Website operated from South America aims to enhance travel and dining-out in the U.S.

    /24-7PressRelease/ - NEW ORLEANS, LA, September 18, 2007 - Restaurant Referral is a venture developed and maintained by Cheryl Rivera, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. The website Restaurant Referral was designed, created, and built by Rivera, at her residence in South America. After living most of her life in the suburbs of New Orleans, Rivera resigned her job of 10 years and accompanied her husband to an overseas position. For security reasons, Rivera will not divulge her location beyond that she is in South America.

The U.S. Embassy and the local community have no job opportunities for Rivera. Being a newcomer to a third world country which has less than 2% of English speakers, Rivera was forced to get creative with how she spent her time. After years of frequent travel in her previous job, and numerous disappointing dining experiences, she came up with the idea of creating an online restaurant guide. Rivera's first step was to learn how to create a website. Said Rivera on September 15, 2007, "Website development was never part of my curriculum at UNO [University of New Orleans]. I'm a Finance Major, so this was all very new territory for me." After teaching herself the basics about creating a website, Rivera started the development of the databases. As she worked on her project, the website transformed from a general restaurant directory to one that listed the restaurants which were most appealing. Rivera advised, "There are so many restaurant directories available. I didn't want to face that much competition. I wanted to create a site that offered something original." Restaurant Referral was the result, offering dining recommendations nationwide based on critic reviews, public opinion/polls, overwhelming community support, and in some instances, personal experiences. "What I won't do," Rivera said, "is offer restaurants the option to purchase a referral. The idea behind the guide is that the listing is exclusively offered to restaurants that really give something great to their guests. They are appreciated and raved about by previous clients. I don't want to list everybody. That's what the directories are for. ... I am including casual restaurants, as well as fine dining, because they each offer that little something special that I think most people really look for and enjoy when they eat out."

Rivera advised that her website creation is designed primarily to keep her busy and keep her brain active. Secondly, Rivera adds, "I really like the idea of adding "webmaster" to my resume." When questioned about the income, Rivera advised "not yet." She admits that the website has the potential to generate income; however, being a new website, she knows it will take some time. Notably, in the short time the website has been launched, it is already averaging well over 20,000 hits a month. Targeting U.S. travelers and the white-collar workers in large cities, the website has seen a level of success that Rivera did not expect so quickly. "I was hoping that my first few months, I would see hits in the low hundreds. I never imagined it would exceed 20,000 so early on," Rivera advised. Some of the restaurants in the guide have contacted Rivera about her site and offered overwhelming support, approval, and appreciation. Rivera noted, "The reception I've received has been remarkable."

For now, Restaurant Referral's online guide consists of about 1,000 restaurants in large cities and tourist destinations. Future plans for the site include adding many more restaurants, as well as many more cities throughout the U.S. Other features of the site are maps to each restaurant, links to restaurant websites, weather links, state website links, and links to restaurant directories, where information on restaurants not included in the referrals can likely be obtained.

The Restaurant Referral website can be visited at: www.RestaurantReferral.com. If you would like to talk to Cheryl, just fill out the Make a Referral Form and submit it. She admittedly enjoys her time maintaining the website and appreciates any feedback she can use to make it better and help it grow.

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