What and Why: The Reason this Blog Exists

There are countless blogs in the world.  Many are pointless ramblings from people that need attention from anybody anywhere; others serve important purposes.  I hope this one won't be pointless, though that would be up to readers to decide.  If there will be any readers at all...  With the sheer number of blogs in existence, it's easy to be lost in the anonymity that such numbers offer.  After all, if this was one of only a few blogs out there, it'd stand a much better chance of being noticed.  As it is though, this blog has a specific, narrow purpose, so it won't be filled with pointless ramblings but will also have a more limited audience.  So we'll see where it goes.  I might write a few entries and give up, or it could become a monster in its own way.

I am Bob.  Bob isn't my real name, but it's a screen name I came up with ages ago that sort of took on a life of its own.  When I sit down at the computer, I somehow become "Bob".  And so I am Bob.  

In a very literal as well as a relative way, I live for food.  There's no life without food anyway, but I really have a passion for it.  Not in the Gordon Ramsay sense - I don't particularly like to cook.  But I love to eat.  And though I have great respect for Mr. Ramsay and his accomplishments, I probably wouldn't enjoy much of the food served in his restaurants.  A $50 poached quail's egg just doesn't get me excited.  I like real food.  The kind of stuff that I don't have to save up for months to eat just once, that I don't have to dress up for or drive great distances to.  

Food should be easy and cheap and... good.  And that's the problem.  There's a lot of not-good food out there.  It's everywhere.  It seems that the days of going to a restaurant knowing that the food must be good if the place is in business are long gone.  People have let their standards drop, and nowadays lousy food is perfectly acceptable as long as other people are eating there.  People always go where the other people are going, so if Macaroni Grill is busy, that must be the place to eat.  Nevermind that the food sucks.  And if the place next door is never busy, then it doesn't matter how good the food is - no one will find out because they're all at Macaroni Grill.  It's sad because it sends a signal to these massive corporate chain restaurants that mediocre food is fine as long as they can get people in the door.  Chain restaurants are usually the problem but not always.  Some of them are actually quite good, while some of the independent restaurants should never have opened in the first place.

Anybody who knows me can tell you that for someone who loves food, I'm incredibly picky and critical.  And it's my right to be.  I'm paying for these meals, aren't I?  I have every right to have high expectations when my money is spent.  And that's the other problem - people don't have high expectations anymore.  If all the restaurants are crappy, then you start to accept that your night-out money will buy you crap.  It doesn't have to be that way.  It SHOULD'T be that way, and that's the whole point of this blog.  If you're tired of taking the family out and spending all that money toward mediocre food, then you feel the way I do.

This is a food review blog for regular people in the West Michigan area.  In time it may encompass more than restaurants, but for now that's what it's about.  Whether it be fast food, family dining or even fine dining if it's not too ridiculous, I am going to give my opinions on the places I go to eat and the things I eat when I'm there.  If something is horrible, you'll know it.  If something is good, you'll know it.

This is not your typical food critic stuff.  I don't care about wine.  I don't care how many forks are in my place setting and worring about which one I'm supposed to use at any given time.  If a place is pretentious I probably wouldn't set foot in there anyway, so I won't be writing about it.  And nevermind the fact that most upscale restaurants serve lousy food - I can't afford to eat in them anyway.  This is for people on a tighter budget who just want something decent to eat in exchange for their money.  That's not unreasonable.

Since no one is paying me for this, it will start small and grow with time.  Hopefully, eventually, people will make their own comments.  If you have a place you'd like reviewed, let me know.  What I hope do do is develop a list of places that are worth going to, so that we don't end up in the rut we all seem to end up in, where we only go to one or two restaurants because we know what to expect.  It limits the choices we have as well as keeps us out of new restaurants that might be good if we knew enough about them to give them a chance.  If no one gives them a chance, they shut down and we're left with what's left - a lot of mediocre crap.  So help me out, take part if you can, or at least take advantage of the information here so we can make a difference in the choices we have.