Restaurants keep watch on Urbanspoon ratings and range of reviews

His restaurant has been slammed by cruel commenters and given a lacklustre 61 per cent Urbanspoon rating from picky diners, but he makes a delicious chicken burger, has never fudged a poached egg and makes more than 5000 meals a week.

Yet, Salvatore Malatesta, owner of the St Ali chain, has been savaged online. Malatesta knows all too well how bad Urbanspoon can be for business.

"I like the idea of the democratic blogger; it appeals to me and it is kind of liberating but this is different," he said.

Mr Malatesta is about to introduce "Urbanspoon etiquette" guidelines to be handed out with menus at his restaurants.

"We will ask that if you haven't enjoyed your experience, it's really handy if you tell us so, and if you have enjoyed it, it's good for our ego if you tell us also," he said.

Malatesta says he opened the second incarnation of his St Ali brand in Nicholson St, North Carlton, and used his own social media platforms to try to boost its Urbanspoon cred.

St Ali cafe owner Salvatore Malatesta with his prized chicken burger says the Urbanspoon rating system is flawed.

He claims a spike in likes prompted Urbanspoon to delete some of the activity as "suspicious". Then, the competition trolls and garden variety stirrers moved in.

"Competitors or haters will hate and use it as a forum to vent," he said, and vent they did, with Mr Malatesta more than convinced some were competitors trying to bring him down.

"You can tell if you look through their profile if they are a genuine reviewer or just a troll," he said.

Despite being traumatised by the online bile, Mr Malatesta said they took the ratings very seriously and implemented a full-time host at the door to address grumpy customers, complaints about wait times and table service.

"I now work the floor myself, and make sure I talk to every customer and ask them how their experience was," he said.

Malatesta said trolling was particularly bad on Urbanspoon because there wasn't a public dialogue and participants could anonymously sledge.

"You don't see it on Facebook and Twitter because it is a public discussion - it rarely happens on there," he said.

Tapas institution MoVida got 2500 hits in July from Urbanspoon to their website, so they take it very seriously. So seriously in fact, the head chef, Frank Camorra, initially refused to talk to the Sunday Herald Sun about Urbanspoon - his flack telling us "we never discuss Urbanspoon".

Diners give Camorra 86 per cent, and think the lamb cigars and beef cheeks are the dishes to beat. But most warn you'll be in for a wait.

When pressed, Camorra says they read all Urbanspoon ratings.

"Any outlet that allows people to openly express and comment on your business should always be closely monitored," he said.

A flood of gripes about crusty bread forced Jackie Middleton, owner of city sandwich bar Earl Canteen, (with an 82 per cent Urbanspoon rating), to change the bread on their flagship pork belly roll.

"We think it is very important. We appreciate that people might say things on there that they don't want to tell you to your face," she said.

Buzz restaurant Chin Chin is among a throng of eateries which have hired a full-time social media professional to handle their channels - another example of the investment in precious positive feedback.

"Word of mouth on steroids" is how John Hart, chief of the Australian Restaurant and Catering Industry Association, describes Urbanspoon.

"It has definitely wound up the temperature of the game. Once upon a time, people would tell their friends about a restaurant they ate at, now they are telling the world at large.

"It's an intensity we have never had before," he said.

Source: The Australian, 3 August 2013