Urbanspoon is, if you’ll forgive the pun, shaking up its signature iPhone app with a completely new interface and by adding recommendations, filters and maps.

The new app available today still preserves the traditional slot-machine “shake” method of finding restaurants for which Urbanspoon is known. But the free app now highlights other methods of finding eateries:

  • Filters. Restaurants now can be selected by those which are the “hottest” (have the most activity by critics and bloggers), customer thumbs-up-or-down ratings, price and other criteria.
  • Reviews. Recommendations from the James Beard Foundation, Eater and Village Voice critics are now part of the app, along with input from the Urbanspoon blogger network. (Seattle Weekly is a Village Voice publication.)
  • Maps. An interactive map with a drag-and-drop pin allows exploring restaurants in different areas by cuisine, distance, name and other filters.

Along with the new user interface, the Urbanspoon app also lets a wish list be created of restaurants you think you might like to try — and then alerts you when you’re close to any of them.

While some of the new features aren’t unique — for example, Yelp and TripAdvisor also have filtering or mapping features for restaurants — availability in a single integrated app may be appreciated by those who rely on Urbanspoon for suggestions on where to spend their next meal ticket.

Previously on GeekWire: Urbanspoon seats 1 million diners, looks to feast on OpenTable

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