The Main Cup

Posted by PatteeGorilla on Feb 1, 2012 in February/March 2012, Feeding Time | 0 comments

A note from the Editor:

When Middletown’s the Main cup’s “number” was picked for this issue, i was really excited. i’ve been to the Main cup a few times, and have always found the place to be exceptional—although, at first, not at all what i expected. i anticipated walking into a coffee house that pretended to have a restaurant menu— we’ve all been to such places—but found an atmosphere that rivals some of the nicer settings in Frederick county, coupled with a menu that is outstanding.

Feeding Time

Posted by PatteeGorilla on Dec 1, 2011 in December2011/January2012, Feeding Time | 0 comments

TJ’s Roadhouse

We’ve received some great feedback regarding our first issue’s Secret Gorilla reviews, with many favoring the idea of having real reviews that aren’t paid for by the restaurants or tampered with by the editorial team. A few people, however, were concerned about how these reviews are conducted. So, I want to clarify how our Secret Gorillas are given their assignments, and how their reviews are analyzed and presented to our readers.

Redemption for MICKS NEW AMERICAN BISTRO

Posted by PatteeGorilla on Oct 27, 2011 in Feeding Time | 0 comments

When I started the Secret Gorilla project, where we send regular people from the community into restaurants with criteria to follow for reviewing their dining experience, I made it very clear that the intention of this project was two-fold. First, it was a chance for our readers to hear an honest assessment of a particular restaurant from their peers. Second, it was a chance for restaurateurs to hear an honest assessment about their establishment covering service to food to atmosphere from their customers. 

I knew not every restaurant would get a glowing review. I knew there would be times a particular establishment would be rated as less than satisfactory, according to the reviewer’s opinion. It has and always will, be my hope that restaurants that get negative reviews, rise to the occasion, heed the comments being made, and improve their situation in order to redeem their business’ reputation.

Feeding Time

Posted by gorilla on Jul 29, 2011 in Archives, August/September 2011, Departments, Feeding Time | 6 comments

By Pattee Brown | Photography by Bill Millios

As a self-proclaimed recovering restaurateur I decided it wasn’t okay to have restaurants
pay the Gorilla to give them glowing reviews. I think that’s crap, actually. It insults the customer/reader and doesn’t do any good for the restaurateurs who truly want to improve their restaurants.

So, I devised the SECRET GORILLA project. I sent four people to two, randomly selected restaurants in Frederick County, armed with specific review criteria and a score card.