The de la Fuente Power Rankings


It was only a matter of time. Inspired by rankings systems like those in collegiate athletics, I've devised my own system for evaluating my dining experiences in Iowa.


La Carreta Mexican restaurant in Marshalltown (7.40 dPR)

I proudly present the de la Fuente Power Rankings (dPR), an ongoing and semi-scientific gauge of the food I have eaten here in Iowa. There are five evenly weighted categories that determine an establishment's score:

Quality of Food
Cleanliness
Quality of Service
Novelty
Overall Dining Experience

"Novelty" refers to anything that sets a restaurant apart from the pack. This could be an out-of-the-ordinary offering on the menu, a special dessert, something unique in the decor or ambience, or any other wild card factor. A restaurant is graded in each of these categories on a ten-point scale, and the overall score is the average of individual category scores. There are three separate dPR divisions:

GLOBAL
The Global Division consists of all restaurants in the dPR.

CHAIN
The Chain Division ranks franchised restaurants, such as Chili's and Applebee's.

COUNTER
The Counter Division only includes restaurants that don't employ traditional waitstaff, such as fast food restaurants, cafes, and dessert-only establishments.

Without further ado, here are the dPR through February 28, 2005:

GLOBAL DIVISION
1. Sage - Windsor Heights (9.70 dPR)
2. Bob's Drive-Inn - Le Mars (9.30)
3. Blue Bunny - Le Mars (9.20)
4. Tony Roma's - Sioux City (8.40)
5. Bravo! Cucina - West Des Moines (8.20)

CHAIN DIVISION
1. Tony Roma's - Sioux City (8.40 dPR)
2. Bravo! Cucina - West Des Moines (8.20)
3. Carlos O'Kelly's - Dubuque (7.90)
4. Mondo's - West Des Moines (7.70)
5. Texas Roadhouse - Cedar Rapids (7.10)

COUNTER DIVISION
1. A&W - Indianola (7.70 dPR)
2. Panera - Cedar Rapids (7.40)
3. Subway - Various (6.87)
4. Arby's - Indianola (6.60)
5. Taco John's - Various (6.40)

Updated dPR will be posted on Mondays. Like any arbitrary ranking system, I suspect the dPR will inspire its fair share of controversy. The absence of Chili's, for instance, in the Top 5 of the Chain Division may raise some eyebrows. I've eaten there twice in the last week, and truth be told, I find the food there very good. Its Achilles' heel on my two visits, however, was the quality of service. I may have just been unlucky twice in a row with my servers, so don't be surprised if Chili's eventually cracks the Top 5.


Posted: Mon - February 28, 2005 at 09:17 PM      

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