Google is constantly looking for ways to broaden its reach and range of digital products, and with Zagat support having recently been integrated into its official Maps app, a standalone app of the restaurant-finding tool has just been released for Apple’s iPhone and Google’s very own Android OS. Details, as well as download links, can be seen after the leap.
The days of having to plan for restaurants, bars and cafes long in advance are all but over, with most folks now reliant on their smartphones to find a decent place to eat, grab a coffee or meet new people. Although this has perhaps made us slightly lazier, less forward-thinking and less organized as a result, it does mean we needn’t spend hours looking around for a good restaurant, only to learn that some of its policies ultimately mean we’d have been better off elsewhere.
This culture of discovering new places on our smartphones and then checking for the reviews is typical of the Digital Age, and with Zagat, Google hopes to make this experience as pleasurable as possible. See, while having a million reviews of a place is great for getting a consensus, it’s not always practical, but Google aims to make things a lot easier with Zagat for iOS, Android and the Web. As described in the release notes, there will be "no need to wade through dozens of reviews," since the Zagat app will "tell you in a nutshell what other people are saying."
At this point in time, the app is quite limited. Currently, it only supports nine key cities, so unless you happen to reside in American cities Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC or London in the UK, you’ll have to wait for the app’s expansion, which Google describes as coming "soon."
With "reviews and ratings you can trust," menus ready for reference and a native ability to secure reservations directly through OpenTable, this app is not to be passed up by anybody who likes to get out a lot.
You can download it for free below. Be sure to visit Zagat.com for more information.
(Download: Zagat for iPhone / Android)
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