INTRO

Not all restaurants should be subject to the same reviewing criteria. When I look for restaurants, I seek out spots that I hope will create a positive experience appropriate for 1) the group, as different people have different palates and budgets (not necessarily correlated) and 2) the situation, casual versus formal versus fun versus fun, etc.

I’ve used my thoughts from eating at thousands of restaurants to create a standardized way of categorizing them. Categorization 1) makes it easier to describe a restaurant type to you, and 2) makes it so that a food truck is not rated on the same scale as a Michelin star restaurant.

SO, without further ado, below is my overly academic restaurant categorization guide.

GENERAL CATEGORIES

Listed below are the four general categories of restaurants that I’ve identified. **PLEASE read the descriptions below to understand categories, as they were not created based on price (though price is a byproduct of some category types). ALL restaurants that I discuss on this blog will be categorized.

**Note that the pricing scale per person will change slightly, typically will be lower, for breakfast and lunch spots.

SUBCATEGORIES

 is a KISS order at the counter spot. 
 is a KISS sit down, server waits on you spot. 
 is a ROM order at the counter spot. 
 is a ROM sit down, server waits on you spot. 
 is a ROM restaurant that falls in the "fine dining" category. 
 is a HIP spot that does creative takes on dishes that are classified as more traditional. 
 is a HIP spot that is more out of the box. 
 is an OOO spot that has a pre-set tasting menu. 

IMPORTANT RULES TO CONSIDER:

1. Price scales are rough estimates that might vary based on two factors: 1) location and 2) alcohol consumption. The above price ranges were created by anchoring in price trends that I’ve seen in small-large sized cities (NOT rural areas) and factoring in the cost that average social drinkers take on. e.g., bottle of wine or cocktails at dinner.
2. There CAN be overlap between categories. A restaurant CAN fall between a ROM and a HIP, a HIP and an OOO, etc.
3. “Run of the mill” doesn’t sound overly attractive. However, I firmly believe that ROMs can be terrific, culinary respectful establishments.

I know that high-quality steakhouses are very different from McDonalds; however I, personally believe, that both fall under a general ROM category because they are 1) easy to find, highly accessible and 2) predictable. Predictability is NOT always bad.

More on ROM:

1. Think of ROMs as restaurants that you can easily find anywhere. Every town in America has a steakhouse and a McDonalds.
2. ROMs will not surprise you. The menu and flavors will be expected, they can still be wonderful.
3. A delicious local mom&pop burger joint putting a memorable twist on an Oklahoma burger is a KISS, while a Burger King is a ROM, not a KISS. They’re both American style food, so what’s the difference? The Burger King isn’t doing anything that you can’t find at another location… I believe, and others can disagree, that the mass production of food detracts from its authenticity (a key part of being a KISS). That doesn’t mean that I don’t like a Jersey Mike’s sub, it just means that thousands of Jersey Mike’s subs are probably sold daily across the U.S., and that they’re, thus, easy to come by.
4. Not all Americanized restaurants are ROMs, but almost always, all ROMs put American flare on whatever food they’re serving, e.g., standard tex mex, which is easy to find across the U.S.
5. “Run of the mill” in America is different than what it might be in Italy, Korea, etc. etc., because the “run of the mill,” common flavors will differ based on region and, hence, culture. American Flared food is, obviously, the most common food in the U.S.
6. On my reviews, if I categorize a restaurant as ROM, pay attention to its price point to better understand the exact type of ROM that it is. If a ROM is $, it’s probably a standard chain, if a ROM is $$$, it might be a local standard steakhouse.