Canadians Choose Restaurants Based on Best Online Reviews

The biggest factor when Canadians choose a restaurant to patronize is its online reviews, a new survey reveals. Coming in second is the one that's closest.

When given the choice between 10 different restaurants near them, an astounding 39.2% of respondents indicated that they would choose based upon “the one with the best online reviews”. This is compelling, given that the second most popular response was “the one closest to me” at 21.9%.

...Additional insight is provided when demographic filters are applied for males and females between the ages of 35 to 44, revealing an increase to 45.5% [choosing a restaurant based on its online reviews]. When focused specifically on females within the 35 to 44 demographic, that percentage increases to an astonishing 57% of respondents.  —Sarah Bauder, Little Dragon Media

Little Italy, Toronto, Canada, restaurants photo by Jeff Hitchcock