Yelp reveals Top 100 (Quirky, Interesting) Places to Eat, and 5 Bay Area restaurants make the list
Crowd-sourced U.S. survey favors everyday restaurants beloved by customers
Yelp is out with its Top 100 Places to Eat in 2024 list, an annual crowd-sourced rating of restaurants — including pizzerias, delis, ramen shops, pancake houses, taquerias and barbecue joints — that diners visited in 2023, rated highly and hope to return to this year.
California, with 18 on the list, received more nods than any other state. Five Southern California restaurants cracked the top 10, and five Bay Area restaurants made the list.
To create the Top 100, Yelp solicits nominations from reviewers on its website and sends that information through its data science team. Next, the company says, the list of candidate restaurants is narrowed down “with the expertise of our community managers and Trend Expert to curate a list as quirky, interesting and unique as the Yelp Community itself.”
Ranking No. 1 nationally is Tumerico, a Tucson, Arizona, restaurant that serves plant-based versions of classic Mexican tamales, chilaquiles, enchiladas, barbacoa and more.
Tops among Bay Area favorites at No. 23 is Mazra, a family-owned, all-halal Mediterranean restaurant in San Bruno that first made the list in 2021 for its woodfire-grilled specialties. Yelpers, who posted more than 1,700 five-star reviews, raved about the “phenomenal, fall-off-the-bone tender” slow-roasted 6-Hour Lamb Shank, “fantastic” shawarma and “cooked-to-perfection” kebabs, the report said. (504 San Bruno Avenue West, San Bruno)
A second Mazra location, in Redwood City, is in the works and expected to open around March 1, co-owner Saif Makableh told the Bay Area News Group.
Ocean Indian Cuisine in San Francisco’s Richmond district, No. 29, serves a fusion menu of Indian, Nepalese and Himalayan dishes in a white-tablecloth setting nice enough for date night. According to the ranking, “The best-selling Everest Chicken Momo Special (Nepalese steamed dumplings filled with chicken and Himalayan spices) is ‘a must,’ say Yelpers.” (6127 Geary Blvd., SF)
At No. 32 is Guiso Latin Fusion in Healdsburg, a 24-seat restaurant with a Salvadoran-Latin menu and a largely Sonoma County wine list. “This place is fabulous. The food was so inventive and so, so good,” said one Yelper who had the Paella Caribena, a Caribbean spin on Spanish paella. The Camarones Borrachos (wild prawns in a family recipe sauce) and Salvadoran sweet dinner rolls get high marks too.
The Shakespeare-themed artisanal pizzas at Pleasanton’s Much Ado About Pizza, No. 51, inspire Yelpers to write five-star reviews — in iambic pentameter. Fans of this “amazing” takeout-only shop praise the light, tangy sourdough crust and the inventive combinations, like Titania’s Bounty, which features 10 vegetables, and the Montague, a meaty pizza topped with Point Reyes Toma truffle cheese. (1991 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton)
At No. 55 is Curry Hyuga in Burlingame, which appeared on last year’s Yelp Top 100 and now has locations in Cupertino and San Francisco. “The hype is real here,” Yelp Elite member Vincent L. wrote. “The Signature Katsu, for example, was ever-so-lightly crispy on the outside while being both meaty, juicy, and almost melt-in-your-mouth soft on the inside. The caramelized onion-based curry sauce that it came with was rich without being too salty or heavy and would be comforting any time of year, but especially so in the colder months.” (1204 Broadway, Burlingame; 19650 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino; and 1819 Market St., San Francisco)