) Rich's dcdiningguide.com does a variation of this, and everything in italic is pretty much in there.

In all seriousness, this is why I've been carping about funding for years - this is *exactly* the type of project that could be done, but there are literally thousands of restaurants in the dining guides, and it would take someone a year to do it, even full-time. In the meantime, I'm walking forward with my head down, saying to myself, 'Content is king ... content ... content ... content ...' and hoping that one day a truly aesthetically pleasing website will arrive. With Rich's help, we've done the best we can do without a *lot* of custom coding, but I know I can't compete with multi-billion dollar websites in terms of "prettiness."

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:( Sorry for the thread hijack, and I know some of these entries need to be replicated into the individual dining guides, but our Multiple Locations guide is now a thing of genuine beauty. :)

You know we love you, but the only way Multpile Locations can be a thing of beauty is to fold every restaurant into its rightful location in the neighborhood dining guides so that we research a specific neighborhood and be able to see ALL of its restaurants in one location....just saying....

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I noticed earlier you had put Sushi Capitol above Rosa's Luxury in the dining guide and thought to myself this is a perfect example of why rankings can fall apart. Clearly, Sushi Capitol and Rose's are two great restaurants that if were in differing parts of the city would be at the top of the list. You may want to consider having them share the top ranking for Capitol Hill South.

I actually really appreciate this comment because it means you've been reading. I maintain the Dining Guide *exactly* for people like you, and you've now read my explanatory text (above) which pretty much tells you what I need to say in order to convey a complete thought.

There isn't a single restaurant in the Dining Guide that isn't placed carefully. If anyone has any questions, please comment in this thread. I know there are mistakes in there because I update it every day, and sometimes I find things that leave me shaking my head. (If a new restaurant opens, and someone writes about it, I'll take an educated guess as to initial placement based on the other restaurants I know in the neighborhood, and it's not impossible for a year or more to go by without a second post, and I'll just forget about it until someone brings it up again (if you count all the restaurants, and divide by the number of days in a year, you can see it's mathematically impossible for me to go to every restaurant, and I often have to rely on our members until I get there (which is sometimes never))). Things are a lot different now than they were in 2005, but damned if I'm not trying as hard as I can, and I'll put the Dining Guide against any other version ever published in the entire world, for any city, including Michelin in Paris (which has different reviewers with different palates reviewing different restaurants). I don't want to invite trouble, but there hasn't been one single time when someone has questioned something when I haven't at least thought about it, and usually followed it up with a visit (please don't start deluging me with obvious misplacements because if it gets beyond a certain point, I won't be able to visit all the restaurants, but I promise I'll keep trying until I drop). Also, regarding "Titles and Tags," I'm in the process of making a methodical sweep through the Washington, DC Restaurants and Dining forum, and as of this writing, I have traversed the first 729 restaurants (Phung Huong being the latest) for correctness - if you're ever curious as to which number I'm currently on, just ask - all 729 have also had their entries in the Dining Guide double-checked for correctness. I wonder if people realize just how hard I work here. Onward!

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I actually really appreciate this comment because it means you've been reading. I maintain the Dining Guide *exactly* for people like you, and you've now read my explanatory text (above) which pretty much tells you what I need to say in order to convey a complete thought.

I do appreciate your guide quite a bit. If my wife and I are in some part of the area where I don't have a particular strong desire for a previous visited favorite restaurant or want to see if there is something new, first place to check is the guide. My wife's reply when I suggest something after those conversations, is this recommendation from the DR forum?  ;) 

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I do appreciate your guide quite a bit. If my wife and I are in some part of the area where I don't have a particular strong desire for a previous visited favorite restaurant or want to see if there is something new, first place to check is the guide. My wife's reply when I suggest something after those conversations, is this recommendation from the DR forum?  ;) 

Please (you, and everyone else) *do* question things you aren't sure about (i.e., "How do you possibly have "x" ranked above "y"?) - and in case you didn't know, the listings within each neighborhood are, in fact, rankings - and let me tell you, it takes cojones of brass even to attempt such a thing, but I know that no matter how flawed it might be, it's still better than anything else out there because I'm claiming that it's up-to-the-moment correct). Checks, balances, and a skeptical readership are the only way I will ever approach perfection, and perfection is my one and only goal. Please be gentle - I'm very hard on myself, and I try more than you could possibly imagine. If you don't wish to call me out publicly, then please write me privately - they'll both get the same level of attention, and nothing will go unanswered. Even if you object to something being ranked 9th vis-a-vis something else that's ranked 11th, that's important to me, and I will reconsider the entries, I promise, and hopefully explain my rationale. Quite often, I expect to say, "You're right," and adjust the entries in The Dining Guide accordingly.

