Yelp’s Top 100: Nine California restaurants crack the list

Yelp is out with its 2026 list of the Top 100 Places to Eat in the United States, an annual crowd-sourced rating of popular everyday restaurants — and two Northern California eateries made the list.

Both are in San Francisco. Lapisara (No. 57) is a Thai-inspired brunch and dinner restaurant near Union Square that’s known for its tom yum burritos and fried chicken with sambal mayo. Board and Drink (No. 89) specializes in shareable brunch boards filled with waffles and fruit.

Seven Southern California restaurants cracked the list, including NAM Kitchen, a Vietnamese-Peruvian fusion place in Gardena that hit No. 3..

And what if your favorite didn’t make the cut?

It’s up to you, Yelp says. “We only know how good a place is if you review it,” the company said. “We identified businesses in the restaurant category, then ranked those spots using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews.”

This curated, customer-driven list gives exposure to beloved casual spots — pizzerias, delis, ramen shops, pancake houses, taquerias and barbecue joints — that diners visited in 2025, rated highly and hope to return to this year.

Trends to watch for in 2026, Yelp says, include homey “grandma-core” dining, Japanese cuisine and “Gen Z-approved dress-up destinations.”