I could not disagree more (“Angered,” The Daily Astorian, Aug. 7). Thank you for writing an honest review (“Gilligan and The Skipper probably ate better than this,” Coast Weekend, July 30). Thank you, thank you, thank you. Did I say “thank you?” I stopped reading these reviews years ago because I felt that the writer was simply trying to sell local businesses at the expenses of … well, at my expense.

There are three types of restaurants in this region. First, we have the really great ones, like the Depot, Fulio’s and Newman’s. They never get the press they deserve, and show us that it is possible to get good, and often great, food around here.

Then we have the good restaurants, those that try their hardest to appeal to the local tastes, provide a good value. Even if you have a mediocre meal now and then, you don’t have a problem returning month after month. They range in quality, but you always know that they take the extra step to make sure that the product they serve is reasonable or better. The bulk of the local restaurants fit in this category – Ginger’s, Angelina’s Pizza, Pacific Way.

Finally, we have the restaurants, like this one. … They are generally in Seaside or Long Beach, Wash., and apparently think that because they pay so much for rent, and are guaranteed a certain amount of business based solely on their proximity to the tourist traffic, that they need not focus on the actual business of running a restaurant.

Giving this last group of restaurants a good review wastes my time and money, it alienates me as a local because it makes me disbelieve everything that comes from The Daily Astorian. Perhaps more importantly, it reflects negatively on the region as a whole. If this is what our visitors experience when they come here, why would they come back?

So not only does it directly take business away from those restaurants that actually put forth the effort to provide a quality dining experience (for all their customers, regardless of the time of year, or their home zip code), it also takes it away from them a second time, when the tourists choose to go elsewhere with their tourist dollars.

So please, please keep it up. The restaurant business is just too hard to allow lesser establishments to take the spoils from those that deserve the recognition. We need all the good restaurants that we can keep around here. I haven’t read a Coast Weekend in years, but I’m going to be looking for the next edition, I promise.

JOHN WALLPE

Warrenton