In Praise of Reviews

We talk about reviews a lot in restaurants.

Usually, if we're honest, the conversation tends to focus on the bad ones.

The slightly unfair Google review...our first and so far only one-star for Wilson's came from someone who couldn't get a table and concluded we were "not a real business"...whilst still taking the time to give us one star, which felt a little harsh.

Or the guest who didn't mention anything was wrong during their meal but unloaded online afterwards. Or the occasional piece of feedback that leaves everyone scratching their heads...we recently received a five-star review from someone who freely admits they haven't visited the restaurant but has looked at our website, decided it's not for them, and given us five stars anyway. We're still not entirely sure what to make of that one…

We're very fortunate that the overwhelming majority of feedback we receive is positive. And given how important reviews have become for restaurants like ours, we thought it was worth taking a moment to talk about them properly.

The Feedback We Hear Directly

We receive feedback in two quite different ways.

The first is directly from guests. Sometimes it's a conversation at the table. Sometimes someone replies to this newsletter. Sometimes we get an email a day or two after a visit from someone who has filled out a feedback form.

We genuinely love receiving these.

Obviously it's lovely when someone tells us everything was brilliant. But the more detailed feedback is often even more useful. Someone might tell us that a dish they loved last time tasted slightly different on their most recent visit. Or that something about the way we explained the menu wasn't quite clear. Or that a change we've made to the room has improved their experience.

All of this creates a feedback loop between what we think we're doing and what our guests are actually experiencing.

We spend an enormous amount of time discussing how we want Wilson's to feel. The food, the wine, the music, the lighting, the way we greet people, how we explain the menu...a hundred tiny details, all considered and reconsidered.

But ultimately we're standing on one side of the experience.

You're standing on the other.

This is at the heart of hospitality. There isn't a restaurateur alive who wouldn't love to experience their own restaurant as a genuine guest...but short of resorting to elaborate disguises, your feedback is as close as we can get. Hearing how it actually feels from your side of the table is invaluable. Sometimes it confirms that something is working exactly as intended. Sometimes it tells us we've slightly missed the mark.

Either way, it helps us get better.

The Feedback Everyone Can See

Then there's the other kind of feedback...the stuff people post publicly.

For us, that overwhelmingly means Google reviews. And it's difficult to overstate how important these have become for small independent restaurants.

Think about the last time you were looking for somewhere to eat in an unfamiliar neighbourhood, or trying to decide between two places you'd never visited. Chances are you looked them up, glanced at the rating and read a handful of reviews before deciding. We certainly do.

So when somebody takes five minutes out of their day after eating at Wilson's to write something kind, they're not just giving everyone here a pat on the back. They're actively helping another person decide to visit. For a small independent business, that is an incredibly powerful thing.

The Reviews That Mean The Most

But there's a part of reviews that we appreciate even more...and that's when someone takes the time to mention an individual member of the team by name.

Imagine for a moment that this happened in whatever line of work you're in. You finish a day at work and a complete stranger publicly writes that you were brilliant at your job. That you made their evening better. That you were knowledgeable, funny, thoughtful or kind.

It's an extraordinary thing when you think about it.

Hospitality is hard work. Long days, late nights, a significant amount of physical and emotional energy. You need to remain attentive, interested and genuinely welcoming regardless of how busy the room is or what else might be happening around you. So when someone takes the time to call out one of our team by name and say that they made their evening special...it means a great deal.

We share those reviews with the team. We talk about them. Everyone gets slightly embarrassed when their name comes up. You can be pretty sure they're secretly delighted.

Independent restaurants grow largely through reputation. We can post on Instagram, send our newsletter and perhaps occasionally persuade a journalist to write about us...but nothing is quite as powerful as one person telling another:

"I went there, they looked after us and you should go too."

A Google review is a modern, public version of exactly that.

This isn't intended as an elaborate way of asking everyone reading this to immediately rush to Google and give us five stars.

It's really just a thank you. To everyone who has taken the time to give us feedback, privately or publicly. And a small acknowledgement that in a world where so much of what gets written online is negative or critical...there are people out there taking time out of their day to say something kind about someone who worked hard to look after them.

That's worth smiling about!

So, thank you to everyone who has left us a review.

It helps us understand what we're getting right and where we can do better.

It helps to give our team a well-deserved boost!

And every now and again it persuades someone who has never heard of Wilson's to come through the door for the first time.

For a few minutes tapping away on your phone...that's quite an impact!