General rest. advice from "tourists" for want of better word

[yebo]

I'm an enjoying and sometimes posting member of the Manhattan board. I'm confused by the large to me number of -- I'm in nY for 2 days, what's best - or, critique my choice of pizza place - posts.

I don't see the role of the boards as bein perfecting people's travel plans. In the olden days, we read guide books, made our choice, and learned from our experience. Too much to ask?

I am amazed that people respond in such a giving way -- since to me, most of these clog the boards, these are people who rarely contribute by posting feedback -- maybe they should be asked to -- and often seem to know little. The general advice to posters @ beginning of board is not, clearly, read and/or responded to.

Sure I can hit the delete button and often do, but sometime it takes reading the 1st part of the post to see if I want to.

Yet- a few are productive - e.g. the recent katz's inquiry.

And the internet is permeable.

[bnemes3343]

I think the two most ubiquitous posts are regarding recommendations in NYC (where there are probably 5,000 restaurants of you include all of the burroughs) and NO (where there are certainly fewer). Some actually provide a bit more specificity as to price, ambience, cuisine, etc., but many don't. But hey, so what? Just don't respond to these. But, clearly, there are a number of posters more than willing to point out the five best places to eat in NY. And if I were the owner/chef at one of these five places, I certainly wouldn't complain.

[sebetti]

Personally, it DRIVES ME CRAZY when the people on my regional board respond to a poster with: "You should do more research". It seems so rude and it really embarrasses me. (yessss...we are a town filled with hate directed towards all outsiders and we especially hate those damn southerners who continue to migrate northwards and drive up our property values!)

Just don't post a response. Let someone else post who actually wants to help. Even if you're cutting and pasting a link, that's great! And don't forget, those people coming in and asking for advice could be the ones keeping your favorite, off the map, independent bistro in business. Your local chefs are probably thrilled to death when they get recommended on this board.

[The Chowhound Team]

We agree, and remove "do a search" posts when we see them. You can help us by bringing them to our attention with the "Report" link at the bottom of the post.

[toodie jane]

although many times this kind of post is from a first-timer who doesn't realize what searching can bring. "do a search' can be framed as instructional if some details are politely included.

[MMRuth]

I only refer to "do a search" if I also include a search I've done myself for the poster, or posted a link etc. I think the generic "do a search" can be a bit off-putting for new posters to the boards.

[JasmineG]

Yeah, I've found that the new "New to the SF Board" link is great here, because I try to comment to point them to the link, and then tell them helpful information that we need to know in order to point them in the right direction.

[JasmineG]

In the SF board, we get a lot of "Here for a weekend, I've heard there's lots of good food, where should I eat???" questions, and yes, those get really tiresome. However, sometimes these people DO report back, and recently there was a long thread helping out a tourist, and he has reported back at length about his eating adventures in the bay area. It is those kinds of reports, and the enthusiasm of people about food, that make me respond to those posts, even when they get old.

[KaimukiMan]

living in another tourist oriented city, there are frequently questions about what to eat and what to expect. the more defined questions (where is really good cake noodle) are obviously easier to respond to than the general "what should i eat there" questions. In spite of that, I have learned quite a bit about Honolulu food than I did before by thinking about the questions and reading other people's answers. Most of all I would hope that were I to find myself in NYC that posters there would be as interested in my having a good food experience there as posters in honolulu are in helping NewYorkers in finding good food here.

[idia]

I am actually happy to recommend things to 1 time only posters. In fact, I feel quite good about it. It doesn't bother me one bit.
Not sure why it does you.

[Recyclor]

So, I guess I'm guilty?...I live in a city with many tourists and great dining, I don't hesitate to help out, though it does get repetitive...idia, thanks for your leads by the way!...I will certainly report back anything I find notable or of interest beit good or bad...

[MMRuth]

I don't mind the idea of "perfecting people's travel [i.e., eating] plans" - i.e., visitors who post with suggestions they've culled from the board and then have specific questions or asking "of these places, which would you recommend?" etc. And it sure is easier to respond when people, even if they don't do that, have more specific ideas of what they are looking for rather than "Here for two days, where should I go?". Sometimes I feel inclined to help, sometimes I don't. And I agree - I'm regularly impressed with the generosity of certain regular posters who almost always are helpful to visitors.