Zagat snubs OC foodies - again

Editors of the 2012 Southern California edition didn't update their ratings for Orange County restaurants. So this year's top-ranking restaurants are repeats from last year - and popular newcomers like Capital Grille, Bruxie and Haven Gastropub are left out of the book. From the OC Register:

"Restaurants specifically in the Orange County, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara areas do not have all-new ratings and reviews," Zagat spokesman Nicholas Sampogna told me Wednesday after I inquired about the lack of diversity in the 2012 book. In some markets, Zagat opts to update ratings -- the hallmark of its review system -- every other year. That's why all the Orange County "winners are the same -- because those lists have not been updated," Sampogna said.

OC used to get its own Zagat edition, but the publication did away with that two years ago. This year's 380-page guide has only 11 pages devoted to OC. We'll see whether that changes with Google taking over the operations.