What I discovered when I read all 180 reviews of my tapas bar in one sitting

It was January. The worst month in hospitality. A Tuesday afternoon with almost nobody. I sat down with a coffee and opened Google Maps on my laptop. I had 180 reviews accumulated over four years and had never read them all at once, only the ones the app notified me about occasionally.

It took me an hour and a half to read them all. It was one of the strangest afternoons of my professional life.

The first thing that surprised me: the croquettes. They're mentioned in 47 reviews. Forty-seven. I knew they were popular, but I had no idea they were THE reason many people came. There's a review that literally says: "I came because of my friend's croquettes and I keep coming back." Another: "The best croquettes in Bilbao, no argument." And forty-five more like that.

Did I have the croquettes in a prominent place on the menu? No. They were under "hot and cold starters", in the middle of the page, no photo, same font as the anchovies. That same month I had them properly photographed and put them on the front cover of the menu with the phrase "Sonia's croquettes" and an asterisk saying "4 years as the most ordered dish". Croquette sales went up 34% in February.

Second: the tables. In twelve different reviews, written by twelve people who clearly don't know each other, some variation of "the tables are very close together" or "it's a bit cramped" appears. Twelve people. In four years. And I had never stopped to think about it because from inside the bar you don't see it the same way.

I asked my niece to come on a Saturday for lunch without telling me. I told her to sit wherever she wanted and tell me what she thought. She said: "Soni, when the people at the next table get up you have to move out of the way for them to pass." I rearranged two tables. Lost four chairs. But the following reviews started mentioning how "cosy" the place was instead of how cramped.

The third thing was more unexpected: nobody mentioned the wine. I have a selection of txakoli and Basque Country wines that I'm proud of, which I update every season. In 180 reviews it's mentioned twice, and one of those is to say "ask about the wine, they have interesting things." Invisible.

I started training the waiters to mention it when bringing the menu. "We have txakoli from small producers in Bizkaiko, if you want I can tell you about them." The average spend went up by €3.20 in two months just from that.

Reading reviews in a row is like a hundred people telling you the truth about your business at the same time. It hurts a little. But it's worth a lot.