It's also a cultural thing, I don't think I'm that far from the norm here. We just don't do this.
Either way though, I think we're mostly in agreement about how to find good places to eat.
And I weighed the pub review more highly as well. And the pub has locals raving from 30 miles away. Nobody knows about the cafe; I went in once and it was completely empty, so I went to the McDonald's that had a few customers.
I find that my tastes in term of food align with Japanese (and in a smaller measure French and Italian) customers whereas British and Americans tend to have very different tastes than me.
Interestingly too, Japanese customers tend to be stricter in their ratings (this can be seen in Tabelog in Japan where 3.6 is a really good score for a restaurant).
I only look at food quality and restaurant cleanliness reviews and it works out pretty well. If multiple people are saying a place is dirty, I'll avoid it at all costs. People talking about greasy, old... food is also a pass. Most of the time when people complain about service I feel they have weird expectations or lack skills for properly interacting with the staff.
>enter business
>scrapes reviews
>pulls out most mentioned phrases and can filter common ones like "great", "awesome", etc
>specifically highlight the negative reviews that DON'T mention the certain things you care about.
Second, see what people are complaining about, for example, these 2 1-star reviews reveal vastly different experiences:
Cafe: Horrible staff and horrible food. The owners wife argues with the customers, over charges and makes sure to let you know shes overworked and exhausted. We paid over a 100 dollars on lunch for 4 people. One of those orders was on a childs menu. The resturant is very neat looking and has the potential to be successful. They need a new cook and new staff. Its clear everyone hates their jobs.
Pub: We picked this place based on the high reviews. I specifically wanted to dine here for the crab cakes. I'm fairly certain there wasn't crab in them since they where mostly batter. The flavor was lacking and the aoli was gross. I didn't say anything and should have. I just left and I'm still hungry. Price is extremely high too. Needs new menu.
These restaurants are within 5 miles of each other. As the second review was entirely about the food, it's safe to say there were no service, billing, parking, or other issues - especially since other reviews back this up. And food ratings frequently reflect preference - maybe I would enjoy the crab cakes. So the second establishment would get my business.
But yes, there's no source quite like the opinion of a local, directly from their mouth. Even better than the above system is to find a bar/pub/coffee shop/etc where the locals go, and ask them how things are going in the area.