Summary
- Introduction – Overview of Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat.
- California’s Culinary Leaders – Highlighting top restaurants in California.
- Hawaiian Food Dominance – Discussing the rise of Hawaiian cuisine in the rankings.
- Regional Highlights – Insights into best eateries across various states.
- Decade of Favorites – Exploration of remarkable restaurants over ten years.
Every year for the last decade, Yelp has been analyzing the millions of reviews on its site to announce its Top 100 Places to Eat—and last week, the user-generated reviews site announced its 10th-anniversary edition, spanning 30 states.
“From food trucks and sandwich shops to fine dining establishments, the Top 100 list reflects the diverse tastes and uniqueness of our community of users,” Yelp’s trend expert Tara Lewis said. “It is powered by the people, not a small group of restaurant critics, and we look forward to consumers continuing to share their dining experiences in their reviews.”
California’s Culinary Leaders
California led the way with 28 restaurants, including the No. 1 pick, the Hawaiian cafe Broken Mouth in Los Angeles, which has earned a five-star rating with over 1,300 reviews. Diners praised menu items like spam musubi, seaweed-wrapped spam on purple rice, and meat jun.
Founder and chef Tim Lee, who identifies as “Korean by blood” but “Hawaiian at heart,” even appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show to share some of his dishes, with Clarkson raving that the meat jun “tastes like heaven.” Other top California restaurants included Monrovia’s Lord Empanada and Sunbliss Cafe in Anaheim.
Hawaiian Food Dominance
Hawaiian food dominated the top picks, with Kaaloa’s Super Js Authentic Hawaiian Food on the Big Island snagging the second place spot, and Adela’s Country Eatery in Oahu’s Kaneohe stepping into fifth place. The top five was rounded out by Fort Lauderdale bakery Archibalds Village Bakery at No. 3 and San Diego’s Beyer Deli at No. 4.
Regional Highlights
Florida also showcased a dynamic culinary scene with 14 restaurants, such as Orlando’s Selam Ethiopian & Eritrean Cuisine in ninth place and St. Petersburg’s Uptown Eats at No. 21. Texas featured eight restaurants including Stafford’s Vietwich and Houston’s Crumbville. Moreover, Nevada had five restaurants split between Reno (including Arario Midtown) and Las Vegas (including Zenaida’s Cafe). Arizona’s four standouts included Tucson’s Tumerico, Scottsdale’s De Babel, and Phoenix’s Cocina Madrigal.
Decade of Favorites
To commemorate the 10-year anniversary of these rankings, Yelp shared data about the restaurants (more than 700 across 376 cities) that have made the list in the last decade. The analysis revealed that Las Vegas has placed the most restaurants on the list.
The process of creating this list each year begins with the Yelp community submitting their favorite U.S. restaurants. Following this, the Yelp data science team evaluates these selections based on ratings, the number of reviews, and submission volumes while ensuring geographic representation before finalizing the rankings based on feedback from Yelp community managers.
“The resulting list is collaborative and passion-driven—an accurate reflection of the Yelp Community itself,” the company stated. Explore the full list of the top 100 restaurants of 2023 here.
