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Tim and Nina Zagat

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The Resume

    Tim Zagat (1940- ), birth name was Eugene Henry Zagat, Jr.
    Nina Zagat (1942- ), birth name was Nina Safronoff
    Founded Zagat Restaurant Surveys (1982)
    Rated restaurants in the categories of food, décor, and service on a 30-point scale based on surveys of diners
    Initially covered New York City
    Expanded to over 70 cities
    Published additional guides for hotels, theaters, airlines, shopping, and other attractions
    Company sold to Google for $125 million (2011)
    Last name rhymes with 'the cat'

Why they might be annoying:

    They were both corporate attorneys.
    In a blatant subversion of their official philosophy of 'the opinions of a hundred regular customers are a better guide than that of one professional critic,' the capsule description of Platoon in the 1999 Guide insisted that the food was 'better than our ratings show.'
    Since people rarely go back to a restaurant where they had a disappointing experience, the people sending surverys to Zagat are disproportionately already fans of the restaurants that they rate, skewing the ratings upwards.
    Google apparently only bought their guide because they had been unable to acquire Yelp.
    They reportedly made a habit of showing up unannounced and without reservations at exclusive restaurants, then demanding to be seated immediately.
    When they held a staff party at their Central Park West townhouse (2007), they refused to let employees use their bathrooms; underlings were instead told to 'hold it.'

Why they might not be annoying:

    They have been married for over 50 years.
    Tim was stabbed by a random psycho at a movie theater while watching 'Dances with Wolves.' (1990)
    Tim was one of the organizers of New York City's ifrst Restaurant Week (1992).
    They published the guide themselves after publishers rejected it, insisting diners would only be interested in reviews by experts.
    The guide started as a hobby, but became a full-time job after sales passed 75,000 copies a month.
    They were named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young (2000).
    The Zagat Guide was one of the first successful examples of user-generated content.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying