AI-assisted, source-checked
Newcastle's 1,079 venues are drafted by AI reading each venue's own published material, with a source check before anything is live. The model doesn't judge quality and is never asked what it knows about a venue — only what a venue has actually said about itself.
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
A sourced fact or nothing. Because so much of this scene is recent, a lot of listings have short histories and little corroboration, so we're deliberately conservative: an unverified detail stays off the page until we can confirm it.
Sourcing & attribution
Our information comes from a mix of sources, including:
- The venue's own website and menu — many here are recent, so we re-check them often
- Google Places for location, hours and rating volume, never for our own words
- Ticketing platforms for events: Ticketmaster, Eventbrite, Moshtix, Meetup and AllEvents
- Reader corrections, often about venues that opened after most guides stopped paying attention
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
Newcastle rebuilt its dining scene in about a decade, which leaves a scoring problem: long-established venues have years of accumulated reviews and the interesting newer ones have months. Weighting by volume would describe the city as it was in 2015. The Spot Score reads reputation relative to how long a venue has been trading and what category it's in, rewards current information, and takes no account of commercial arrangements.
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Found something wrong, out of date or a venue that's closed?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 Newcastle
Newcastle rebuilt its dining scene in roughly a decade, and most guides still describe the city as it was before that. Our early listings had the same problem — weighting by review volume meant the long-established venues dominated and the interesting newer ones, which have months of reviews rather than years, were invisible.
We now read reputation relative to how long a venue has been trading. A room that opened eighteen months ago and is well regarded ranks on that basis, rather than against somewhere with a decade of accumulated ratings.
The city also serves a much larger catchment than its own population suggests — the Hunter and Lake Macquarie both look here for a night out. We keep beach-side and harbour-side trade separate, because they run different hours and draw different crowds.