Restaurant Critic Roundup: San Francisco's Michael Mina 'Not Quite 4 Stars'

This week in restaurant news, San Francisco's Michael Mina is "stellar, but not quite four stars." Critic Michael Bauer explains, "Michael Mina is trying to navigate both camps — those who come for the food, and the business clientele who are there more for the deal than the meal. It comes across like a menu and an ambience that slightly misses the mark — at least if the Mina team is shooting for four stars."

In New York, critic Pete Wells skips this week's restaurant review for an exposé on leaving a tip. Entitled, "Leaving a Tip: A Custom in Need of Changing?" Wells continues to say that "the people who take care of us in restaurants deserve a better system, and so do we." The Daily Meal also explores the star system involved in restaurant reviews, as well as critics' methods of disguise, using The New York Times as a point of reference in "The New York Times Dining Critics on Assigning Stars, Going Incognito."

Near Charleston, Johns Island restaurant The Southern General "pulls rank" on the area's dining scene. According to critic Angela Hanyak, "Chef Tim Erwin and his team at The Southern General have opened a sandwich joint that delivers a dining experience as exciting as some downtown favorites." 

As always, the ratings range from stars to bells to beans, but every review offers specialized insight into the food, atmosphere, and service of eateries in each city's dining scene and the critics eating at them.

Restaurant Critic Roundup: 9/3/2013

Click here for The Daily Meal's "Top Chefs Review — and Rate — America's Food Critics."
 

Tyler Sullivan is The Daily Meal's assistant editor. Follow her on Twitter at @atylersullivan