(1) Need recognition
I’ve just moved to a new city. I don’t know anyone, haven’t finished unpacking, and am craving Italian food. I don’t have my kitchen unpacked yet so want food that will be tasty and fast, and that can be delivered. Moving is always an expensive endeavor, so I don’t want to spend an insane amount, but something that’s really good is worth the extra money in this moment. Take out is never as good as dining in, so I’ll save any *really* good place for when I’m settled and have the time to dine out. Ideally, I want something that will work as leftovers tomorrow (probably nothing with seafood; maybe pizza or pasta).
(2) Information search
A quick Google search reveals a lot of options. The first few profiled by Google have good ratings but I’m always suspicious of the profiled ones (are they sponsored / paid for?). When I lived in NYC I always went to Yelp, so I start there. One of the good features of Yelp is the ability to apply filters easily. I narrow down by price ($-$$), opening hours (open now), and the delivery option. [In this scenario, I don’t know where I live, so I’ve left the location as the default – center of the city. If I knew where I lived, I would move the map to ensure it was reasonably close by.]
I skim through the results paying particular attention to the ratings (I have highest ratings first), the profiled image, the categories/tags, and the first line of the review. The first option is categorized as a wine bar, so I dismiss that as a dine-in option (no true logic behind that decision – just making assumptions). Bartolo’s looked okay; Café Molisse had a scathing first line of a review, so I kept scrolling; Per Noi Trattoria and Carmine’s both looked fine, but then ratings drop below 4 stars after that, so I stopped scrolling. This gave me three options to look at more closely.
(3) Evaluation of alternatives
I start by looking at the Yelp page and reviews for Bartolos. I get briefly sidetracked by a sponsored “you may be interested in” listing for Free Wheeler that profiles a review describing it as a dive in the best kind of way and think that that kind of comfort food might be exactly what I’m looking for. I go there, skim those reviews and see the profiled review was cherry-picked and that recent ones all state the place has gone downhill lately and many write about mixed up takeout orders. Back to Bartolo’s I go. The reviews seem fine so I go to their website and see lots of upcharges for things (split plates have $3 added) at the very top of the menu – first thing I see. Granted, these charges wouldn’t apply to me with my takeout order, but they turn me against the place immediately. The menu also looks like it might be good for breakfast, so maybe I’ll save that for another day. Moving on.
Carmine’s had the best photo, so I go to them next and like what I read on the reviews. Moving to their website, I see they have some fancy (and pricey) plates, but their pizza looks really very good and is affordable. I see photos for every item and it’s made me more hungry than I realized I was!
(4) Purchase
If this were another night, I might go back to reviews and look at delivery experiences specifically, but I still have a lot to do and these look delicious, so fancy-ish pizza from Carmine’s it is!
I was surprised how easily I was led to go to sponsored ads even though I was specifically trying to avoid them, and also how much the food images swayed me, even in this hypothetical!
