How it all started…
When you move to a new country, you realise that you take some things for granted. As an Indian with cultural dietary restrictions, it was food for me. I was always fond of food, be it a home-cooked meal or fancy dining at a restaurant or yummy street food in India.
When I moved to US, and I would visit restaurants or even a fast food chain, I would end up requesting and explaining my dietary restrictions of non-meat food. It was sometimes embarrassing but mostly a pleasant chat with some friendly people in the service industry.
Google to my rescue…
I never wanted to let go of my food restrictions because that is the only way I felt close to my family on the other side of the earth. But I also wanted to hang-out with my new friends in my new city Cincinnati. So I started to look up on Google the restaurants that would serve no-meat food without killing my appetite and also be a pleasant dining experience.
It is all in the community…
Once I started using Google reviews for finding good food around me, I found my calling. I would make sure to try a new restaurant (based on previews Google reviews ? ) every weekend and take photos to write my reviews. As the number of views increase on my post, I get pumped up to contribute more. It feels good to give something to the local community in my own way.
I especially like it when the owners of the restaurants respond to my reviews, most of the times just acknowledging my experience. I am the annoying friend at the table who forces people to wait after the food arrives, to take snaps. But my friends appreciate my effort, because now when they have to go out to eat, all they need to do is ‘Ask Praneeta’ and I ask Google ?