Restaurant guides list the top places to eat. One of the most famed of these, in Western Europe, is the Michelin series of guides which contract from 1 to 3 stars to restaurants they understand to be of high culinary merit. The Michelin Red Guide is the grail of sorts, awarding up to 3 stars. One star indicates "interesting”; 2 stars hint at a place definitely worth visiting if you're in the neighborhood ; three stars means "phenomenal cuisine, worth a special journey." Stars are awarded expressly for cuisine and service; another scale of one to five implies luxury, and is designated by a crossed fork-and-spoon icon.

The Mobile Travel Guides and the North American vehicle organization rate restaurants on a corresponding scale of one to five star (Mobil) or Diamond (AAA). 3 , 4, and 5 star / diamond ratings are approximately identical to the Michelin 1, 2, and 3 star ratings while one and 2 star ratings often indicate more casual places to eat. In 2005, Michelin released a New York guide, its first for the US. This first version of this guide was noted by Times cafe critic Steven Kurutz to not give stars to a couple of restaurants (eg the Union Square Cafeteria) that several guides (Zagat Survey, NY Times) have rated highly.

Kurutz also claimed the guide seemed to favor cafes which "emphasized ritual and display" instead of a "casual approach to fine dining", that the Union Square Cafeteria is famous. The Zagat Survey compiles client comments in place of utilizing pro food critics, and rates restaurants on a numeric 30-point scale. Just about all major American papers employ eatery critics and publish online dining guides for the towns they serve, e.g. the NY Times for Manhattan City's eateries. American paper eatery critics usually visit dining multinationals anonymously and return many times in order to sample the whole menu. Paper cafe guides, have a tendency to supply the most comprehensive coverage of varied towns ' dining options. The tasty food Guide, released by the Fairfax Paper Group in Australia, is the Australian guide listing the best locations to eat. Cooks Hats are awarded for exceptional restaurants and range from one hat thru 3 hats. The tasty food Guide also incorporates guides to bars, cafeterias and suppliers.

The Good Eatery Guide is another Australian cafe guide which has reviews on the cafes as experienced by the general public and provides info on locations and contact information. Any member of the general public can submit a review. With the arrival of Web 2.0, new sorts of review web sites have come about. These internet sites have empowered regular folk to generate non-expert reviews. This has ignited much feedback from eatery firms about the non-editorial, non-professional critiques.