Zagat Dumps 30-Point Ratings For Simplified Five-Star Designations

It’s out with the old and in with the new for dining guide Zagat, as the company relaunched its brand this week with a new app and rating system. 

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google-owned dining guide ditched its long-standing 30-point rating scale for restaurants in favor of a simpler five-star rating system.

Under the new ratings, restaurants will be given a one to five designation for restaurant food, décor and service, with one being poor and five representing perfection.

Google said the change came after a survey of customers found a majority preferred a simpler system.

“This was not a flippant decision,” said Laura Slabin, a Google director of local content and community who worked on the relaunch, tells the WSJ.

The change won’t lose all of the nuance of the 30-point system, Google says, noting that restaurants will still be rated separately in three categories: food, decor, and service.

Additionally, the use of decimal points mean the ratings will be specific.

The relaunch is just the latest change for Zagat since being purchased by Google in 2011. The company stopped printing physical restaurant guides in cities other than New York and has increased other content such as lists of the best sandwiches or cuisines in specific areas.

Zagat Overhauls Restaurant Review Ratings [Wall Street Journal]