to Boycott or not to Boycott, why do we love to eat out?

I have been mulling over a tough question the past couple of decades that I hope to address here with frequency, what makes a good restaurant? Or, what makes a restaurant good? The obvious answer and the only one that makes any sense is that it is a combination of factors: food, ambiance, service and of course price. The tricky thing however is figuring out the correct combination of these things, given that there are so so many ways that they can meld together harmoniously. Some of my favorite restaurants are beautiful, and some are dives. Some have delicious wonderfully elaborate food and others I crave for the simplest of dishes. Sometimes, nothing but a greasy hamburger can fill that whole. I love a bargain, but I don't mind spending the money once in a while for a truly fabulous meal. I sometimes relish the surly old school Spanish waiters that grump and groan at you and I hate being fawned over. Other times, I can diatribe for hours on how it doesn't take an effort to be friendly, or at least polite. So what is the magical blend and how do we read the signs to discover if we should become a regular or become a boycotter (I am not a vindictive person, I swear)? I plan on using this space and the RESTAURANT entries/reviews that I write in this blog to analyze this, to find out, and to undoubtedly make myself hungry along the way.