California and Texas have the Toughest Restaurant Reviewers

If you thought the toughest peer restaurant reviews would be in New York or Chicago, you would be wrong. They are in California and Texas, specifically in Austin, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These are results from a study commissioned by Home Run Inn Pizza and analyzed by Digital Third Coast.

The study used Eater.com’s “38 Essential” lists and analyzed 4,000 data points across Google, Yelp, Facebook and TripAdvisor to better understand the rankings and platforms that the average person reads reviews on before making their decision to visit a business or not.

What they found was that California and Texas have some of the toughest and most critical reviewers, although New Yorkers and Chicagoans are definitely the most opinionated.

Overall Rankings:

· Highest ratings: Facebook review
· Lowest ratings: Yelp
· Highest number of reviews: Yelp
· Lowest number of reviews: TripAdvisor

Toughest Crowd: (Average ratings across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor. #1 being the hardest to please, #25 being the easiest to please)

1. Austin
2. Houston
3. Los Angeles
4. San Francisco
5. Washington, DC
6. New York
7. New Orleans
8. Montreal
9. London
10. Dallas
11. Chicago
12. Nashville
13. Twin Cities
14. Paris
15. Atlanta
16. Miami
17. Portland
18. Las Vegas
19. Detroit
20. Philadelphia
21. Seattle
22. San Diego
23. Boston
24. Denver
25. Charleston

Most opinionated crowd: (Average number of reviews across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor)

1. Chicago
2. New York
3. San Francisco
4. Las Vegas
5. New Orleans
6. Washington DC
7. Los Angeles
8. San Diego
9. Nashville
10. Houston
11. Portland
12. Austin
13. Miami
14. Charleston
15. Atlanta
16. Detroit
17. Twin Cities
18. Philadelphia
19. Dallas
20. Boston
21. Montreal
22. Seattle
23. Denver
24. Paris
25. London

(#1 the highest number of reviews, #25 fewest reviews)

For more details, visit Chicago-based Digital Third Coast

Puerto Vallarta Featuring 9 Michelin Chefs at Vallarta Gastronomica Food Festival

Puerto Vallarta will continue celebrating its Centennial with another event of international importance when it hosts the 10th annual edition of the Vallarta-Nayarit Gastronomica food festival

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San Francisco and Puerto Vallarta become Sister Cities

PUERTO VALLARTA AND SAN FRANCISCO JOINED IN ‘SISTERHOOD’

US Mexico Sister Cities Association Connects the Pacific Coast Ports in Strategic Alliance to Foster Tourism

Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco are now sister cities. The sisterhood, formalized under the auspices of the US Mexico Sister Cities Association, was recently announced by Puerto Vallarta city officials in a ceremony celebrating the strategic partnership between the two Pacific Coast ports.

Puerto Vallarta’s Interim Mayor, Rodolfo Domínguez Monroy, led the twinning ceremony, accompanied by the General Consul of Mexico in San Francisco, Gemí José González López; the President of the Tourism Commission, Martha Susana Rodríguez Mejía; and the city’s Tourism Director, Ramón González Lomelí.

The partnership is expected to promote cultural and commercial ties between the cities, which have shared a historical legacy since the 1960s. The two conurbations are also both home to large LGBT communities, a thriving demographic sector that contributes to the Puerto Vallarta’s greatness, Rodriguez Mejia noted at the twinning ceremony.

She added that San Francisco, with the highest per-capita purchasing power in the U.S., is close to Silicon Valley, home to small and large technology corporations from around the world, which could be replicated and developed as a second major industry — in addition to tourism — in Puerto Vallarta.

Oliva Izaguirre, Mexico’s National President of the US Mexico Sister Cities Association, pointed out that Puerto Vallarta serves as an important example of a city with optimistic, enthusiastic and intelligent inhabitants being united with other important cities to strengthen bonds of friendship, to share experiences and to collaborate in different areas such as culture.

In addition to celebrating the new sister city status, Mayor Dominguez Monroy also introduced a team of local business owners who will make up the local committee to oversee the work done under the alliance, which will also work to foster tourism. Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and United Airlines all offer direct flights between Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco.

The sisterhood between Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco is not affiliated with Sister Cities International. The US Mexico Sister Cities Association (www.usmsca.com) is based in La Jolla, California.

10 Wellness Vacations to Check In and Check Out

Vacations are for spending time doing exactly what you want, and what many people want now is a life-enhancing experience. Hence, the popularity of wellness and adventure travel experiences. Here are ten such trips that are memorable and active.

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Madame Tussauds San Francisco Unveils Virtual Reality Adventure Experience

The Virtual Room at Madame Tussauds San Francisco

Madame Tussauds San Francisco unveils a new interactive live experience for visitors to “Be a Hero” in the city’s first team-based virtual reality (VR) adventure.

The year is 2217. A team of time-travelers have disappeared and a temporal rift has been detected in the past, risking humanity’s disappearance from the Earth – forever. The mission: save Earth from its dystopian future. Journey through history to solve puzzles and challenges. Unlock the secrets of Ancient Egypt. Repair the moon lander. Fight dinosaurs before they hunt you down. Dive to the bottom of ocean. All of this to correct the mistakes of the past before it destroys life as we know it. Each player will have his/ her own dedicated room, specifically designed and equipped with the latest virtual reality gear.

Developed in partnership with Virtual Room USA, the collaborative virtual reality experience allows groups of 2-4 people to participate in up to four 15-minute timed challenges all while communicating with their teammates.

The Virtual Room is a separately priced attraction from Madame Tussauds with tickets from just $10. The experience is designed for players ages 12 years and up and perfect for groups of friends, family, team-building, birthday parties and more.

ABOUT MADAME TUSSAUDS SAN FRANCISCO

Welcoming a fabulous 10 million guests though our world-famous doors every year, Madame Tussauds gives you the chance to experience the ULTIMATE fame experience. We have nearly 25 unique locations around the world, from New York to Shanghai, Amsterdam to Sydney – and, of course, London, where the story began. Throughout our 250+ year history, Madame Tussauds has brought to life thousands of celebs, stars and heroes – in mind-blowingly accurate detail – giving visitors the opportunity to brush shoulders with their idols and LITERALLY reach for the stars! Truly immerse yourself in our famous worlds and get a taste of life of the rich and famous, as in 2018, the opportunity to become the star continues! Through a combination of our historic artistic methods (that date back centuries, by the way!), immersive sets and pioneering modern tech – guests can experience fame and get closer to the action like never before. Madame Tussauds San Francisco opens daily at 10 a.m., 365 days a year and is located on Fisherman’s Wharf at 145 Jefferson Street. Find on Facebook: @MadameTussaudsSanFrancisco and Instagram and Twitter: @TussaudsSF.

The Chicago Riverwalk has Food, Music, Views and Great Art

Chicago is known by many names: The Windy City, the City of Big Shoulders, the Second City, Chi-Town, Chicagoland, Foodie Heaven. The Chicago Riverwalk is a great place to see all of that in action.

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