favorite sources of restaurant reviews?

I like Eater.com, For each location they cover they feature what they term the 38 essential restaurants,and highlight old establishments undergoing changes and new places in other reviews. I don’t always agree with the 38 they pick in places I know well but, hey, only room for 38 places so they pick. Lot’s of emphasis on ethnic foods. With restaurants re-opening it appears they are scrambling to keep up and give current status, but always check the places website yourself.

I only use Trip Advisor. I find it generally accurate for the U.K. and Europe. It was useless for my last trip to Sri Lanka as most reviews were fake from one time only posters.

Yelp, TripAdvisor, google reviews and similar are definitely imperfect. I do use them, but I don’t go off the average (I.e. this place has a 4.9 so it must be good). The content of the reviews can tell you a lot. Some reviewers sound like paid shills and very well might be. Others sound like ignorant fools or hypercritical types so I ignore them too. Then you sometimes find ones that sound reasonable, those I listen to more. Not perfect but at least it’s some info.

Guidebooks can be good.

I second eater.com if it covers your destination.

Then local sites, either blogs by local foodies, other travelers writing trip reports, or publications like magazines that have articles of reviews and best-of lists. The best is a local foodie blog, but that’s not always an option.

My best experiences have often been at small restaurants recommended by the Airbnb owners. Often they have a list in the apartment and it’s generally good and full of places that aren’t famous or fancy, just good and nearby.

BUT in my opinion this is not always necessary. Special occasion? Research away! But sometimes the serendipity of randomly finding a place that seems good, trying it, anc seeing what you get is fun. Here you might need knowledge of what to look for, but if you are lucky you get a great, unplanned meal. Or at least a story!

I just looked up eater.com for Las Vegas (hometown) to see what I thought. I was impressed. There 38 choices included more than just those on The Strip and most of the people I know would pretty much agree. Obviously, they’ve left out a lot, but I don’t think there would be much disagreement with the ones they chose. I’ll probably use them more in the future.

I use reviews from posters on this site and can PM for more info. Sometimes I’ll bookmark the thread if it covers some place I’m going in the next year. I’ll read blogs on Pinterest and then double check . I’ll use TA, but I tend to weight those that have posted significant reviews over those with only a few. If we’re traveling on our own, meals tend to be more serendipitous than if we’re with a group where we’ll make reservations ahead, so sometimes a TA sticker will draw us in.

The Michelin restaurant guide is excellent. They list not Michelin Star and Michelin Star restaurants.

Overseas, we’ll use TA to get an idea of what a restaurant might be like, but check it out once we’re at a location. As stated, not all reviews are accurate. If we hear of a restaurant on a TV show, we’ll note it if going to whichever city it’s in. Most often we just check out restaurants and their menus when we’re walking around.

When we get hungry, we type”restaurant near me” into the phone, look for independent ones away from tourist monuments, skim a commentary or two, and head over to one we’ve chosen. Usually works fine for us.

I generally check Eater, Chowhound, and search for local food bloggers

A couple websites that I have used in the past for some major European cities include:
London - Timeout, Hot Dinners
Paris - David Lebovitz’s blog, Paris by Mouth, John Talbott’s blog
Rome - Katie Parla’s blog

I may read TripAdvisor(TA) but more often than not, I just eat somewhere close. Keep in mind your palette and review, if possible, TA in the language of the city you are visiting. Local may have a different opinion than tourists that don't know any better. I remember a discussion on Istanbul TA that the top 20 restaurants on English TA restaurant reviews were all on tourist streets, little authentic food and locals wouldn't eat at most of them.
I know I lose out not spending more time researching food, but as a solo traveler it just isn't a high priority.

I do use Yelp and other sites. I think it is important to look at how many reviews a place has listed. I find the more reviews the better. Just like any site you have to read the reviews carefully, ignore owner photos and look for menu pictures. Frankly, I have found Yelp to be the most accurate if there are enough reviews.

I tend not to give much credibility to "reviews", not because I find them suspect, but tastes differ. I myself like local food, smaller restaurants, I suppose "home" cooking to better cooking, but not pretentious.

My strategy is usually to search for blogs and sites like Eater, Time Out, and others that focus on a town, and see what places get repeat mentions. Then I usually go looking for that restaurant, look at their site, hopefully their menu, and if promising, add it to my list. Once in that town, I do a walk by, check it out; many times I see something else nearby that looks good, or use google to see what is nearby.

I like TA, you get a sense of what is good and what is not.
For fun, join a FB page for ex-pats/foreigners in the cities you are visiting. They probably will have already discussed favorite restaurants which you can find doing a search, or if they haven't, ask. The discussions are always good.

I like Open Table. Of course, they only have reviews for the restaurants that list there, but like booking.com, you have to have actually dined to leave a review. I'll usually check several sources, though, if I'm looking for something special.

If we are lucky, there will be a list of owners' favorite places in the apartment. Or if there's a nearby store selling take-away roast chicken with assorted side dishes, that's dinner for the night. (Department stores often have a food department full of specialties-to-go.) Obviously we are NOT food-centric travelers. ;-)

Since we’re on his site, how about RS guidebooks? We’ve had some good meals at RS recommended eateries.

The original question was "online sources". My answer is none. My criteria for restaurants ( I am not a foodie) is, like Rick Steves, location (close to where you are) and mom & pop-ish. I ask locals for guidance if necessary. Its not like the US, where locals will send you to the nearest Red Lobster or Applebee's.

I like Trip Advisor, not for reviews, but to see the options in a certain category and location.