Top 10 Overrrated and Underrated Restaurants

From the Wall Street Journal comes an article (paid subscription required) by Raymond Sokolov about the top ten overrated restaurants in the U.S.:

• Norman's, Coral Gables, Fla.
  • The Rep: American and Caribbean traditions, creatively interpreted
  • Our Take: A hodgepodge of ideas and ingredients
• Chez Panisse, Berkeley, Calif.
  • The Rep: The Vatican of New American cuisine
  • Our Take: A dinner party thrown by aging hippies with a really great vegetable garden
• Emeril's, New Orleans
  • The Rep: TV star takes Cajun/Creole cuisine national
  • Our Take: Better versions a short paddle away
• Restaurant 66, New York
  • The Rep: Chinese cuisine rethought by a French genius
  • Our Take: Pale classics presented chicly by overextended cook-entrepreneur
• Peter Luger Steak House, New York
  • The Rep: America's best steak
  • Our Take: Brooklyn's best steak (try Manhattan's :Sparks" instead)
• Bastide, Los Angeles
  • The Rep: Best high-end food in L.A.
  • Our Take: Best high-end food in L.A. -- but sadly, it can't match other cities' top spots
• The Ivy, Los Angeles
  • The Rep: Hollywood's foremost place to do lunch and see stars
  • Our Take: A self-consciously unglittery place with decent but unremarkable food
• Le Cirque, Las Vegas
  • The Rep: Fancy dining comes to Vegas
  • Our Take: An overpriced road show
• The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas
  • The Rep: Grand dining in a great house
  • Our Take: Painful and pricey attempt to make a dowager hip again (try "Café Modern" at the Fort Worth's Museum of Modern Art instead)
• Joe's Stone Crab, Miami
  • The Rep: An endless wait for the best stone crab in creation
  • Our Take: A stone crab is a stone crab is a stone crab

Raymond also provides a list of the top ten underrated restaurants that you should patronize:

• Deseo -- Scottsdale, Ariz.
• Citronelle -- Washington, D.C.
• Café Modern -- Fort Worth, Texas
• Oliveto -- Oakland, Calif.
• Miller's Pub -- Chicago
• Chumley's -- New York
• Mulate's -- New Orleans
• Tasty Dumplings -- New York
• Buffet at Bellagio -- Las Vegas
• JoesStoneCrab.com

I think we have a copy of Zagat at home but we rarely use it. More often than not, I refer to Citysearch.com for the user reviews. It's accurate most of the time. For instance, D & I enjoyed eating at highly rated La Luna Restaurant last week. Another site I like is OpenTable.com. I question the objectivity of their reviews, aso I only use it for making reservations. It's convenient and you earn OpenTable Points for using the service as part of their OpenTable Dining Rewards Program.