The Zagat survey of restaurants, a familiar phenomenon to diners in New York City, arrived in Chicago last year, and 1,200 local foodies volunteered their opinions on the city’s eateries for it. The published compilation of all those opinions, the Zagat Chicago Restaurant Survey, went to three printings, and the publishers are now in the home stretch of polling for the 1989 edition. I caught up with Zagat’s local operative, Carolyn McGuire, in the penthouse party room of the high rise where she lives. The room offered air-conditioning, a gorgeous view of the city, but no lights–we couldn’t find the switch–so we talked about food in the dark.
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“The Zagat survey started in 1979,” says McGuire, who is also the associate travel editor of the Tribune. “The Zagats were lawyers who had lived for a while in Europe and had always been interested in food. So they started a little newsletter for their friends about interesting restaurants that they or their friends had found, and it just snowballed. They decided that they were onto something and went public with it.” They were right. This year’s New York version, for example, is the best-selling restaurant guide in that city.
Despite the statistical difference, McGuire says the conclusions are similar. “If last time is any indication,” she says, “the Zagateers tend to agree with the critics.” Ambria was the surveys most popular restaurant, followed by Carlos’ and Le Francais. The ratings run from 1 to 30 in the food category; Le Francais and Carlos’ topped the list at 28, Yoshi’s and Cafe Provencal came in a point behind. La Tour rated tops in decor. All the above agrees with the professional critics’ assessments, says McGuire. However, she says, “the Berghoff is an example of a place much more popular with Zagateers than with the critics. Because Zagateers pay for their own food, theyre probably more value oriented than critics. We got more comments about the Berghoff than any other restaurant, if I remember correctly.”
