Can "the restaurant you told me was not good" used as noun?

Question

The restaurant you told me was not good.

If there is a sentence like this, it most of the times means that "the restaurant you told me about was not good."

So when can this sentence be used with the same meaning as "the food I thought to be good"? In other words, like a noun?

The restaurant you told me was not good is actually not too bad. 'The restaurant you told me was not good' is ungrammatical, though may occur in colloquial chat. As you say, 'The restaurant you told me about was not good' – or 'The restaurant you showed me was not good'. — Edwin Ashworth, Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 20:20
Why is it ungrammatical? I thoguht that sentences like "the restaurant I thoght was good" is grammatical. — hola, Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 20:22
Unless you are using a report structure ('The restaurant, you told me, was not good' = 'You told me that the restaurant was not good') (which needs the commas), 'The restaurant you told me was not good' is not a complete statement. It is like 'The bill you promised you'd pay.' 'The man I saw.' — Edwin Ashworth, Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 20:35
What if I use it with which like this: the restaurant which you told me was not good. Do I still need comma like this? The restaurant which, you told me, was not good. It seems to me that there is subtle difference between them. — hola, Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 20:40
It doesn't stand on its own. It's like saying 'the restaurant down the street'. — Edwin Ashworth, Commented Aug 22, 2015 at 20:41

Peter Bruinsma · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-22 21:08:48Z

2

There are better ways to say it, but it's correct:

We ate at the restaurant you told me to avoid. (We did it anyway)

We ate at the restaurant you told me was bad. (It wasn't)

We ate at the restaurant you told me was not good. (It was)

answered Aug 22, 2015 at 21:08

Peter Bruinsma

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