FoodSeattle.com deserves a spot on your playlist
FoodSeattle.com has entered the crowded restaurant recommendation business with a unique offering - an iPod-compatible restaurant guide [fs] featuring menu recommendations and a variety of search methods (neighborhood, price, cuisine, etc.). Best of all, it’s free and updated regularly to include new restaurants and menu changes to existing restaurants.
Zagat, the Microsoft of restaurant guides, charges $30 annually for a mobile version of its content (and nothing yet for the iPod).
Thanks to astute reader Ben Horsman for the tip!
FYI, the iPod restaurant guide isn’t unique (actually it is a blatant rip-off of my work). http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=81374
The idea for an iPod restaurant guide originated by myself while working for the Seattle Weekly. Since then, it inspired the iPod guide at the Washington Post, the Indianapolis Star, and the Lawrence World.
For whatever reason the Seattle Weekly has discontinued their iPod restaurant guide (insert New Times rant here), but if it was live, you would see that parts of the FoodSeattle.com site were copied word-for-word from the original.
Follow-up: Here is a wayback-machine copy of the original on the Seattle Weekly’s site.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050425083818/http://www.seattleweekly.com/food/restaurants/idine.php
Thanks for the information, G. It seemed a little unlikely to me that an iPod compatible restaurant guide wasn’t already available. Unfortunately, I didn’t find one when I searched for it before writing this post. Now I know why.
I suppose “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” doesn’t cut it in a situation like this…
Actually, Zagat has put out two free iPod downloads:
http://www.zagat.com/promo.aspx?PN=22
http://www.zagat.com/promo.aspx?PN=25
Thanks Dan. I’m sure you guys are working on it but I’d love to see an expanded offering and a more prominent position on your website (perhaps a mention under the Mobile heading?).