Surveyors Nina and Tim Zagat praise Google's "belief in user-generated content" and shared "commitment to accuracy and fairness" and loyalists predict "amazing Android apps."

More at the "official" Google blog.

The updated search and expanded profiles are founder Nina Zagat's favorite features, she told The Observer, adding that she sees as in keeping with the publication's early days, when she and her husband Tim would survey their friends for restaurant recommendations.

"The whole concept of the survey was shared experiences of lots and lots of people being more reliable than what existed at the time, which were individual critics," Ms. Zagat said. "So the nature of Zagat at its core is a very social experience, with the community of people contributing being the whole basis of everything that we've done."

The community moves to the center stage in the redesign, and when users scroll over the "pithy, signature" quotes that "put the book on the map," the authors of the critique are revealed. The user badges are fairly creative—one, "First on the Scene," conjures both reporting and first-aid imagery—and would seem to encourage knowledgeable reviewers over Yelp squaking.

Ms. Zagat said the redesign is the result of a year's worth of work is still "in previews." She added that users can expect new features to be rolled out over the next four or five months.

(Disclosure: This paper has, in the past, had a promotional relationship with Zagat.)

He's also a bit of an app-maker himself. Mr. Charles is launching a new company, called Consmr, which will be a social network for products. You may soon see people checking in to shampoo.

"It's essentially a Zagat/Yelp for grocery and drug store products (think user reviews for beverages, makeup, skin care, frozen foods, etc). It also incorporated badges as rewards and product "check ins" for users to share what products they're currently using," he said.

Consumr is an independent project that Mr. Charles will demo tonight at the New York Tech Mixer and release in public beta tomorrow. Mr. Charles has signed up "a well known beverage company" as a launch partner. He is profiled on We Are NY Tech today.

ajeffries [at] observer.com | @adrjeffries

More than 40,000 people rated restaurants for the 2011 Zagat guide to New York, and 64 percent said texting checking email or talking on the phone is rude and inappropriate in a restaurant. 

Thirty-two percent said this kind of activity was acceptable if done in moderation while just 2 percent said it was acceptable and 2 percent had no opinion (or were too busy texting to answer the question). 

On the bright side, the average cost of meal dropped by a nickel, from $41.81 to $41.76, the first time dining costs had fallen since 9/11. 

Why are cell-phone conversations so annoying while a room full of strangers talking is just pleasant background noise? A recent study found that people become much more distracted by a one sided conversation, or "halfalouge", because our brains are struggling to make sense of the discussion without having all the necessary information. 

Handy! Or, definitely handier than a little maroon booklet filled with restaurant reviews.

The video is a promotion for Zagat’s new mobile phone application, “nru” (pronounced “near you”), the restaurant guide’s first-ever free mobile application (an earlier iPhone app, “Zagat to Go,” costs $9.99). Phones with Google Android can use “nru” now; a new (and free) version of the app will be released for the iPhone 3G S this fall.

Created in partnership with travel site lastminute.com, “nru” offers free access to Zagat ratings and cost estimates for restaurants, clubs and other businesses in more than 75 cities, including New York. Basically, hold up your phone, find out what’s around. Simple and useful. But can Zagat, whose paperback, très ’90s guide is now 30 years old, compete in the mobile marketplace? Sites like Yelp—the free peer-review site—have compiled similar man-on-the-street information and been ahead of the curve on mobile technology (Yelp launched its iPhone app in July 2008, months before Zagat jumped on the iPhone craze), allowing anyone with a Web browser to access their copious number of citizen judgments. A Yelp representative told The Observer that an upcoming version of their iPhone application will have

Facebook Connect and Twitter integration, too. Zagat, still keeping it slightly old-school, currently has no plans for such social media features.

Is lagging behind the hyper-connected, Twittering world costing Zagat?

Ryan Charles, a product manager for Zagat’s Internet and wireless projects, said the Zagat app has “never left” the 10-most-downloaded iPhone apps in the travel-applications category since its launch in November, but wouldn’t give more detailed numbers on Web traffic or download stats. So it’s hard to tell exactly how successful Zagat has been, mobile-ly speaking, so far.

And in fact, Zagat might find “nru” and Zagat to Go gains an edge over other apps, thanks to the crafty “Zagat Recommends” section, which acts like a personal concierge service. The feature has a choose-your-own-adventure feel, asking the user a series of questions so he or she can find the right Zagat-rated restaurant based on whether it’s for a first date (intimate!) or to break up (crowds, please!), or if patrons “have a trust fund” or are those on the more frugal side of dining.

