Merrill Schindler Stinks!!

[aurora50]

He tends to review the same kinds of restaurants, his writing stinks, and he spends a lot of space in his reviews, just writing about all kinds of other stuff (his youth, what he did last week, etc.) anything just to take up space before he actually writes about the food. And he's never helpful - I think he just tends to write about whatever he wants that vaguely has anything to do with the restaurant he's reviewing!!! (Rant, rant)
Does anyone agree with me?

[Flour Child]

Does anyone else think he sounds like Dr. Demento?

[Withnail42]

Now there's a name from the past.

[sel]

Hey, watch it - I used to LIKE Dr. Demento! As for M.S. blah, blah, blah!

[barcelona]

He is a really nice guy, but you guys have to understand money runs the station and he has to do what the station says... $$$$ talks

[aurora50]

You bet money talks....my paper just cancelled him, because he costs too much. : )

[silence9]

Dear sweet Jebus, don't get me started on this fellow's food/restaurant radio show. Where to start with this train-wreck? When not shoving Bucca de Beppo or El Torito down the listener's throat's, he's having 'callers' lob softballs at him, asking for the best NY pizza in L.A. (then proceeding to recommend a place that serves thin-crust Chicago pizza). Want more? His nausea-inducing intro song to the radio show makes Weird Al Yankovic sound like Wagner. His repartee with his 'producer'/on-air flunkie/stand-up comedian soon makes you realizes that no matter how ill-informed your opinion is on any particualr food topic, you will always know more than these bozos. In fairness to the callers on the radio show, they seem truly interested in finding good tips, but more often than not, he'll take their question and grandstand on the miracle of sliced bread. You can practically hear him leafing thru a Zagat's Guide or Googling Chowhound as he tries to respond to on-air calls in real-time. In L.A., the station that carries his show seems to truly loathe its audience. I keep waiting for a chowhound to call in and shut this fellow down! I don't begrudge him trying to make a living, but he is the restaurant-critic equivalent of packing crate peanuts...

[mc michael]

I thought he was an editor of the LA Zagat. Regardless, he's lame.

[aurora50]

Yeah, I've had the (mis)fortune of meeting/running into several of these critics, and the cold hard truth of it is, they tend to get kickbacks and "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" type of stuff going on. It comes with the business. Some of them are a little bit better, some worse. So it comes back to, as I said before, I trust you guys a lot more than ANY critic!!!! : )

[kevin]

I think he's a decent writer at times, but his radio show is mostly abomindal (how much praise can one take regarding fat face fenner's fish shack, or cpk or bucca di peppp- which he's in virtually every commercial for.

[Jennalynn]

My guess is the radio show that he does is sponsored by the restaurants he reviews. He's on at the time of day where it's all bought time shows... like the real estate and vitamin pusher people.

[ChinoWayne]

Well I guess I'll just tune in to some Mario Martinoli Smart & Final commercials for my culinary education. ;-)

[aurora50]

Well, the way I know about him is because his column appears in our papers (the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News). I work for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, and I dearly wish the editors would get somebody different - sadly, I'm a little cog in this corporate machine.

[ChinoWayne]

So, would you trade him for Elmer Dills?

[aurora50]

Neither one, thanks!! LOL
Actually, I trust you fellow Hounds more than any critic out there!!

[Withnail42]

Where does he work?

[alanstotle]

Good question. A quick internet search led me to Los Angeles, where, it appears, Schindler does radio work (of some sort) about food and restaurants. I saw another web page that wasn't exactly clear about this but implied that Schindler's reviews may appear in the L.A. Times (or perhaps that was L.A. Magazine--is that affiliated with the Times?).

Definitely, some clarification on this would be helpful.

[ChinoWayne]

He does not write for the LATimes.

[kevin]

He writes for the Daily Breeze in the Rave section (a South Bay newpaper) and also he's in the Pasadena Star-News. So basically he covers Pasadena/Alta Dena/San Gabriel/Monterey Park restaurants annd then on the other hand also reviews restaurants in the Beach cities running from El Segundo to Redondo Beach.

[judybird]

He also has his picture prominently displayed in many of the restaurants he's reviewed, so why would you trust him? We used to subscribe to the paper that carried his column, but quit over a year ago. I haven't read him since and haven't missed him.