Oregonian Switches to Star Ratings for Restaurant Reviews

Starting today, the Oregonian's restaurant reviews will be accompanied by star ratings. According to restaurant critic Michael Russell, the change coincides with the newspaper's previously announced move to a "compact format," which will see restaurant reviews appearing in the re-packaged, compact A&E section starting tomorrow. Under the new rating, restaurants will be graded from zero to four stars, with zero representing "not recommended" and four starts signifying "extraordinary."

"This is something that I wanted to do for some time, mostly, because I've felt hemmed in by the letter grade system," Russell tells Eater. "Anything lower than a B- seems to cause a bit of a panic here in Portland." (Indeed, grades lower than a "C" were a rarity; save for recent examples like the "Ds" for Ahi Sushi and Southland Whiskey Kitchen.) The move comes amidst an ongoing debate about the merit of star rating systems — most famously, the Los Angeles Times stopped issuing stars in 2012. Russell promises an in-depth explanation of the grade-to-star swap will publish later this afternoon; stay tuned.
· The Oregonian Goes from Letter Grades to Stars [OregonLive]
· All Previous Oregonian Coverage [Eater PDX]