Why was this rejected? Want feedback!
Archaictryee-PGO
Posts: 6 ✭✭
Indiana Spike and Rail
Vernon
NOT ACCEPTED
UPGRADED
2020-08-13
Description
Restaurant established in 2017, featuring a unique menu. This local establishment serves fantastic food and frequently has visitors from out of state. The decor is based on a railroad theme and has lots of local history.
Location
Supplemental Information
This is a "hyper local" spot with unique brick walls inside the establishment. The food is first rate; famous for its BBQ Ribs and chili. The tables all have railroad spikes in them, holding the legs together. Truly a unique dining experience. A "local gem". For menu and history: https://www.menupix.com/menudirectory/menu.php?id=30885063
Comments
What was the reason given in the rejection email?
It looks like you're trying to get this approved as a local hotspot, which might be the most difficult category as it's very difficult for reviewers who aren't from your specific community to know. A couple of things that might help are if the place hosts events or music shows. Is it featured in any guides to your city? Has it won any awards? Answering those in the supporting information might help.
You say that "decor is based on a railroad theme and has lots of local history." Do you have any pictures of said decor? Those might actually be easier to approve the the restaurant itself.
Generic Restaurant.
That was the only reason given. I would argue that it is not 'Generic' in terms that it isn't a national chain. I can't count the number of Starbucks that I have denied.
I think your submission was well done. Not sure if you are able to do much with the description due to the character limit, but the spikes in the legs of the tables is the "wow" bit for me. If you could get that detail into the description, and cite the specific railroad or line they came from, I think that would help.
We have found in our review area (also in the Midwest) that these types of submissions simply will not go through upgraded. Better to wait 3-4 months for it to go through the local queue than to have it denied quickly on an upgrade.
Interesting bit about the upgrade. Wonder what difference that would make? I don't like that it forces upgrades, though admittedly I chose to upgrade this one because i didn't want some of my others to be automatically upgraded. Those aren't as important to me.
The problem you've got is its run headlong into people who view any business as a generic business and would mash the 1* button based on the picture and title without even reading the support statement.
I would consider unique local businesses the hardest things to get approved and often take multiple attempts.
I do wish we could take more than one supporting photo if we wanted to. It would help in a lot of cases.
Restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs, etc. have long been a source of frustration for myself and others. Despite many attempts to ask Niantic for clarifications on what constitutes a "generic business" vs what constitutes an eligible business, they have either ingored the request or are extremely vague. Because of the lack of guidance, most reviewers have taken the position that all businesses are "generic" and thus ineligible. The most we've ever gotten out of Niantic was that a Cuban coffee shop was what they had in mind as a local hot-spot and businesses featured in travel guides are generally eligible. But even in those cases people will still reject nominations that meet those standards.
Until Niantic removes "Generic Business" as a rejection reason, gives specific rubrics on how to judge local businesses for eligibility, rigorously enforces the guidelines via per-selected nominations, and start blocking reviewers who don't follow them, you are going to be at the mercy of the "reject all business nominations" crowed.
I personally reserve 'generic business' for chain stores (Starbucks, MCD's, Wendys, etc.). If I look and see that a place has two locations, I might consider giving it a 2 star, but I won't assume a hole in the wall place is a 1*. I use 3 as a baseline; it feels like a lot of reviewers use 1 as their base.
I have never been able to get a business through, no matter how unique. My friend was able to get a local restaurant through. It helps if you can link to tourist guides, feature articles, awards, etc. in the supporting info. I agree with the suggestion to find something inside to take a photo of to get that approved if it is full of cool stuff. The link you provided looks like it just goes to the menu - presented in a cool way, but still just the menu. If I scroll down far enough, i see that the outside cover of the menu does have the history, but i can't read it, even on my computer, and i missed it the first time i looked at the link.
It seems like it's local and themed, so I would agree I don't think it's generic. But I think I'm a lot more lenient than a lot of other reviewers who have been reviewing for longer and are more familiar with all the guidelines (which seem to be spread out through multiple locations, making them hard to learn inside and out).
I don't know if this would help, but Indiana Spike and Rail is listed as the #10 restaurant to check out in Vernon on Trip Advisor and the #1 restaurant in Vernon on Restaurant Guru. Maybe try adding that to the supporting info?
Honestly, by promoting the menu, your description sounds like you're trying to promote the restaurant itself and using the nomination as free advertising.The fact that it was opened in 2017 means it's too young to have any history within the town. You say it has "local history" but don't tell the voters what that history is. The only thing unique about this that you're telling voters is that the tables have railroad spikes. While unique in design, that's not very interesting. But if you want to stick with that, maybe use a picture of the tables as the focus? Or see if there's something visually interesting within the restaurant itself. A wall decoration, a mural, a nice looking fireplace. To me, this just sounds like any old restaurant, wether it's a franchise or not.
I've tried nominating local eateries in my area and what really convinced me of the difficulties is trying to explain why it should be a portal. Simply identifying it as a "local gem" doesn't tell the voters why it should go through. Practice on your friends, explain to them in detail why this should be accepted and if you can't do it in 3 sentences or less (and I do mean sentences, not just bullet points), or you keep stuttering over the explanation, then try to put more thought into it before you nominate it again.
The example on "potentially confusing nominations" for "generic local business" isn't for a chain store, it's for a little local hut/booth.
For this nomination the description is too long : "Restaurant established in 2017 with railroad theme decor and lots of local history" would be better. That it has food and a menu is a given, as is people going to it-some of whom will be from out of town. Supporting information is too long and would have been truncated for reviewers. Forget the link - if your nomination isn't good enough on its own but is still interesting enough good reviewers will google it themselves, bad reviewers will already have moved on (as will good reviewers if your nomination is bad).
I think it's unlikely a 3 year old business will be counted as a "local hotspot" or "hidden gem" - suggest you find some quirky artwork or similar in the establishment.