In the latest example of someone publishing a city-based food ranking list that should be taken with a pound of salt, Yelp’s list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in the United States in 2023 does not include any of the thousands of restaurants (which it would take nearly 23 years to eat at) located within the five boroughs of New York City. Instead of somewhere like Gus’s Chop House in Brooklyn or Midtown’s 53 topping the list, a Hawaiian-Korean cafe in a Los Angeles food hall called Broken Mouth came in No. 1 for Yelp.
What was Yelp’s methodology for arriving at this ridiculous conclusion? Here’s the site’s explanation:
“To determine Yelp’s Top Places to Eat in 2023, Yelp reached out to the user community first, requesting individuals to submit favorite U.S. restaurants. Yelp’s data science team analyzed the submissions from the community to determine the top restaurants by ratings, number of reviews, and volume of submissions, with geographic representation based on equal share of submissions of top-rated restaurants nationally. Yelp further curated the list with the expertise of our Community Managers around the country to finalize the rankings. The resulting list is collaborative and passion driven — an accurate reflection of the Yelp Community itself.”
If that explanation is actually accurate, the members of the Yelp Community clearly have their heads and the palates and tastebuds contained therein squarely up their collective asses as there is no possible way that there isn’t at least a single restaurant in New York City or New York State that is one of the 100 best places to eat in America in 2023.
Leaving aside that Una Pizza Napoletana on the Lower East Side was named the top pizzeria in the U.S. by Italian website 50TopPizza and is therefore by default one of the top 100 places to eat in the country because everyone likes a good pie, New York City is home to five of the 13 American restaurants with three Michelin stars. So, while the fare at Le Bernardin, Per Se, Masa Eleven Madison Park and Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare may not be for everyone, surely at least one of those high-class establishments belongs in the top 100.
“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,” said Yelp’s trend expert Tara Lewis. “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.”
And we look forward to continuing to ignore them.
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