restaurant categories

[slam]

so i'm tasked with adding yellow pages data to our map-based search at my real estate company. one of the things we want is a categorized restaurant guide. we've had one for awhile, but we're kind of redoing it now.

so anyways, i need to take all the various types of restaurants out there and throw them into around 12 all-inclusive categories. the trick, of course, is to do so in a way that both makes sense and doesn't offend anyone.

here's the categories we're using now:

cafe/diner
fast food/deli/grill
pizzeria
seafood
italian
mexican/latin american
american/steakhouse
chinese/indian/oriental
thai/vietnamese/korean
japanese/sushi
mediterranean/middle eastern
ethnic

which, i guess is workable, but then the 'ethnic' category ends up containing all of africa, most of europe, etc. is it ok to group thai, vietnamese, and korean foods? what about chinese and indian? what does oriental even mean? do i need to list japanese and sushi seperately?

does anyone have any thoughts? can you come up with a good way to organize restaurants?

[Padrote]

I have always liked "quick serve" over "fast food"

[Diamond Vision]

hmmm... food is oriental, people are asian... last I checked, oriental was A-OKay for food.

As far as asian categories go, I would put Thai with Japanese. At least in NYC, their menus tend to overlap quite a bit.

I question the pizzeria category... if it's like Pizza Hut, or street pizza, i consider it fast food but if it's Uno's or John's, I'd expect to find it in itallian... i understand Chicago has different rules about pizza, tho.

You could add European to med/mid. eastern to narrow the "ethnic" category and perhaps change "ethnic" to "soul food". Don't know if Chi-town has a South African Kine restaurant... only one in NYC that I know of... and then I'd just call them to see if they prefer Soul Food or the med./european category.

Another unrepresented food category is Carribean. not sure what you have in Chicago... several here in NYC.

I'd consider indian food closer to mid. eastern fare than chinese.

I would think Japanese would be inclusive of Sushi but people are dumb and you should probably list it like Jap./Sushi.

Where would all those Southwestern fusion restaurants fall? You know, the ones with burritos and chiles relleno that don't send you running for the mens room?

This is fun. I like food and I like sorting things... it's right up my alley!

[Soul Queen]

I don't know if you should change ethnic to soul food. I don't consider soul food and african food to be the same thing. I have an ethopian friend who has made me some food. Its not soul food. I would consider soul food things like okra, collard greens, chicken, grits etc.

The african dishes that I had are nothing like that. The vegetarian fare I had included red lentils in a delicous berbere sauce, a mixed vege medley. Then you eat it with Nijira bread. Its not your typical bread. Its more of a wet flat bread. Very yummy.

But it should have its own category to reflect that type of food. If you do combine the two, call them different things such as soul food/african food.

I also think Caribbean food should be reflected in the list. But it almost can be combined with Latin American Food which you originally had listed with Mexican food. Mexican/Latin American/Caribbean

Also could you include pizzeria with italian food? Italian/pizzeria. It would open another category for you.

I personally would change the title of ethnic as other. I wouldn't put Oriental with Chinese. Asian would be a better title.

I love food! It sounds like with this project you will find all the great restaurants in Chicago!

[hotfoot]

http://www.chicagoreader.com/cgi-bin/rrr/form.cgi

check out how the reader does it.

[Goody Simpson]

Also, can you list a restaurant in more than one place (e.g. Anne Sathers in European and "Breakfast Only")

Either way, my suggestion is....:

Asian (can't you just list all the Asian countries under that? Including sushi?)
European
Mexican
Latin American/Carribean
Italian/pizzeria
Mediterranean/middle eastern
American Regional (Cajun/Tex-Mex/Soul)
American: Steakhouse, Seafood, Diner, Pub
Fast Food/Deli grill
Specialty (vegetarian, coffee houses, chocolate bar, gourmet markets; breakfast only?))
Fusion - (the crazy ass stuff like “French Vietnamese” ê btw my all time fave. Rest. In Chicago: Pasteur)
African (I had an extra spot, this catgory may be small but I don't know where else to put it ...)