| Michelin | Zagat | |
| Promotional pitch | "How to find perfect" | "Eat, Drink, Stay, Play" |
| Categories | Restaurants (reviewing them for more than 100 years) Hotels (started reviewing them this year) | Attractions, Hotels, Nightlife, Restaurants |
| Ratings system | *A very good restaurant in its category **Excellent cooking and worth a detour ***Exceptional cuisine and worth the journey Stars also used in hotel ratings | No star system; a 30-point survey based on editors’ and users’ reviews. |
| Restaurant judging criteria | Quality of the products Mastery of flavor and cooking The “personality” of the cuisine Value for the money Consistency between visits | You’re (mostly) the judge. Zagat editors use your feedback to determine best choices. |
| Usability |
Good if you’re hungry, moderately wealthy and either live or play in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco (the only Michelin-reviewed U.S. cities).
| Good if you live in or near one of the 26 major cities/metropolitan areas and great if you are interested in details: popularity, service, décor and price. Tons of user-generated content. |
| Portability | Handy, dandy map-sized guide can fit in your back pocket. | At a half-inch thick, it’s better suited for a mid-size purse or large fanny pack. But if you don’t want to lug it around, Zagat.Mobi brings the service to your PDA. You can search for establishments or get news feeds. |
| Attempts to reach the commoner |
Las Vegas guide contains a list of restaurants where you can eat for under $25. (Hooray Firefly.)
| Zagat’s billboards in Los Angeles encourage people to “trust them.” |
| Price |
The Las Vegas 2008 Guide retails for $12.95.
| Zagat surveys run from $19.59 to $35. |
| Final score |
Our totally subjective tally: Zagat 15, Michelin 7. Michelin has the cachet, but Zagat’s by-the-people-for-the-people approach is more appealing. If you like a dish, a hotel, a club or an attraction, you probably don’t give a damn what the “experts” say.
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