Choose a restaurant to review. Research the restaurant on social media, Yelp, newspapers, etc.
Write a blog (3-5 pages, single spaced, including images) on a website or on social media about your experience dining in this restaurant.
Have a specific audience in mind for this review. You should format the document like an authentic blog in a newsletter style (Microsoft Word, File, New, Newsletter; Adobe) with columns, sidebar, featured quotes, graphics, etc., crediting yourself as a blog writer; or like a well-rehearsed vlog, introducing yourself and performing the mostly-scripted show. Pretend that you have loyal subscribers who look forward to reading all of your blog posts or watching all of your vlogs. Include the name of your blog or vlog (Good Eats, Ballin’ on a Budget, Aztec Foodie Squad, Hangry Beast, for example) and the title and date of this particular blog or vlog post. Keep paragraphs in the blog short and readable—appropriate for this genre. Feel free to use an informal and humorous tone with your audience. Narrate a story about your experience eating out at this restaurant. Provide some funny dialogue (real or imaginary) as you review the restaurant, and be descriptive in order to entertain and captivate your audience and to get them to spread the word so that you reach more people and get them to subscribe to your blog or vlog.
Tell your audience about this restaurant by providing context. Where is it located (street address and neighborhood)? What kind of restaurant is it and what kind of food is served there? How long has it been in business? Who are the owners and managers? Do you know any of them or their staff personally?
Describe the restaurant’s ambiance and what it might reveal about the character of the business. You might mention the exterior and interior color scheme, signs, architecture, furniture, art/décor, dress code of the staff, authenticity (Irish bartender with a Dublin Irish accent serving Irish cuisine at The Field in downtown San Diego, for example), or any other details.
Tell your audience what you ordered and describe the food served. Provide specific details about the appearance, taste, and texture of the dishes and beverages you ordered. Remember that you are making an argument of your own to influence your subscribers (like “Go to this restaurant immediately! You won’t be sorry, y’all!†or “Skip this overpriced place. It’s all sizzle and no steak, yo. Ya know y’all can trust me to keep it real, my squad.â€)
Notice the forms of rhetorical elements—written, visual, and spoken—and rhetorical strategies and rhetorical appeals employed by the restaurant’s owners, managers, and staff to target specific patrons. How do the servers use rhetoric to encourage you to order more items? Are there any reviews of the restaurant or notes from patrons praising the restaurant displayed? If so, where are those located? What effect do these have on the restaurant’s guests? Describe those guests. Are they couples, families, business people, senior citizens, or single hipsters? How do the servers use rhetoric to connect with guests (and perhaps to increase the prices of guest checks and gratuity/tips)?
How does your experience dining in the restaurant compare and contrast with what you read about it when you researched social media, Yelp, etc., or what you heard about it through word of mouth? Did it meet or exceed your expectations? Were you disappointed in any way? Rate the restaurant (for example, thumbs up, thumbs down; 0-4 stars; 0-4 yums or 0-4 yucks).
Ultimately, based on your experience, what can you conclude about the role that rhetoric (the art of using language/images effectively and persuasively in spoken, written, and visual forms) plays in the business of this restaurant?
End by telling your audience which restaurant you will be reviewing for your next blog or vlog post and encourage any of them who haven’t already done so to subscribe to your blog or vlog!
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