Among the food trucks someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, not one of the 20 we read had answered any of its recent reviews. That is the clearest point in this section. These are not empty listings: the median food truck we read carries 315 reviews, and the three most-reviewed carry 933, 839 and 826.
One name recurs across the other trades. Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) appears among the restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries named here, and it answered 8 of its last 10 reviews. Its listing carries 2,064 reviews, the highest count among the restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries we read. Among the restaurants, Trattoria Demi answered 9 of its last 10; its listing carries 1,434 reviews, against a median of 253 for the restaurants we read.
Pâtisserie Coralie appears among both the coffee shops and the bakeries named here, and it answered 8 of its last 10. Among the bakeries, Frida's Breakfast and Lunch answered 5 of its last 10. Among the bars, Rogers Park Social answered 2 of its last 10, on a listing that carries 1,099 reviews. Those are the businesses we can name as answering; we cannot say how the others we read in these trades answered.
The benchmark measured here, across 48 businesses, is 68%: the share of recent reviews a typical measured business answered. Median ratings sit at 4.6 for the cafés, coffee shops, bars, bakeries and food trucks we read, and at 4.5 for the restaurants. The median café we read carries 172 reviews, the median coffee shop 199.5, the median bar 188 and the median bakery 270.
What to do about it
If you run a food truck, the measure in this catchment starts at zero: none of the 20 food trucks we read had answered a recent review. A first reply is the whole gap. Open your listing, read the last ten reviews, and answer them, the critical ones included, in your own words.
If you run a restaurant, café, coffee shop, bar or bakery, the named businesses give you a concrete figure to hold yourself against: Trattoria Demi answered 9 of its last 10, and Cupitol Coffee & Eatery and Pâtisserie Coralie 8 of 10 each. Count how many of your own last ten have a reply, and compare that with the 68% benchmark measured here. Then make answering each new review part of the week rather than something done in a batch. You do not write the review, but you do write the reply.
Restaurants
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trattoria Demi | 9 of 10 | 1434 | 4.7 |
| 2 | Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) | 8 of 10 | 2064 | 4.5 |
Cafés
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) | 8 of 10 | 2064 | 4.5 |
Coffee shops
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pâtisserie Coralie | 8 of 10 | 683 | 4.3 |
Bars
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) | 8 of 10 | 2064 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Rogers Park Social | 2 of 10 | 1099 | 4.7 |
Bakeries
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) | 8 of 10 | 2064 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Pâtisserie Coralie | 8 of 10 | 683 | 4.3 |
| 3 | Frida's Breakfast and Lunch | 5 of 10 | 704 | 4.6 |
Food trucks
We read 20 food trucks businesses here and not one had answered a single one of its ten most recent reviews. The first owner here who replies is the only one doing it.