More lists: Opinionated About Dining releases its 2019 lists

I think each reviewer’s rating of the restaurants are weighted according to the # of reviews they have or something to that effect…

WP24?
71Above?
Nozawa Bar?

@beefnoguy sums it up nicely.

Ctrl + F / “Stinking Rose”

NOPE, this list sucks.

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careful what you say about oad: plotnicki is famously lititgious…

If you look at the top reviewers on the OAD list, a number of them are social media moguls or powerhouses themselves, and wield a lot of influence in the food and beverage industry (some globally to an extent or cross country). Most of you probably already follow them in one form or another.

A lot of these people are well connected and can get into these restaurants that are notoriously difficult to book, or they basically trade favors where one is a regular and another is regular somewhere else (or they just curry favor with the best concierge services in town in addition). A few of them are not just jet setter types but also have the power to vote for a restaurant either in Michelin or Pellegrino. So some restaurants have to really play nice, knowing that their glory and reputation could be at stake.

Bottom line, don’t let these people tell you where to eat. Just like the Michelin guide, it is just but another list, but at least more weighted. It’s really up to you and the readers, to research, use OAD or their reviewer’s social media to figure out if going to a particularly top restaurant is worth your while. And bear in mind most of these restaurants already know who these reviewers are, unless they choose to hide their face (generally from public social media if so), and of course they will likely tread extra carefully around them and play extra nice on top.

If only we really knew how the system worked…our opinions of them would be …very very different (this applies to Michelin standards/ratings as well).

Personally I was not fond of Single Thread and am baffled still about their Michelin stars and within a short period of time. But I know people who went who loved it. It is a place to impress and to impress others, at least visually. Though to be fair I went when they first opened, but even then they did not move me the way Meadowood did.
Certainly some restaurants are darn good, and some will be WTF? It is what it is.

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Damn straight. I never would have found quesadilla lady of Echo Park if I had heeded these rigged lists…

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It’s not just the usual suspects. It includes some board favorites that don’t have 2-3 Michelin stars and aren’t on the Pellegrino lists.

All the sushi is in New York. And does anyone kinow what “Progressive American” is meant to invoke?

That’s what Grant Achatz calls his work at Alinea.

There’s a selection of sushi they pulled from L.A. I think I saw Matsuhisa and a couple of others in the mix.

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ny sushi > la sushi

Wrong. Read it again.

Oh, Robert. You’re so literal sometimes. :wink:

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14 NY, 11 LA, 7 elsewhere

Asanebo - Studio City, California
Matsuhisa - West Hollywood, California
Mori Sushi - Los Angeles, California
Nozawa Bar - Beverly Hills, California
Q Sushi - Los Angeles, California
Shunji - Los Angeles, California
Sushi Gen - Los Angeles, California
Sushi Tsujita - Los Angeles, California
Sushi Zo - Los Angeles, California
Urasawa - Beverly Hills, California
Yamakase - Los Angeles, California

Sushi Amane - Manhattan, New York
15 East - Manhattan, New York
Kuruma Zushi - Manhattan, New York
Masa - Manhattan, New York
O Ya NYC - Manhattan, New York
Shoji at 69 Leonard - Manhattan, New York
Shuko - Manhattan, New York
Sushi Inoue - Manhattan, New York
Sushi Nakazawa - Manhattan, New York
Sushi Noz - Manhattan, New York
Sushi Yasuda - Manhattan, New York
Sushi Zo - Manhattan, New York
Tanoshi Sushi - Manhattan, New York
Ushiwakamura - Manhattan, New York

Kabuto - Las Vegas, Nevada
NAOE - Miami, Florida
Nodoguro - Portland, Oregon
Sushi Sho - Honolulu, Hawaii
Sushi Taro (Omakase Counter) - Washington DC, District of Columbia
Sushi Yoshizumi - San Mateo, California
Uchi - Austin, Texas\

First I’ve heard of Maum.

http://maumpaloalto.com

No. They did miss the best SF Bay Area places (with a nod to Yoshizumi in San Mateo).

Which places are you thinking of? There are 41 including the “other recommended”:

121  Acquerello 
 48  Angler 
194  aster 
 53  Atelier Crenn 
 23  Aubergine 
189  Avery 
124  Baumé 
 18  Benu 
152  Birdsong 
 78  Californios 
     Chez Panisse 
 93  Coi 
 49  Commis 
125  Commonwealth 
127  Eight Tables by George Chen 
 38  French Laundry
     Gary Danko 
     Hakkasan 
 70  In Situ 
     KEIKO à Nob Hill 
185  Lazy Bear 
 11  Manresa 
117  Maum 
     Michael Mina 
     Mister Jiu’s 
 60  Mourad 
     Nico 
     Nightbird 
     Omakase 
191  petit crenn 
     Prospect 
     Protégé 
 57  Quince 
 15  Restaurant at Meadowood
  4  Saison 
     Sawa Sushi 
154  Sierra Mar 
  2  Single Thread Farm 
115  Sons & Daughters 
 35  Sushi Yoshizumi 
     Village Pub

I was responding specifically regarding sushi in San Francisco, where they mentioned none.

I think the general consensus among sushi cognoscenti on this board is that the only sushi places in the Bay Area that might be on the same level as the best of LA are not in SF, so that didn’t seem surprising to me.