DishKin: Local Entrepreneurs Launch All-Food Answer to Groupon

Dishkin's Donny Minchillo / Photo by Nicole Rupersburg

By now you’re familiar with Groupon. Living Social. Half-Off Depot. Hour Detroit’s Deal du Jour. Fox Detroit’s version, the upcoming Free Press version … let’s face it, there’s a TON of copycat discount sites styled after Groupon that follows the same business model – give them your email address, they send you daily emails with discounted deals, and you buy these deals at half off or more from the face value. 

For businesses, particularly new and struggling ones, it helps drive traffic through their doors and gets them huge amounts of exposure they wouldn’t have otherwise had; for customers, obviously you’re getting a great deal and nowadays it’s savvy to save. Win/win (for the most part, though there are businesses that have legitimate objections to just how much they’re actually “winning”).

The thing is, the business model is so new – bear in mind, Groupon launched barely over two years ago in Chicago in November 2008 with only 400 email addresses on their mailing list – and the opportunity so infinite that, while we can of course expect these off-shoot sites to keep popping up by the day and there seems to be an endless supply of consumer support for them, there are also some flaws.

Take Groupon, for example. Aside from the moronically goofy intros they insist on including for each deal, (which I consider a flaw but probably most people do not), the speed at which they grew and expanded into new markets allotted for very little localization, and because of the simplicity of the site – both a blessing and a curse – there is no way to narrow down your search parameters.

In preparation for a recent trip to Vegas, I had to keep consulting Google Maps to see just how far off-Strip the various deals were (most of them were pretty far). Here in metro Detroit, deals are scatter-shot across the broad tri-county area in a way that makes sense to pretty much no one (at the time of writing, deals were located in Romulus, Troy, Sterling Heights, Richmond, Royal Oak and Brighton for offers that included discounted bowling and lunch-only seafood specials). And across the board with Groupon, Living Social, Half-Off Depot and all the MANY many others, the offers include everything from … well, bowling discounts to lunch-only seafood specials.

99 Ways to Stalk Me

You know, I really shouldn't joke about that.

I'm not afraid to kill a man. Just for the record.

So I've got this blog. And I've got a fistful of publications I regularly contribute to which I typically link to here unless I forget or it's print-based only (944, edible WOW). I've got the Twitter, @diningindetroit, which you can choose to follow directly OR just view on the sidebar of this blog:
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I've also just added Yelp to my repertoire: nrupersburg.yelp.com.

Now here's the kicker: on this blog I can add "widgets" which will automatically direct you to my Facebook page, my Twitter page, and I can also opt to add some Yelp bling which I may or may not do in the future. I can also set Twitter up to automatically re-post all of my Tweets as status updates on Facebook, or just use the "select Tweets" functionality and hand-pick which ones get re-posted. Now on Facebook I can use the Networked Blogs function to re-post everything I post here (which I do, but selectively), as well as just include links in my status updates to anything with its own direct link outside of this blog (such as Real Detroit articles). And with Yelp I can auto-link both Facebook AND Twitter to re-post every new review I post.

And I haven't even MENTIONED LinkedIn (which auto-links to this blog and Twitter).

So basically what I'm saying is for any given thing that I write there are potentially up to five different sources on which it may be re-posted.

Now. If you're my friend on Facebook, and you follow my Twitter, and you have this blog in your RSS feed, and we're connected on LinkedIn, and friends on Yelp, and you're a faithful reader of Real Detroit every week ... well, that's a WHOLE LOT of Nicole, and I get that. Not that there can EVER be too much Nicole, but I've heard men like a little mystery and also I really need to take care not to invite any more stalkers into my life aside from the self-professed and mostly-harmless ones I already have. So here's the deal:

Let's be friends on Facebook. Let's follow each other's Tweets (I'm lying there, I'm really probably not going to follow you on Twitter because that shit annoys me and MAN I thought some of your Facebook updates were tedious, you twit-wits took tedium to a whole new level with that). Let's connect on LinkedIn, Yelp, and whatever other social networking tool may come into vogue in the coming months and years. The following is the pledge I will make to you. Ready?

Dining in Detroit: I will continue re-posting excerpts from published pieces whenever possible, as well as contribute lengthy original material that is not held to the same level of professional expectation as everything else I write (which means I get to swear a lot). This is about as edgy as I can be without getting lawsuit threats -- and let's leave those with the old blog, shall we?

