My friend Dan at Angel’s Mattress recommended this site to me.
Similar in concept, yet broader in scope than Angies List, JudysBook.com is a free national website where people can join to swap local tips, recommend and rate stores, services, car dealers, dentists, restaurants, websites etc to other readers in their neighborhoods. Relatively easy to navigate, they have a simple rating system of 1-4 stars and brief experience descriptions written by visitors of businesses. They have question and answer boards and organize by topic.

The strength of the site are the varied descriptions of smaller businesses and services that most of us would not have heard of… like a friend recommending their favorite places. The weakness is that you’ll also find reviews of well known business like Nordstrom’s. Unlike Angie’s List, there also doesn’t seem to be any kind of verification process. So it looks like anyone can write a review of a business, even the competition.

Though it is somewhat new to the LA market, it is growing quickly and is another cool tool to scope out services and business in Southern California.

www.judysbook.com