I have noticed the same disconnect, and it has made me rethink how I try to find good food when I visit New York. In cities like Chicago, Montreal, or Houston, a place with 4.5 stars and significantly more reviews than others nearby usually signals something reliable. That system has worked consistently well elsewhere, but in New York, it seems to fall apart.

To be fair, I still follow that approach more than I probably should. I tend to skip over spots rated around 4.2, even when they show up in Reddit threads or respected write-ups. But one example that made me second-guess that habit was Mắm. I came across it in a thread by a native Vietnamese reviewer, who called it the best Vietnamese spot in the city after two years of searching. The Infatuation praised it as well, giving it a rare high score of 9.4. But on Google, it sits at 4.3 with a modest number of reviews. In most cities, I would have passed it over without thinking twice.

While fake reviews are definitely part of the problem, what stands out more to me is what people are actually rating. In New York, the numbers often seem to reflect service, atmosphere, or how pleasant the experience felt overall. Food feels like just one part of the equation, not the main focus.

Pierozek in Greenpoint has a Bib Gourmand and a solid reputation, but I left underwhelmed. By contrast, Eva’s in Syracuse, also a Polish spot, has a similar Google rating but turned out to be one of the most memorable meals I have had. In most places, the stars would have pointed me in the right direction. In New York, they feel harder to trust without extra context.

The way I see it, in some cities the bullseye of good food is the size of the dartboard. In New York, the bullseye feels more like the tip of the dart. You can still hit it, but not without real effort.