“The important scenarios help you make a dining decision in a much shorter time,” Mr. Charles said. “We give you sort of a quick answer rather than having to scroll through a bunch of reviews to get an idea of a restaurant.”

Plus, it kind of sounds like a game. Given that “Hero of Sparta” was number one in the App Store last we checked, this can only be a good thing for Zagat.

greagan@observer.com

“While we considered some very attractive options, given our Company’s strong performance and continued momentum, and in light of the current economic climate, we have decided to continue to grow our business organically," the Zagats said in a statement.

My colleague Chris Shott sat down with Tim and Nina last June.

Asked “Do you think the recent temporary shuttering of some NYC restaurants for health violations is…?” only 15 percent answered “[a]n overreaction,” while a whopping 65 percent said “[w]arranted.” (Another 20 percent were undecided.)

The overwhelming support for the continuing Health Department crackdown on the city’s food-service sector comes on the heels of last month’s New York Post report, which found that city health inspectors had flunked 25 percent of all 28,955 eateries they inspected during fiscal year 2007.

Other findings from the brand-spanking new Zagat 2008 New York City Restaurants guide:

- Only Danny Meyer Can Top Danny Meyer: For the first time in four years, Gramercy Tavern has been dethroned as Manhattan’s most popular restaurant. The new king? Sister spot Union Square Café. Daniel, meanwhile, has unseated Le Bernardin as the top spot for food.

- Brooklyn Booming, Dom DeMarco Soaring: Despite increasing criticism, Peter Luger remains the city’s top steakhouse for the 24^th consecutive year. Long the lone Brooklyn eatery among Zagat’s Top 20, the Williamsburg porterhouse palace is now joined by Boerum Hill standout Saul and beloved Di Fara pizzeria in Midwood. Can’t find Smith Street? The new guide now has a map of the borough’s best dining destinations.

- Ramsay’s Kitchen Pipe-Dreams: This week’s love fest for star chef Gordon Ramsay continues. After earning two Michelin stars, Gordon Ramsay at the London NYC also nabs honors as Zagat’s Top Newcomer. “[L]ives up to the hype,” according to the guide, but “not for the faint of pocketbook.” Meanwhile, Mr. Ramsay's controversial TV makeover project Purnima (formerly known as Dillon's) doesn't rate a mention.

- Vanity Fare, Seeking Correction: Hugely hyped “celeb-centric” Waverly Inn earned a not-too-shabby score of 18 for food. But give Zagat a big fat ‘F’ for spell-checking. Or lack thereof. Don’t know who “Grayson Carter” is, but if media titan Graydon Carter were publishing this guide, then heads would roll in the copy-editing department.

Perhaps not coincidentally, New Yorkers are cutting back slightly on nights out per week (2.0) and on their nightly drink intake (3.2), compared to years past, the new survey finds.

Also, meatpacking is still hot. And yet not. Read survey gurus Tim and Nina Zagat's comments on the new trends here.

More nightlife survey highlights:
 
A record 11 new wine bars have opened this year, featuring such tannic monikers as Grape & Grain, Wine & Roses, and Wined Up.
Adding 14 new nightspots, the East Village is the year's most busy 'hood in terms of venue openings; incredibly shrinking Little Italy gained two. 
Meatpacking remains both "most popular" and "most overrated" nighttime destination; Chelsea and Greenwich Village replace Soho and the Upper East Side, respectively as runner's up on the irritation scale. 
Women go to Stanton Social, men prefer Brother Jimmy's.
Buddha Bar debuted at No. 2 on the Most Popular Spot list. At No. 1, meatpacking neighbor Pastis; while fellow Keith McNally hangout Balthazar ranked third. 
65 percent of New Yorkers consider bottle service a complete "rip-off." Are you listening City Council?
86 percent of New Yorkers still approve of the city's smoking ban. Are you listening Josh Hartnett?
Most New Yorkers drink wine on weekdays (44%); save the mixed drinks for weekends (55%) 
After normal clubbing hours, most New Yorkers (a) want food, 46%; (b) want sleep, 31%; or (c) want sex, N/A. Wait. Is that what Zagat means by "go home right to bed"?