Chicago has a huge Yelp user population, and stars aside, the reviews of restaurants are themselves ill-informed and misleading. You have a much more compelling case with the bodega and the Michelin-starred restaurant, but, for example, a prominent and well-rated review of The Publican claimed they had food-service fries, which was funny because I read it while watching Paul Kahan peeling potatoes by hand before they fried them in duck fat.
I don't trust anything I read in Yelp. Google should buy LTHForum.
I don't think Google is buying Yelp for the reviews. I think they'd buy them for the user data.
From what I hear, Google has an internal mandate to ensure that products are globally applicable. This is why Google probably won't attack real estate anytime soon.
Yelp is rich in certain locales (hadn't heard about Chicago, but your pop-size ensures that pretty much most things are a hit) but it's reviews aren't going global anytime soon. The data and patterns Google could glean, in addition to the local business data (openings, closings, good for kids, etc) is invaluable to them as they work towards their local business goal. They could kick off several cities with a flick, and have learnings to scale up.
i don't grasp the 'problem' with the rating system. a 4.5 star deli offers 4.5 star deli cuisine, and a 4 star restaurant offers 4 star haute cuisine. are they that much more comparable than a 4 star restaurant and a 5 star laundromat?
You can't expect an objective experience when the service offers a higher service to businesses for money. And the paid search results aren't even relevant.
I don't trust anything I read in Yelp. Google should buy LTHForum.