Zagat scouts are camped out at Union Station asking people to vote. (Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call) Not for all those political windbags who have turned TV into wall-to-wall attack ads, but for local businesses we all patronize regularly. The one-time restaurant scorecard, which was snatched up by Google last fall, is muscling in on Yelp’s turf, soliciting ratings from armchair critics about a wide spectrum of retail shopping opportunities. Zagat has zeroed in on three dozen Capitol Hill vendors — ranging from historical landmarks (Schneider’s, Eastern Market, Frager’s Hardware) to niche boutiques (Punk Rock Bride, Hill’s Kitchen, Fairy Godmother) — for its current “shopping & food lover’s” survey (live through Dec. 9). Each spot can be judged on “quality,” “display,” “service” and “cost,” on a continuum from “fair-poor” to “excellent” for the first three categories and from “inexpensive” to “very expensive” for the latter. One of the lounge keepers said folks are welcome to put in their two cents about as many D.C.-based ventures as they like. And the more surveys you fill out, the more rewards you can earn from the Zagat prize shelf. (Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call) A Zagat aide told HOH the compiled shopping reviews would be featured in a specialty guide poised for publication in 2013.
