Frank Bruni of the New York Times answers why he writes zero star restaurant reviews.

I do generally believe that zero-star reviews — some of which dub a restaurant “satisfactory,” as in the case of Freemans or Koi or Indochine or Mercer Kitchen, and others of which dub a restaurant “poor,” as in the case of Ninja — should be somewhat rare. There’s not always sense in drawing attention to something that you’re then suggesting people should avoid.

But the definition of one star as “good” would quickly lose any meaning if the review space didn’t occasionally present examples, and reviews, of restaurants that fall below that mark. That argues for zero-star reviews from time to time.

Moreover, the size and frequency of crowds at Freemans, which is still filling up even after its expansion, suggest that every week, curious people who’ve never been there are showing up, ready to spend what may be hard-earned money.

The restaurant is clearly already on their radar: I’m not introducing it to them only to tell them to beware. I’m discussing the cons and pros — in my view, based on my experiences — of a restaurant they may well be thinking about visiting.

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