Yelp.com
Yelp.com is a site I use when visiting the U.S. to find restaurants, stores and other services. It pretty much covers all the bases. I first heard about it when I was telling a friend in New York that I needed to find a dentist. She said
Just yelp it. I had no idea what she was talking about. A few minutes later I was asking if there was a good camera shop in the area because I needed a charger for my Sony. Again, she said,
Just yelp it.At this point I just asked what yelping something entailed.
Basically you just select the City you want to search in and what you are looking for and user-generated reviews appear. I prefer these types of reviews to Zagat guides that don't cover things intangibles like the vibe of a place, and that only look at a few menu items. My friend Dave found a veterinarian for his dog on yelp. Good stuff. Though I have to say that I am steadfastly against inventing verbs out of website names. Yelp should not be added to the dictionary people.
By Myron Gushlak