Who thinks this looks appetizing ?

[DuckDuckMom]

Someone posted a review of this restaurant on the Los Angeles board, with a link. I was curious and wound up here:

http://www.georgepetrellisteaks.com/L...

I don't know much about photography or web design but this picture alone would "talk" me out of going there, no matter how great the review. And I love hamburgers.

Granted it's not the most cutting edge site, but shouldn't have someone spoken up ?

or maybe it's just me....?

[niki rothman]

Well, that photograph does its job perfectly. If the goal is communication, then they succeeded in convincing me their restaurant serves a standard no frills burger. If that was THE ONLY photo on the website, you have to wonder what is the point? OK, I wouldn't imagine you would take a picture of something horrifying, but yet...that photo is not going to convince anyone to make this a "new destination" restaurant since you could get it anywhere else, anytime - including anyone's kitchen. I mean, I'm NEVER going to have a lightbulb go off over my head - "Man, now, WHICH restaurant was it where I saw that picture of a completely harmless, dry looking burger on an ordinary looking hamburger bun? Where, oh where?"
It goes in Jame's Lilek's "Gallery of Regretable Food" beacuse it is...regretable.

[SuzyInChains]

Who thinks it looks appetizing? I do!

What I see is the quintessential cheeseburger platter as served by America's best diners. Old, original diners - not brand new, old-looking retro creations, with beer, wine and cocktails and a menu full of the trendy cuisine of the week, but authentic stainless-steel diners, complete with pie slices under a glass dome, upper-middle-aged ladies taking your orders, and a jukebox full of 45s with remote stations at each booth.

There is no need for added color or fancy presentation. All that is required is a bottle of Heinz ketchup. a salt shaker, and a fountain Coke in a glass full of crushed ice. A perfect meal.

[TexasToast]

Classic "greasy spoon" food. Probably tastes twice-cooked like Ice Cream Van burgers! I'd stay away!

TT

[missclaudy]

George forgot to fry the fries!

[mmmmm]

The picture is simply lacking some color variation which always makes a dish look more appealing. A slice of a ripe, red tomato on the bun would do the trick and change the perception dramatically.

[Ruth Lafler]

Exactly. The big heap of beige fries and the slice of white onion on the open top bun make the whole plate look too pale. If you rearranged the plate to break up that mass of fries and added some color (a slice of tomato, some strategically placed parsley), it would look more appetizing.

[floretbroccoli]

But even WITH contrast, do "beige fries" appeal to anyone?

[gordon wing]

the picture is supposed to make you want to eat that particular item - pretty sure it doesn't succeed for most folks. and as a few people have mentioned, the real thing is much better than the picture would lead you to believe....usually works the other way around.

[Velma]

Around here, that picture could be lunch in about twenty different places. However, I'm sure it would not taste nearly as good as one poster described it.

[Dave Feldman]

There's something charming about this site design. I'd much rather see a site like this than one with the seemingly obligatory and totally unnecessary Flash animation intro.

One weird anomaly. Nowhere on the site does it have a phone number or address.

I'm with Dommy. The burger is much better than the photo indicates, and how refreshing is that? The steak is actually better than the sizzle.

[floretbroccoli]

The biggest problem, to me, is the PALE French fries.

[Pei]

It's just a really ugly photo of what might be a perfectly fine burger. My guess is they used flash photography, which gives food that shiny unappealing gleam. You'd be shocked how the same food might look in better lighting with a little rearrangement. I've certainly seen enough gorgeous but bad tasting food to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Dommy]

Ack!! I didn't realize they had a picture on their website...

In defense of the restaurant... it's an OLD SKOOL place been open since the 30s, still run by the kind couple that opened it up. Odds are they heard about this 'internets' thing and got their 12-year grandson to do the website on note pad. It is truly awful it doesn't even give the location or phone number of the place! :/

And in defense of the burger, when you get it, it looks ABSOLUTEY NOTHING like that. The patty was BIG and beefy and obviously hand formed. Served on a toasted bun and served to me still hot off the grill so the cheese was totally melted by the time it got to me. And when I cut that big sucker open, it was absolutely PERFECTLY pink inside. Done to my preference medium. Plus, the taste of the combo (With Grilled Onions instead of just the slice) was amazingly yummy.

This burger doesn't make me weak in the knees like the Father's office burger, but I liked it much better than the Pug Burger and it's WORLDS better than the Islands, Callenders, Rubys and Tony Maroni Bugers that are available in the immediate area (And the reason why I hadn't had a burger for a long time).

I hate to define chowhounds, but honestly, if we were to judge a book by it's 'cover', we'd be no different than any of the Zagat worshipers...

--Dommy!

[drtravel]

who knows, maybe thats what a good burger is suppossed to look like when a food stylist is not involved....

[fara]

I was going to ask that person why that made him a chowhound. Wouldn't everyone know where to find a hamburger in their home town?

[Woodside Al]

The web "design" does suck severely though.

[melly]

The cheese looks plastic but to be honest.. it made me want to have hamburgers for dinner...and greasy fries with lots of salt. Back to the gym for another hour!

[MMRuth]

Well, the slice of cheese looks like a tasteless slice of cheese, the bun doesn't look toasted and I'm not an iceberg lettuce fan. Those fries don't look half bad though!

[sivyaleah]

It looks like every burger plate at every coffee shop in NYC, and similarly priced.

[Woodside Al]

Just what I was thinking. Doesn't seem all that bad for $7.95. Made me want to run down to my local diner and have one.

[sivyaleah]

Yep, all it's missing is a tiny cup of cole slaw then it would be perfect :-)

[ricepad]

$7.75 for that??

[cheryl_h]

No I think it's $7.95.