AI-assisted, source-checked
Adelaide's 1,193 venues are drafted by AI reading each venue's own published material, then checked against those sources before anything goes live. The model is a reader, not a judge — and it's never asked to recall a venue from memory, because that's precisely how invented detail gets into directories.
What we do not do: we do not visit every venue, we do not have owner confirmation for listings unless a listing says so, and we do not present a compiled listing as a review. Where a listing has been checked in person or confirmed by the venue, it will say so with a date.
We don't invent facts
Facts need a source. Cellar doors and Hills producers make this harder than usual: many keep limited or appointment-only hours that aren't published anywhere consistent. Where we can't confirm, we leave it out rather than guessing at something a reader might drive an hour on.
Sourcing & attribution
Our information comes from a mix of sources, including:
- The venue's own website and menu, plus cellar door and producer sites for the Hills and Barossa
- Google Places for location, hours and rating volume, never for our own descriptions
- Ticketing platforms for events: Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, Moshtix, Meetup and AllEvents
- Reader corrections, often from people who know the operator personally — Adelaide is small like that
Where images or facts come from a third party, we attribute them where appropriate and link out so you can check the original.
The Spot Score, in plain language
Adelaide's problem is thin data rather than misleading data. Good venues here have fewer reviews than their equivalents in Sydney or Melbourne because the population is smaller, not because they're worse. A score treating review count as quality would rank the whole city below where it belongs. So the Spot Score reads reputation relative to what's normal for a venue of that type in this city, leans on how complete our own information is, and disregards money entirely.
Freshness & verification
Venues change constantly, so freshness is built into our process and into the Spot Score itself — older, unverified information counts for less. We re-check listings over time and update them as sources change. Even so, please treat time-sensitive details like hours and menus as a guide and confirm with the venue before you go.
How to report an inaccuracy
Found something wrong, out of date or a venue that's closed? Please tell us via our contact form and we'll review and fix it quickly. Spotting errors helps everyone, and we're grateful for it.
What this looked like for Adelaide
Adelaide's issue is thin data, not bad data. Genuinely good venues here carry a fraction of the reviews their Sydney or Melbourne equivalents do, purely because fewer people live here. Our first ranking treated review count as a quality signal and consequently described Adelaide as a weaker food city than it is. We now read reputation relative to what's normal for this city rather than against a national baseline.
The other complication is that a lot of what's worth visiting sits outside the city proper. Cellar doors in the Barossa and McLaren Vale, and producers in the Hills, operate on limited hours and often by appointment. We list them with the hours they actually keep rather than pretending they trade like a city restaurant.
Because the market is small, reader corrections carry real weight here — several have come from people who know the operator personally. We act on those quickly, and they're a meaningful part of how the Adelaide guide stays current.