A busy place? Olive Garden is a busy place.

Seriously, though, I think serious foodies have lots and lots of resources at their disposal. And not just the big name crowd sourced sites like Yelp. They have other friends they trust. Specialty sites that aren't bogged down with reviews of Cheesecake Factory and Chik-Fil-A.

I see why a desk clerk suggests a boring place. Someone who asks them really may not be a foodie. Send someone like that to a foodie place and they might not like it because it's much to unfamiliar and not like back home.