Zagat Revamps Its Restaurant Rating System

Ever see a Zagat certificate hanging in a restaurant? You know what the reputable brand is but have absolutely no clue what some numbers like 28, 27 and 26 on it mean. You can only assume it’s a good thing because the restaurant boasts it with pride on their wall.

Founded in 1979 by Tim and Nina Zagat, Zagat is the “original provider of user-generated content.” Their 30-point surveying methodology for high-quality restaurants established the brand’s presence in the rating-and-review industry for over 30 years. This summer, under the ownership of Google, the brand went through a modern refresh and simplified their rating system to a more universal 5-point system.

However, still differing itself from the other big players such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, Zagat-pick restaurants will continue to be rated on their three existing categories of food, decor and service. And decimal points will allow for a more granular review. The new rating system is as follows:

4.6 - 5.0: Extraordinary to perfection

4.1 - 4.5: Very good to excellent

3.1 - 4.0: Good to very good

2.1 - 3.0: Fair to good

1.0 - 2.0: Poor to fair

And to easily locate your "extraordinary to perfection" restaurant the next time you’re looking for dinner, Zagat also revamped their iPhone app to help you easily find Zagat-rated restaurants near you.

Click here to download the new Zagat iPhone app. And click here to find exclusive Travelzoo deals to Zagat-rated restaurants in your city.