@diningindetroit on Twitter: This will now be used to automatically link to all Yelp posts, and I will continue to use this as I always have for small tidbits of pertinent restaurant information (great specials, events, openings, closings, random thoughts about beer, etc.). You will still be able to see this on the sidebar of this blog (and on LinkedIn! and on Yahoo Mail!), but I will continue to refrain from re-posting every Tweet on Facebook.

Facebook: Oooh, the biggie. Yes I will continue linking all published articles (including those NOT food-related) as well as posts on this blog to my Facebook feed. I will also continue re-posting delightful news tidbits (such as the recent "Alcoholics live longer" piece you all enjoyed) and sharing the occasional random thought. Most of you will be shielded from my profanity-strewn rage-filled updates unless you are filtered under my "Actual Friends" list ... and if you're not, please don't take it personally, as all you are really missing is me saying "fuck" a lot more than what you currently see. You ALSO have access to the almighty Food Pr0n album -- which, if live-action role playing real time conversations are any indication, you guys LOVE that shit. None of these photos are uploaded elsewhere. I COULD upload them to Twitter, but I don't. ARE YOU BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THOUGHT I PUT INTO THIS YET??? ARE YOU?????

Yelp: All content on Yelp will be unique to Yelp, which means your only access to it will be via Yelp or Twitter. I will not re-post everything I post on Yelp onto Facebook, save for the occasional entry I particularly like or those that do not deal with food (and thus won't be re-Tweeted). There may occasionally be some cross-over (I may write about a place for RDW and write about it seperately for Yelp, etc.) but the content will be separate and unique. I mastered the art of writing about the same place six different times in six different ways long ago; behold my utter lack of concern here and cower at my masterful ability to use the same words and put them in different order so that it appears as though I'm saying something entirely different altogether.

Point (there's ALWAYS one eventually, you should know that by now): I try really hard to keep the content on ALL of these different sites as seperate and unique is possible so that it does not become overkill, while also trying to balance constant visibility and continuous branding. You may hate the self-indulgent rants I often devolve into here but love the more professional and succinct tone I use on Yelp, or vice versa. The bottom line is that your opportunities to read things that I write (be they 140-character bursts or 2,000-word opuses) are damn near limitless (or really, limited to what I am physically capable of cranking out in a given time period), and I make every effort to ensure that the Ruperstarski Super Fans out there don't get bored with any one outlet.

Seriously. I THINK about this shit. In painstaking and obsessive detail. You want to know what it's like inside my head? Read this post again. It's just like that, only on a continuous loop.

So now be my friend on Yelp. Thank you good night.

PS, does social networking make anyone else really sad for the future? I suppose that's a rant for another time and another media outlet.

Best of Metromix Detroit

One of my many (MANY) writing outlets has just released a Best Of 2009 compilation of restaurants, bars, and our favorite food stuffs. View the complete Best of Metromix Detroit here; otherwise, here is a rundown of the most important stuff (says me):

Best Local Brewery: Dragonmead Microbrewery
Best Sports Bar: Hockeytown Cafe
Best Coney Island: Lafayette Coney Island
Best Sushi Restaurant: Little Tree Sushi Bar
Best Restaurant: Slows BarBQ
Best Pizza: Buddy's Rendezvous Pizzeria
Best Burger: Red Coat Tavern
Best Brunch: Beverly Hills Grill
Best Bar: Bookies Bar & Grille
Best Irish Bar: Old Shillelagh Pub
Best Date Restaurant: La Dolce Vita
Best Dessert: Astoria Pastry Shop
Best Hangout: Goodnite Gracie
Best Wine Bar: Vinotecca (Enoteca was also nominated! <3 <3 <3)

And I happen to know (because I know such things) that this particular poll is a wholly honest and accurate reflection of the votes received by viewers...which isn't to say that not all Best Of "polls" you see are wholly honest and accurate reflections of the votes received by viewers...but merely just to imply so. That being said, I think Lafayette Coney Island, Slows BarBQ, Astoria, and the Old Shillelagh should each be issued a lifetime achievement award and be forced out of the running for all future "Best Of" lists in this and every other local publication. But maybe I'm just too much of a critic.

Biggest Moments in Detroit Dining 2009

It's that time of year--when everyone with access to any kind of public grandstand hops up on it proudly and proclaims what they believe to be the most relevant blah blah blah of blah for this year of blah. And who am I to mess with tradition? Here it is: the most significant events in Detroit (and surrounding areas) dining of 2009:

(1) Detroit Restaurant Week launches. AKA, the Best. Week. Ever. 10 days and 27,000 diners later, I'd say it was a whopping success. And I'm not just saying that so that I can secure my involvement with the next installment coming this spring. (*Ahem*) But in all seriousness, this is probably the best thing to happen to Detroit dining since...well...

