Unlike other online communities, Yelp doesn’t allow net nerds to engage in nervous naval gazing and self-involved self promotion. Instead, it turns the old saying, “Everyone’s a critic” into a reality.

Yelp works by allowing anyone who can put a sentence together (and even some who can’t) to post their own reviews and recommendations of their favorite local attractions.

Even better, all postings have to have actual street addresses, so it isn’t just reviewing one stupid website featuring videos of a guy shoving Mentos into a liter of Diet Coke -- but real life businesses that are out in the real world – restaurants, mechanics, clothing stores.

That means you can get all sorts of reviews on one place so that you can compare and contrast them. For instance, there are 29 reviews of Phil’s BBQ on Goldfinch and all the scores average out to about 4 stars.

Although the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, a sizeable minority give the place two stars for its “too-sweet sauce,” the crowds, or whatever. But that gives a well-rounded examination, as opposed to a simple restaurant review by some pipe smoking journalist in an ivory tower.

Some of the reviews are specific, such as a review for Nico’s Taco Shop in OB that suggests trying the chicken rolled tacos. Then there’s a one-star review of the Lei Lounge in University Heights by a woman named “Angie W.” who had a little bone to pick:

“Bad customer service by the hostess. She had long curly blonde hair and treated our birthday girl rudely.”

Other reviews are more impressionistic, such as the one for Little Chef in Ocean Beach by “David M.”

“Sometimes, you're not in the mood for a good breakfast, just an average one…I like watching the couples here on Sunday, who hooked up the night before and she's still wearing the outfit she met him in -- or has borrowed some of his clothes. For many people, the walk of shame goes through Little Chef.”

I especially like hearing people explain why a place is a guilty pleasure for them. Take the guy who knew that a Mexican place in Lemon Grove called Carnitas Uruapan would be good because as soon as he walked in he saw all sorts of fat people.

About the only thing that seems to hinder Yelp, so far, is that it has a base of hipsters who tend to focus on a few places that are in the “scene,” such as Pokez, at the expense of other places.

But I predict that will change. Yelp is new in San Diego and the people who hooked me onto the site told me that as the popularity increased in San Francisco and New York, so did the breadth of the reviewers. Now there are actually old people on the website in those cities.

I’ve found a bunch of good Asian places I’ve wanted to try because of Yelp but, sadly, those are restaurants and I’m still waiting for the massage parlors to be reviewed.

C’mon, help a brother out.