Yelp's Top 100 Places to Eat 2024 Has a Common Theme

For over a decade, review site Yelp has been keeping foodies up to date on the best restaurants in the United States with its yearly lists of the country's top 100 eateries. This year's ranking has finally been unveiled—and it's packed with all sorts of beloved local gems from every corner of the country.

To compile its 11th annual list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S., Yelp accepted submissions from users and determined the absolute best eateries by looking at their ratings, number of reviews, and volume of submissions. While a wide variety of cuisines are represented in the 2024 list, many of the restaurants have one specific thing in common: affordability.

According to Yelp, more than 85% of the businesses on the list are priced at under $30 per person. Reasonable restaurant prices are especially tempting nowadays considering that food away from home prices were 5.2% higher in December 2023 compared to December 2022, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The restaurant that ended up topping this year's list was Tumerico, a vegetarian Latin American eatery in Tucson, Ariz. When you check out the restaurant's official page on Yelp, there's certainly no denying its popularity with customers. Tumerico boasts an impressive 4.8-star rating and has racked up numerous rave reviews for its customer service, ambiance, and food. Even carnivores have found themselves enamored with the popular vegetarian fare.

"I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but this place was awesome. The food was prepared perfectly and it was delicious. I came in with a large group and the service was fast and friendly," a fan wrote on Tumerico's Yelp page earlier this month.

Menya Rui, a highly-rated ramen shop in St. Louis, Miss., took second place in the 2024 Yelp list. Third place went to Sunny Side Kitchen, a cafe in Escondido, Calif., that serves a variety of breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, soups, salads, and scratch-made sweets.

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Aside from their general affordability, there were a couple of other major themes among the 100 eateries that made the 2024 list. There was "overwhelming representation" from Asian, Asian Fusion, and Southeast Asian restaurants, which made up 25% of the list, Yelp said. Meanwhile, eateries in Arizona, Florida, and Texas accounted for a whopping 30% of this year's rankings.

The rest of the restaurants featured this year are peppered throughout the country, so make sure to check out the full list if you want to discover any local favorites near you.

"From New York City to Houston, and Florida to California, Yelp's Top 100 Places to Eat list celebrates the must-visit local restaurants across the United States," Yelp's Trend Expert Tara Lewis said in a statement. "This year's list embraces the unique tastes of our users and spotlights the beloved hidden gems across local communities."