Move over Trip Advisor, there’s a new app in town!
Before the end of 2017, the launch of a new, free restaurant guide app in English called PlayaFood took place at L’Ambasciata d’Italia restaurant. Created by Richard Lebret, a French resident of the area, the app is intended to be an alternative to Trip Advisor on a local level – the only app dedicated to the restaurants of the Riviera Maya.
Richard is a food enthusiast and wanted to create a platform to be used by both locals and tourists. So far, it lists approximately 475 restaurants in Playa and 208 in Tulum and it’s growing. It can be found online at playafood.com or downloaded from the usual online stores.
So, what are its features?
Each restaurant has a page containing contact details, an interactive Google map, photos, ratings and comments. Restaurants may also display their menus if they so wish.
Restaurants may be filtered by name, location, price, rating and type of cuisine.
As a user you may upload your comments via a simple submission form – nothing complicated.
The website also has a blog and features such as a monthly Top 5 list.
I asked Richard why a user would choose PlayaFood over a more established platform like Trip Advisor, and he told me that PlayaFood has the advantage of being managed by people who live here. Many comments are by locals and refer not just to big name restaurants that may attract more tourists, but to smaller establishments too.
Personally, I like the idea of supporting local, independent ventures, be those the eateries themselves or the services built around them.
PlayaFood also provides marketing services to restaurants, such as social media communication, flyers, videos and logo placement on the website. To contact the marketing team, email playafoodgmail.com.
To download the app, look for PlayaFood on the Apple App Store or Google Play and find your new favourite restaurant today. They’re on all the main social media outlets too.
