Television chef Guy Fieri has become famous for his appearances to cook on various television shows, as well as for his abnormal haircut. However, many people’s perception of him changed last month when the New York Times’

Pete Wells wrote a negative review of Fieri’s restaurant in New York City, Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar. The media pounced on word of the review, raising questions as to the validity of Fieri as a professional chef.

The thought that a little-known writer such as Wells could bring Fieri to shame demonstrates the power of a review to hurt or help a restaurant. There are several restaurants in Carmel that show the benefits from positive reviews, including Bazbeaux Pizza, a well-known pizza parlor located in downtown Carmel.

Bazbeaux Pizza has received several positive reviews from various sites and people. Review aggregator Zagat gives it 27 out of 30 points, one of the highest ratings for all restaurants in Carmel.

According to Liz Altman, Bazbeaux Pizza customer service representative, Bazbeaux Pizza does a lot to garner such high reviews. Altman said that one of the actions it takes to get good reviews is to prepare its food fresh, daily.

Altman also said that the positive reviews and word-of-mouth Bazbeaux Pizza receives brings in a lot of attention from customers.

“(The positive reviews) bring us more customers,” Altman said.

According to Altman, however, customer service is a big part of Bazbeaux Pizza’s superior reviews. She said that Bazbeaux Pizza tries to make customers happy, and it recieves good reviews as a result.

However, Sophomore Noah Khamliche said that he likes Bazbeaux Pizza for its quality. According to Khamliche, the pizza Bazbeaux Pizza serves tastes better than that served by many larger pizza corporations.

“(Bazbeaux Pizza’s pizza) tastes better than (the pizza sold at) most of the big chains,” Khamliche said.

Bazbeaux Pizza’s reviews reflect Khamliche’s ideas of the quality of pizza served there. On Zagat, out of the categories for “Food,” “Décor” and “Service,” Bazbeaux Pizza scores the highest in “Food.”

Khamliche, however, like many other customers of Bazbeaux Pizza continue to write good reviews of it and its food.

“(Bazbeaux Pizza) is fantastically delicious,” Khamliche said.