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I have nothing to object to Don, think the forum is great. My suggestion was to consider another category in the rankings with restaurants that are at the same level in the same geographical region.

My forum writing style is quick and dirty with usually no editing. Perhaps my earlier comment came across as terse or adversarial, however that was not my intention.

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I have nothing to object to Don, think the forum is great. My suggestion was to consider another category in the rankings with restaurants that are at the same level in the same geographical region.

My forum writing style is quick and dirty with usually no editing. Perhaps my earlier comment came across as terse or adversarial, however that was not my intention.

No no, you don't understand - your comment was most welcome, and it's exactly what I need. Nobody ever gives me any feedback, and I'm desperate for it (readers, please do reply either via PM or in the thread mentioned above). lion, I meant to express my appreciation and to encourage more questions and feedback; not the opposite!

I feel like I have this gigantic 10-year-in-the-making PhD dissertation out there that nobody has asked me to defend, and I'm chomping at the bit to defend it! (And I also know darned good-and-well that there are holes in it that I haven't even looked at in months if not longer, and someone paying attention could tear it apart, so I'm a little nervous).

For instance: Bibiana just lost Nick Stefanelli - what do I do with it?

Cheers,

Rocks

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No no, you don't understand - your comment was most welcome, and it's exactly what I need. Nobody ever gives me any feedback, and I'm desperate for it (readers, please do reply either via PM or in the thread mentioned above). lion, I meant to express my appreciation and to encourage more questions and feedback; not the opposite!

I feel like I have this gigantic 10-year-in-the-making PhD dissertation out there that nobody has asked me to defend, and I'm chomping at the bit to defend it! (And I also know darned good-and-well that there are holes in it that I haven't even looked at in months if not longer, and someone paying attention could tear it apart, so I'm a little nervous).

For instance: Bibiana just lost Nick Stefanelli - what do I do with it?

Cheers,

Rocks

Thanks for the clarification! Being involved in activities with large numbers of people interacting passionately, I understand that difficulty you have with people not offering constructive or positive communication, so wanted to make sure that it was not extra work.

How do you defend this PhD on food...? Interesting question to ask oneself.

The forum was created in 2005? Looked up my sign up date, 2007, and recall that I just read it for at least a year. Wow time is going by fast.

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Quote

Dang!  Tom is raving.

Don has *been* raving for years.

Advance notice: at some point, the Dining Guide will only be free for participating members - people simply don't understand there's never been anything like it ever done, or even attempted, ever, anywhere, and they think because it's free, it's worth what they pay for it. Take it away, and the DC Dining scene will descend into chaos. The guide changes constantly, sometimes multiple times per day, so any copies of it will quickly become obsolete. I will never charge our active members to access the Dining Guide on the website, so you don't have to worry about that.

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Please (you, and everyone else) *do* question things you aren't sure about (i.e., "How do you possibly have "x" ranked above "y"?) - and in case you didn't know, the listings within each neighborhood are, in fact, rankings - and let me tell you, it takes cojones of brass even to attempt such a thing, but I know that no matter how flawed it might be, it's still better than anything else out there because I'm claiming that it's up-to-the-moment correct). Checks, balances, and a skeptical readership are the only way I will ever approach perfection, and perfection is my one and only goal. Please be gentle - I'm very hard on myself, and I try more than you could possibly imagine. If you don't wish to call me out publicly, then please write me privately - they'll both get the same level of attention, and nothing will go unanswered. Even if you object to something being ranked 9th vis-a-vis something else that's ranked 11th, that's important to me, and I will reconsider the entries, I promise, and hopefully explain my rationale. Quite often, I expect to say, "You're right," and adjust the entries in The Dining Guide accordingly.

OK, Mr. Cojones.....you need to fix this --

The Grill Room (Cappella Hotel) - This is still speculative, but in the best-case scenario, Frank Ruta may have found a luxurious home in which to cook

Now. As in italic.

While he may not be completely evolved in to his ultimate form, Frank's already established the place. Now he just needs to kick out the idiots that weat 4 ounces of Chanel No. 5 all at the same time. ;-p

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OK, Mr. Cojones.....you need to fix this --

The Grill Room (Cappella Hotel) - This is still speculative, but in the best-case scenario, Frank Ruta may have found a luxurious home in which to cook

Now. As in italic.

While he may not be completely evolved in to his ultimate form, Frank's already established the place. Now he just needs to kick out the idiots that weat 4 ounces of Chanel No. 5 all at the same time. ;-p

The way Don defines italics as places that are "notable," absolutely though this should probably be bold in short order. Then again, he already has only Fiola Mare above it and that isn't bold? That seems off to me as well.
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