(2) ME!!! Yaaaaaaaaay ME! Yes, Dining in Detroit, the little blog that could, officially "launched" in January 2009 (the archives from 2007-2008 were transferred over from a previous blog), which has opened the doors to me bombarding you from some eight different publications and counting now.

Well...technically it was launched in Dec. 2008, but we'll just go ahead and say that the "Grand Opening" was in 2009...okay? Okay, then. Don't argue with me.

(3) Mercury Coffee Bar and Zaccaro's Market both end up epic FAIL!s. After both opening with a whole lot of fanfare and hullabaloo, both closed within a matter of months due to mismanagement and a serious miscalculation of demographics. (I.e., a gourmet grocer where even everyday items are at about a 20% mark-up compared to a regular grocery store and a trendy coffee bar that charged $7.oo for a bite of grilled cheese just weren't meant to be in the middle of a recession in the city with the highest unemployment rate in the country.) C'est la vie.

(4) Michael Symon wins a James Beard Award--though it was for Cleveland's Lola, and not Detroit's Roast, which only makes it a half-win...but it's an honor just to be nominated, right? Better luck next time, Brian Polcyn.

(5) Tribute closes. Next time, just shoot off my kneecaps. It will hurt less.

(6) Detroit dining gets some national love. Pizza, burgers, BBQ, and pizza again. And thanks once again to David Landsel for name-dropping me in the New York Post...still waiting for that royalty check, B-T-dubs.

(7) Me again! :D My taco cart crawl story and my often-imitated, never-duplicated crepe story take top billing for the year for their respective publications. Boo-yah. I said BOO-YAH.

Okay. That's 7. That's enough. Because 5 is too few (then I couldn't include myself twice), and 10 is just cliche. There you have it, kids. The biggest moments in the metro Detroit dining scene, according to moi. And since this is most likely going to be the only list of its kind, that makes it the BEST list of its kind.

Until the Metro Times does their own version. Ooooohhh...

Breweries, Microbreweries, and Brewpubs, Oh My!

Last night I was enjoying some brews at Liberty Street Brewing Company in Plymouth, and one of the partners, Josh Traylor, was kind enough to break down for me the difference between a brewery, a microbrewery, and a brewpub. I suspect that this is information that could be useful to many of my readers (seeing as how most of us use the terms interchangeably), so I decided to share this info with you. Ah, the things I do.

Also thanks to the Michigan Brewers Guild for putting out a publication called Michigan: The Great Beer State (published by Hour Custom Publishing, and you can totally tell), whose 2009 edition also offers a great breakdown of the differences which I am now about to copy verbatim.

A brewery can sell beer both in their own tavern as well as through retailers across the state. Breweries are limited to one tavern per company.

A microbrewery is limited to brewers under 30,000 barrels of annual production. Microbreweries can sell beer in both their own taverns or through retailers across the state. They are not limited in the number of taverns they may operate.

A brewpub can only sell its beer inside its own establishment, including beer-to-go. It also may include a liquor license and offer a full-service bar.

These defintions are based on the State of Michigan licensing qualifications, and if you ask me some of the restrictions are a bit arbitrary (a brewery can only have one tavern but a microbrewery can have a limitless number?), but no one asked me.

Now cue the music for The More You Know.

Tweets for the Sweet

Follow me on Twitter! @DininginDetroit

I'll "tweet" the latest news on Restaurant Week, updates on restaurant specials and events, foodie tidbits, and anything else of interest that don't quite necessitate a blog post but 140 characters suit just fine!

So far today, I have:

DininginDetroitToday is the last day for 50% off food bills at MGM's Ignite, Palette, and Breeze! Also last day for BOGO free entrees at all Andiamos!

DininginDetroitIn Naperville IL. Headed to work and then lunch at Sugar Toad, the dining experience 9 months in the making for me! Home again tonight.

Now if I can just figure out how to tweet via cell phone...

My Famous Food Quote

I'm sure you've seen those dining quotations painted on the overhangs of shopping mall food courts, quotes such as George Bernard Shaw's "There is no love sincerer than the love of food" or Virgina Woolf's "One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well" (a quote I myself have even used in this blog before).

Well, I have one for you, and it's timely considering the current economic state of the world.

"Don't be afraid of a few extra pounds; they're the only things you can afford to lose."

Nicole Rupersburg, food writer