Hmmm...so is this an admission you are getting kickbacks from the restaurants on your list?
How impartial is this list???
I was KIDDING.
Absolutely NOT.
I started this as a one-time restaurant recommendation to a friend, then again to a TUG stranger in a PM,
then people began to ask for more, so it ballooned to what it is today.
But it was an enjoyable hobby, and being that I go to Hilton Head often, it served a helpful purpose.
Nobody at any of the restaurants knows anything about me except that I'm a regular, at best. I never mention any list or such,
and nobody there ever has a clue that my impressions are printed on TUG.
As far as anyone knows I'm just an ordinary diner....which is what I am, in fact. This hobby of mine is purely fun,
and believe me, I'm 100% an amateur at this.
But I think I have good taste, excuse the pun, and that I can rightly and fairly judge.
I'm too darn busy in my full time dental practice to EVER think of any endeavor other than what it is.
In some ways it's an escape into a world that I enjoy.
If the recommendations help, and I've had communications that it does help a lot from individuals all over the US and abroad,
then it spurs me on, and it just keeps me going.
Hilton Head is a popular place, but restaurants can be quite unknown (signage codes, many don't advertise, etc),
so I sincerely think I've dug deep to find the good ones, and to let them be known.
(A non-TUG friend of 15+ years, currently at MGO where we originally met, was flabbergasted last week when my list was mentioned
and I gave him a printout. He couldn't
believe the long, long list of restaurants noted,
and he said, "You have restaurants that I've never heard of". And he's been coming down each year from NJ for 15-20 years
and stays at least 10-12 weeks each time. Go figure, but that's sort of how it is. )
My friends from TUG with whom I've dined out, and they are many, know what I do and what I don't do.
Frankly it never occurred to me to let anyone at a restaurant know anything other than I'm just a normal customer
sharing experiences (like we all do for resorts and everything else, etc).
EDIT:
And another thing....My values and morality would never allow me to benefit personally from such an endeavor in any way, shape, or form.
My list is and has always been 100% fair and unbiased.
Frankly I don't care WHAT anyplace thinks, my list is my list, and I'll write pro or con recommendations based on my impressions.
There are several restaurants which don't get such good words spoken, and I issue caveats for those, as anyone can go back and see,
so as the (stupid) saying goes, "It is what it is".
