Star ratings

561 Eats does not invent its own star rating. The number on a listing is copied from a public source, not a 561 Eats score we cooked up.

Named source

When we have one official figure, we name it. Examples: OpenTable ~4.6 with review volume, an Infatuation score, or a Michelin designation. The star (or number) you see is that source’s scale — Infatuation is typically out of 10; OpenTable, Google, and Yelp are typically out of 5. A 9.3 is not “almost five stars.”

Public aggregates ~X–Y

When we did not have one official named figure, “Public aggregates ~4.2–4.4” (and similar) means public listing summaries — Google, Yelp, Restaurantji, OpenTable, Resy, and the like — clustered in that range on the day we checked. The tilde (~) means approximate. The range means those sources disagreed slightly; we did not average them into a fake 561 Eats rating.

Review volume

When a source publishes a count, we may show it (e.g. “~3,100+”). Volume is context, not a second rating.

Dates and drift

Ratings move. A score from last spring may not match what Google or OpenTable shows tonight. Each listing has a last verified date — that is when we last checked public sources, not when the restaurant last cooked a meal. Treat older dates as a prompt to double-check before you book. We also record a rough data confidence (high / medium / etc.) for the listing as a whole.

Review themes, not review text

Pros and cons are synthesized themes we wrote after reading public coverage — what diners and critics tend to agree on. We never paste full proprietary review text from Google, Yelp, Infatuation, or anywhere else. If a theme is stale, the last-verified date is your cue.

Badges

Three different things can sit in the badge row. They are not interchangeable.

Editorial Pick

Our call. Independent of money. It means 561 Eats thinks this listing is worth extra attention in a guide or hub — a neighborhood staple, a critic favorite, a Michelin address, or a new opening we want you to know about. It is not a paid placement.

Featured / Enhanced / Sponsor

Paid-placement tiers in the listing schema (featured_tier: free, enhanced, featured, or sponsor) — not awards, and not the same as Editorial Pick.

• Free — default listing. No paid badge.
• Enhanced — quieter paid tier. Badge on the restaurant page only, not on cards.
• Featured — paid/sponsored placement: badge on cards and the listing, plus hub/homepage priority when we sort that way.
• Sponsor — top paid tier: same badge treatment as Featured, sorted first on the homepage featured row.

These packages are modeled in the schema and not sold yet. See Advertise. If you see a Featured or Enhanced badge today, it is placeholder frontmatter, not a live invoice.

Michelin

An independent award from the Michelin Guide (One Star, Bib Gourmand, Selected, Recommended, and similar). 561 Eats does not assign it and you cannot buy it here. We show Michelin {status} exactly as stored on the listing.

Public-source synthesis only; verify hours, prices, and current scores before you go.