© 2026 ABC News

The platform, as Reinsberg explained, was built on the idea of how to find the \"perfect spot for a specific situation\" in a particular area, which she believes will remain useful as the industry and consumer appetite continues to adapt.

Reinsberg and her staff considered the important question about the fairness of their old ratings system over the next year or two years and assessed how it would be seen as accurate.

\"Through talking to people who are doing activist work for the restaurant industry, we started to really get an understanding of the fact that restaurants were going through really profound changes,\" she said. \"That led us to think -- how would we possibly accurately review a restaurant right now?\"

There is a laundry list of other uncertainties around restaurant reopenings that vary by state, including how restaurants would look with new outdoor versus indoor dining experiences, she said.

\"PHOTO:
John Carey/Getty Images
PHOTO: A place setting inside a restaurant is seen here.
>

\"Those conversations were the ones that were a catalyst for us -- but we realize there were benefits for removing the ratings beyond the present moment,\" said Reinsberg.

Reinsberg hailed their product, engineering and design teams for their ability to standup the retooled site and app \"really quickly -- over the last month\" to remove the old ratings from its thousands of reviews that spanned every corner of the country from New York City and Atlanta to Los Angeles, Seattle and beyond.

She added that the brand will continue to \"rethink what restaurant discovery looks like on both The Infatuation and Zagat -- we see it as a collaboration between editorial and the technical product.\"

The Infatuation acquired the acclaimed slim, red-covered restaurant guide book and review brand from Google in 2018.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zagat (@zagat) on Jun 10, 2020 at 8:17am PDT

Reinsberg said they will focus on finding new ways to present relevant restaurant information to readers, including openings, closings and other big changes.

\"You'll definitely see more editorial and more product changes as things develop. This is really just sort of the first step in a lot of ways,\" she said.

As their content continues to adapt to match the highly dynamic food and restaurant space right now, Reinsberg said The Infatuation has also kept its ears to the ground to deliver information new in formats for readers.

One of the site's Los Angeles writers, whose Black-owned restaurant Google Doc went viral, is a prime example of how localized lists with user-generated information could become a new model as readers show an increased desire to support businesses that need help or give back to the community.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Infatuation (@infatuation) on Jun 3, 2020 at 9:42am PDT

\"We'll be exploring new types of content as well, and that does mean different formats, bringing on more voices,\" the editor in chief said. \"We want to cover more neighborhoods and more cities that we're not in.\"

Zagat conducted a survey on the future of dining in partnership with The James Beard Foundation, which found a significant shift in how consumers approach eating at restaurants following the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19.

Reinsberg said the results highlighted that there are \"new factors that are most important to diners.\"

\"We saw through that health and safety were a major concern for people. And I think you're seeing a new kind of consciousness in dining,\" she explained, adding that there's an interest in not only who is behind a restaurant, but \"what role are they playing in the industry.\"

\"PHOTO:
Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
PHOTO: A sign reads "Take Out. Don't Hang Out" outside the Clam restaurant in the West Village neighborhood of New York, U.S., on Saturday, June 20, 2020.
>

\"It's been amazing to see what restaurants are doing to support their communities through charitable work. Even in this incredibly difficult time for themselves they're still finding ways to reach out and support each other and essential workers,\" she said.

Although the future of the hard-hit restaurant and food service industry seems to shift daily, Reinsberg said resources like The Infatuation remain committed to carving out a new version of coverage to help both diners and restaurants.

\"There's been a lot of awakening about how we make our dining choices,\" Reinsberg said. \"It's a profoundly different time for restaurants.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Business/infatuation-dropped-restaurant-ratings-reviews-wake-covid-19/story?id=71535013","legacySlug":"/news/story/infatuation-dropped-restaurant-ratings-reviews-wake-covid-19-71535013","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"21:29","publishDate":"06-30-2020","updatedTime":"23:06","updatedDate":"06-30-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Jeffrey Holinka wears a protective face mask as he waits to receive an order at the On Ocean 7 Cafe along Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Fla. during the new coronavirus pandemic, May 27, 2020.","credit":"Lynne Sladky/AP, FILE","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/restaurant-ap-aa-200528_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"6/30/2020 21:29:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":71535013,"headline":"Why restaurant reviews ratings are being dropped","mediaAssetTitle":"RESTAURANT RATINGS","description":"Hillary Reinsberg made the decision to help both restaurants and diners. ","duration":"3:21","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/05/200529_vod_orig_ra_restaurants2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["71301061","70926002","71534713"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"June 17, 2020","headline":"Restaurant sales drop well below normal levels, despite May uptick","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/restaurant-food-service-industry-lost-120b-due-pandemic-71301061","id":71301061,"image":{"alt":"Restaurant sales drop well below normal levels, despite May uptick","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Business/restaurant-1-sh-er-200617_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"CJ Gunther/EPA via Shutterstock ","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"May 29, 2020","headline":"New parameters for restaurants eager to reopen amid COVID-19","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/parameters-restaurants-reopening-70926002","id":70926002,"image":{"alt":"New parameters for restaurants eager to reopen amid COVID-19","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/200528_vod_orig_ra_restaurants_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"June 30, 2020","headline":"Police peel back counterfeit wine ploy that sold cheap varietals in refilled bottles","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/counterfeiters-sold-cheap-wines-expensive-labels-europol-71534713","id":71534713,"image":{"alt":"Police peel back counterfeit wine ploy that sold cheap varietals in refilled bottles","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/wine-01-as-gty-200630_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Zero Creatives/Getty Images/Image Source","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Why restaurant reviews ratings are being dropped","description":"Hillary Reinsberg made the decision to help both restaurants and diners. ","duration":"3:21","uploadDate":"06-30-2020","publication":"06-30-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/05/200529_vod_orig_ra_restaurants2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/05/200529_vod_orig_ra_restaurants2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/infatuation-dropped-restaurant-ratings-reviews-wake-covid-19-71535013"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977374","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977531","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132962364","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132958371","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132880952","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Why restaurant reviews ratings are being dropped","pubTime":"17:29","pubDate":"06-30-2020","modTime":"19:06","modDate":"06-30-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":71535013,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"Jessie DiMartino ","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Why restaurant reviews ratings are being dropped","mediaAssetTitle":"RESTAURANT RATINGS","videoId":71535013,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/infatuation-dropped-restaurant-ratings-reviews-wake-covid-19-71535013"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/71535013","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/71535013","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};