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Comments

• [1] stu from manhattan October 16, 2008 - 11:57AM

  many chain restaurants have programs where you earn points for the amount you spend, which you can later cash in for free food or other savings. I received an e-mail invitation from TGI Friday's and joined up. In return, I received a "buy one, get one free entree" coupon, and a "jump the line" coupon, which allowed us to skip a 30 minute wait for a table. this was totally worth it, especially with 2 hungry pre-schoolers on a Saturday night.

  caveat emptor - this may not work in manhattan, where many chain restaurants are owned by huge conglomerates that do not partake in these programs and will not accept such coupons. many fast food restaurants in Manhattan do not accept coupons found in newspapers or the "entertainment" book (another source of "buy one - get one free" offers, whether it's a big mac, a dozen bagels in a local store, admission to museums and other attractions).

  does the Zagat guide rate Fridays?

  
  
• [2] al oof from brooklyn October 16, 2008 - 12:13PM

  why do phone calls bother people eating in restaurants but having conversations with people who are there does not?

  
  
• [3] Maggie Cadman from Manhattan October 16, 2008 - 12:25PM

  I always pledge this time of year because I enjoy getting the Survey as a gift. However, replacing the cross-street with the food rating in the location section, aggravates me every time I try to figure out where to eat in a specific part of town. Please return to what worked from '82-'07!!!

  
  
• [4] hjs from 11211 October 16, 2008 - 12:48PM

  Teflon is poison

  
  
• [5] s block from NYC October 16, 2008 - 12:57PM

  Tim Zagat says that he's a lawyer, and uses his soapbox to accuse DuPont of suffering bad lawyering? DuPont was 100% correct to defend their Teflon trademark. To allow Zagat to use it in a different context but acknowledge that DuPont owns it, does not protect DuPont at all, it harms them as the word becomes diluted in the public consciousness. It also would leave DuPont subject to an association with an entity that they don't control: remember a few years back that the Zagat's came out including ratings for the restaurant that had not even opened yet? Hmmmm? The critic-proof Teflon-guide didn't seem to suffer.

  And the Reagan example cited was also stupid since Reagan didn't use the word about himself, and it's not a commercial context anyway.

  I suspect that Zagat knows all about this because I'm sure they they enforce their own trademark, perhaps more vigorously than DuPont. Oh, you know they do.

  
  
• [6] A. Nonnie Muss from East Village, NYC October 16, 2008 - 05:26PM

  Hey oof, just speaking for myself, the type of person who will take a phone call in a restaurant very often seems to be the type of person with a shouty voice and/or a high-anxiety personality type. In other words, they tend to be the type of person who oppressively ruins the atmosphere of wherever they are -- whereas people who are having a regular face-to-face conversation in a restaurant may or may not be that way.