Zagat on menu for restaurant review site Infatuation

[SAN FRANCISCO] Restaurant review new-comer The Infatuation announced Monday a deal to buy veteran Zagat from Google for an undisclosed amount.

Since Google bought Zagat a little more than six years ago for a reported US$151 million, the long-established service for evaluating dining experiences has seen appetites turn to internet age services such as Yelp.

"Zagat has helped us provide useful and relevant dining results for users across our various products," Google vice president of product Jen Fitzpatrick said in a joint statement.

"The Infatuation is an innovative company that will be a terrific home for the Zagat brand." The Infatuation planned to cook the Zagat brand into its website and mobile application as part of a stated mission to become an influential global restaurant discovery platform.

"Iconic brands don't become available very often, and Zagat is about as iconic as it gets," Infatuation co-founder and chief executive Chris Stang said.

Zagat will remain a separate platform, working in tandem with The InfATUATION, according to the company.

Zagat was founded in 1979 by Tim and Nina Zagat, serving restaurant ratings in printing guides and online. The team of reviewers grew, as did the types of industries covered in guides.

The Infatuation launched in 2009, particularly targeting smartphone-generation restaurant seekers, and boasts reaching more than three million people monthly in an array of cities around world.

"Tim and I are very excited for Zagat's next chapter with The Infatuation," Nina Zagat said.

AFP