If a Californian told me a restaurant they went to was "Just OK", I would avoid going to that restaurant unless there were no other alternatives. I think that might be part of the disconnect.
That is something that I find weird in US "ratings". To me, "ok" means that it was... Ok. Definitely nothing bad, from completely satisfactory to good, but not exceptional. Which for some reason seems to translate in US to something like "Awesome, best food ever in my life". Now, my question is, what do you say when you actually get awesome food that is best you have ever eaten?
Has that actually happened? I’ve lived in the US for basically my whole life and I’ve never met someone who disingenuously described a mediocre eating experience as the best in their life. I think it would be hard for them to make friends if they can’t even be honest with how they feel about meals.
"OK" and "Just OK" are two different things. Californian culture tends to shy away from direct conflict unless it's deliberate so there's a lot of damning things with faint praise.
Speaking of subtle differences, what's your take on "A-OK"? That's Yelp's label for 3 Stars.
I also think that it's different for restaurants than for drivers. When looking for restaurants whether in my home city or traveling, of course we look at 4 stars or above. But never have I once looked a driver's rating, I just call a car and take the first one that is assigned to me, cancelling only for reasons not related to ratings at all. Maybe it's just me that does that?
> Today the average rating on Yelp sits in between “A-OK.” (3) and “Yay! I’m a fan.” (4).
I think that depends on where you live. I’ve lived in places where there were not that many restaurants better than “just ok” unless you wanted to spend a lot of money. Nowadays, I feel as you said, that I never have a reason to go out of my way to new place that’s “just ok” but that’s because I live in LA (and previously SF) where there are “seriously great” options everywhere. My standard for affordable food has gone way up after living in California.
