It’s a typical Saturday night and once again a friend asks: “I literally have no idea what to eat…what do you want?”
While there are plenty of great food apps on the market (check out the Best Food Apps to Download Now), I usually find myself downloading them, but then later deleting the apps when they don’t have the information my hungry self is looking for. Well fear no more, hungry and wandering U of M students: MyFab5 is the food app with only the answers that you want.
THE APP: The goal of the MyFab5 is to create a community for sharing and discovering good restaurants in your area, through your own personalized food interests. And MyFab5 really is all about personalization. The app allows you to create an account with either your email or your log in for Facebook or Google Plus (hooray for social media), and from there on it really gives you only the stats you want.
Instead of star ratings and lengthily reviews, you rank your favorite five places in any food or drink category (for example, your favorite restaurants to get a burger). You can then see what places others in your city have ranked for the same categories. Each time a business gets a ranking, they receive a certain number of points that boosts their rank over all in certain categories (for example, Zingerman’s is ranked number one for best sandwiches…well, duh). Restaurants can also be ranked in multiple categories, like both “pizza” and “late night.”
The information the app gives you is minimal, a feature that helps streamline reviews and recommendations that can clutter other food apps. A restaurant’s page includes rankings in different categories, business info, menus (including a popular items box), pictures of the food and one-word answers to logistical questions like “attire” and “delivery.” There is also a comments and tips section, so instead of reading some random 400-word rant, you get quick snippets, like “Half off wine on Thursdays!”
MyFab5 also bases its food suggestions on your location (synching up with any smartphone or computer), changing with you and your unpredictable appetite. A map at the top of the app guides your adventures (which is super helpful since as the snow continues to fall, basically every decision I make is based on proximity).
THE VERDICT: MyFab5 is my new go-to decision maker when it comes to trying new places. The app is visual, engaging and most importantly, you don’t have to dig through a bunch of other stuff to find the answers you really want — the basics are already spelled out for you in an engaging (and salivation-inducing) way.