Man Up's Reviews: How We Do It

Today, I pause to explain how we review and score our BBQ visits. Obviously, scoring is subjective; and we will never reach a point where everyone will agree with our conclusions. However, I provide the following explanation, in hopes that readers will be confident in our scoring system, regardless of whether they agree with particular scores:

As you can imagine, getting large groups together for BBQ outings is no small task, considering our disparate schedules. It would be great if money and time weren't factors and we could hit up as many joints as we wanted as many times as we wanted, but that, of course, is unrealistic. If we waited to score joints unitl we have visited them, say, 3 or 4 times, we wouldn't put out many scores. Thus, we review a place the first time we visit (even if it's the only time we ever visit it) and every time thereafter.

Also, we don't give an official score unless at least two people make the visit (So, if someone reviews a place solo and emails me a review with scores, I'll post the email, but those scores do not count toward our rankings.). I know that not every BBQ reviewer can say the same and that sometimes places that make top-BBQ lists are visited only one time by one person. Moreover, we ask everyone who reviews to do so after a 24-hour waiting period, so that the visit can sink in and the comments will be more accurate and less emotional. There is no pressue on anyone to score a particular way. I always tell first timers that they don't have to justify their scores. If they like something that every other person hates, that's perfect fine. If they think something is terrible, while everyone else raves about it, so be it.

Each person may comment on, and score, anything he/she wants -- brisket, sausage, iced tea, service, atmosphere, whatever -- but everyone must rate his/her "overall experience" (which may include/exclude whatever the scorer wants). All scores are on a scale of 0-10, and scores may be taken out to 2 decimal places. The "Overall Man-Up Score" is simply the average of every scorer's overall-experience score.

The collective review is simply a compilation of our reactions to that particular visit, not a sweeping judgment on the place as a whole. Our reviews are not scientific, and our scores are not perfect. We are mindful that a restaurant might be having an off day on the one day we visit, but we review that visit in a vacuum. Our reviews are simply what we feel about that particular visit. Nothing more, nothing less.

We could never please everyone, and we don't try to. Our reviews and scores are subjective, but they are honest. Regardless of how you feel about any of our scores (and, by the way, let us know - email us or leave comments), we hope you will, at least, feel that our review process is one with integrity. In fact, our process is so sound, I'd score it a 10. Just kidding.

In the words of Russell, stay hungry, my friends.