Google's In-house Food Critic

Google, Inc., has become famous for the quality and low price (in fact, no price, since it's all free) of its in-house dining choices. But even the finest restaurants have their critics, and Google's 17 in-house cafes at its Mountain View, CA, headquarters complex seems to have grown its own internally and organically.

Since joining the company in 2005 as a software engineer, the 27-year-old Thunder Parley has nurtured a growing interest in the offerings at the cafes and started an online review. The whim has escalated into a major project that reportedly has Parley visiting up to three cafes each day and posting the reviews to his internal e-mail list.

Parley, who admits to having no culinary background or training whatsoever, has become somewhat famous inside the company, and his reviews apparently can influence traffic significantly at the various stations. Chefs at the outlets now vie for his attention and favor, albeit in a good-natured way.

A story in the Los Angeles Times earlier this year has made Parley a mini celebrity outside the company as well.

Do you have notable in-house critics? If so, we would like to hear about it. Send a brief description of your internal critic's activities, and how it has affected your operations, to [email protected]. We'll print some of the best ones in a future issue.