A note from the Founder and CEO
It was a trip to Paris and Shanghai in 2008 that served as the inspiration for Food Mafia. After using a reputable guide for restaurant recommendations in Paris, we quickly realized these recommendations for a great restaurant were not our idea of a great restaurant. One night at 2 AM in a local Paris bar, we ran into the sole American in the bar, who happened to be a well-respected and successful entrepreneur recently featured in a major business magazine. He gave us Parisian restaurant recommendations unlike anything we had experienced and that finally matched our idea of a great dining experience.
Two months later, I traveled to Shanghai. Naturally, I went to him for direction again, as his company had an office there and he knew the area well. His recommendations led us to some of the most amazing restaurant experiences I have ever had, ones that couldn’t be found in our guidebooks or online. One of his recommendations was for a restaurant with no name and only nine lights, where you needed to know which lights to push in order to open the giant steel doors!
This is what I had been looking for every time I traveled; a quick and easy way to experience a new city and find the best restaurants from someone credible with similar taste! It was research free, reliable and there were no negative reviews to make us second-guess our choices. This greatly enhanced our experience in Shanghai.
I became determined to create a searchable and customizable database to find other people with similar taste in restaurants. I am proud to say that with the help of our amazing members, my days of searching the Internet to find great new restaurants to try are finally over. I now have easy access to the best local restaurants across the world with suggestions from industry experts and people that are just as passionate about finding great new dining experiences.
Thank you to each of our members for being such an important part of Food Mafia!
Stacy Johnson
Who is Food Mafia?
Follow Food Mafia members with similar taste and get credible restaurant recommendations from people with similar taste!
Food Mafia is made up of chefs, food lovers, food bloggers, food critics, and industry professionals.
Food Mafia is revolutionizing the restaurant review industry by doing something different, offering credible reviews from people with great taste, without the anonymous negative reviews. Food Mafia saves you time deciding what restaurant to try next or what restaurant to try when you visit a new city.
As a member of Food Mafia, you can follow people with similar tastes and create your own customized list of restaurant recommendations with our searchable database.
As a visitor to Food Mafia, you can see what is most popular with our members, check out recommendations from our Godfathers, or identify someone with similar great taste in restaurants. With our innovative rating system, you can create a list of restaurants you love as well as keep track of the ones you want to try next. The next time someone asks you for a recommendation - just share your profile through email, Facebook, twitter, or a variety of other options! No more keeping lists on your cell phone, computer, or in your head!
Our focus is on local restaurants. We avoid the chains that you already know and we help promote our local small businesses. We also offer an easy way to determine what restaurants are truly unique to a city - simply sort by "Local Only" or look for the "Local Only" icon on a restaurant profile. Get to know the members of the local food community by checking out the latest interviews and written pieces in our Feed section. You can access free chef recipes by visiting our Store and clicking on Recipes. The Experience section is your guide to the hottest food events and experiences going on in the city.
Unique Features for Restaurants:
- Free to have your restaurant listed on Food Mafia or if you prefer, we can set it up for you with added social media and marketing benefits.
- Free to share photos, video, and the menu for your restaurant
- No anonymous negative reviews. Since we focus on where you should go, the worst thing someone can say about a restaurant is that they have "Been There."
- One of a kind recommendation system
- Hiring? Our CEO has 13 years of experience running a recruiting firm and identifying new ways to find candidates for small businesses to Fortune 50 companies. Advertise a job to our network AND get extra attention, focus, and exposure that you won't get anywhere else! We don't just post your job opening; we are active in helping you identify the right candidates!
Unique Features for Members:
- Invitations to exclusive Food Mafia events and local food related happenings. Members have been given VIP tickets worth $250 to events like Cochon 555, invitations to restaurant openings, mixology contests to learn directly from bartenders, and private parties with the Belvedere Vodka head Mixologist to try new offerings. These are just a few of the great events are members have exclusive access to.
- Our Mafia Meter ranks our restaurants by member input rather than a star or numbered rating system
- Keep track of your favorite restaurants in an easy to share, online profile
- Follow those that have similar taste and get up-to-date, customized recommendations on where to dine
- Quick and easy way to find where to go plus tips on what to order as well as pictures, video, and menus to review
- Approved or invited members can gain Godfather status
- Keep track of restaurants you want to try by putting it in the Vault
- Exclusively Restaurant Focused
- Local only designation for restaurants exclusive to the area
- One of a kind recommendation system
- No anonymous negative reviews
Can you be the next Godfather of the Food Mafia?
Food Mafia Terms Defined:
- Favorite - select any restaurant you consider a favorite and use our review template to provide tips, recommended dishes and insider information
- Recommend - you will also receive a review template to provide tips, recommended dishes and insider information.
- Been There - food lovers that are passionate about finding the best food don't typically frequent bad restaurants, but we offer Been There for any you aren't ready to recommend. No review template is offered because you are not recommending this restaurant.
- The Vault - Do you have a restaurant you want to try? Take advantage of our "Vault" feature where you can keep track of restaurants as a dining wish list.
- Mafia Meter - our Mafia Meter sorts your restaurant searches by our member recommendations. Rather than using a standard rating system, we want you to follow those that have tastes you desire! So, members will use our Mafia Meter to help them decide where to dine! There is no limit to points earned in our Mafia Meter.
Watch short videos on how to use FoodMafia.com
