Urbanspoon
Category: Travel
Last Updated: October 14th, 2009
Current Version: 1.12
Size: 0.7 MB
Price: Free

Urbanspoon, for those of you unaware of this iconic iPhone app, is a tool to help you find, rate, and review the best restaurants. Be sure to check their website to make sure they have restaurants in your area, but don’t worry because they have listings it pretty much every major metropolitan area of the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

One of the main functions of the application is their restaurant wheel. Simply shake your phone and it will randomly give you a suggestion in your area. If you need to narrow it down a bit, lock in a neighborhood, type of food, or price range to be more specific about the choices it gives you. This is fun at first, but the novelty of the slot-machine search wears off pretty fast. Where the program truly excels is the “Browse” section. This allows you to look at a wide variety of restaurants, searching through neighborhoods, types of food, popular restaurants, and much more. Each section gives you a list of top-rated restaurants as well as more options to narrow it down further and find exactly what you want. Looking for something more close to wherever you are at that moment? Tap on over to the “Scope” section and a map will pop up with the GPS zeroing in on your current location and a few seconds later pins will be placed on every listed restaurant in your immediate area. Click on the pin to see what it is, where it is, get a phone number, and read any reviews. Perhaps you already know exactly what you’re looking for and just need to find the website or get a phone number to make reservations or place your order. If that is the case, then their search feature is perfect for you. Type in what you’re looking for and it’ll tell you what you need.

As with the some of the most successful iPhone apps, social networking is as popular as ever and Urbanspoon does not disappoint. In addition to all of the other features it offers, you can create an account with them (for free of course) and start rating the restaurants you’ve been to with a thumbs up or thumbs down, write reviews, leave comments, submit changes for a restaurant if something is wrong or missing, and even submit new restaurants that haven’t been listed yet. This, in my opinion, is what really pushes Urbanspoon over the top to be the truly fantastic App that it is.

Whether you are a self-described foodie or just looking for a great new place to eat, this application is a must-have on any iPhone or iPod touch.