Top 15 restaurant review sites | The Ultimate guide

As a restaurant owner, the first thing you should do after claiming your locations on Google Local Business is to claim them on Yelp. This online word of mouth site is one of the leading consumer review sites not only for restaurants but also for other types of business while also receiving high priority from the Google Search Engine results.

Yelp is the 4th most visited customer review site on the Internet, after Google, Facebook, and Amazon – Bright Local

OpenTable allows you to make reservations directly through OpenTable’s site and as per 2018 statistics, seats more than 23 million diners every month in over 43,000 restaurants across the globe. Besides reservations, users can also place feedback by using a five-point rating system to judge the experience across different categories including Food, Ambience, Value, and Service, which all feed into a restaurant’s overall score.

As per numbers released by the company, nearly 850,000 reviews are posted every month, which makes a compelling case for you to definitely contemplate using OpenTable.

Zomato, launched in 2008, has made emerged as one of the top restaurant rating websites for bloggers, food critics, and diners. Hence, without a question, you should definitely look to get listed on it if you’re a restaurant owner. Previously known as Urbanspoon, Zomato facilitates online delivery as well.

Getting yourself listed on the world’s biggest search engine is a no-brainer as it will allow your restaurant to appear in local search results. Moreover, Google also publishes restaurant reviews and ratings on its own Google review restaurants platform which has meant that claiming your business on Google My Business has become a crucial step for every local restaurant marketing strategy and search strategy. You can also sign up for Google Alerts to help monitor activity and brand mentions.

As per a Website Builder study, even a half star improvement in the restaurant’s rating – on a scale from 1-5 – meant that it was more likely to be full during peak dining times.  

Facebook has over 2.2 billion users – yes, 2.2 billion which makes it the leading global for product information and reviews. Facebook is one of the best restaurant review sites and thereon, user reviews posted on Facebook matters if your restaurant wants good publicity. As a matter of fact, Facebook ranks third, trailing behind only Google and Yelp for checking online reviews for local businesses.

88 percent of people trust what friends and even strangers say on Facebook about businesses – Statista

TripAdvisor is a highly useful online resource and one of the top restaurants rating sites for your business; therefore, your first step should be to take control of your presence on the site. Because of the site’s algorithm, the more reviews and stars your restaurant gets, the higher it will start to rank on the TripAdvisor list. Further, TripAdvisor allows you to effectively manage and monitor your restaurant’s online reviews by signing up for instant notifications. Here’s the best part though – TripAdvisor gives every restaurant an equal opportunity to shine based on customer reviews and activity.

MenuPages is a GrubHub brand and a local restaurants reviews site that allows patrons to locate restaurants by cuisine, near a specific address and even by similar restaurants in the area. Besides being a comprehensive online and mobile provider of constantly updated menus, MenuPages also doubles up as a resource for food and restaurant content, including menus, ratings, contact information, and of course the all-important reviews.

Gayot, pronounced guy-OH, is a restaurant review website named after the French food critic that makes use of a 20-point French grading system for restaurants. Although you can’t claim a listing on Gayot, it’s one of the unique restaurants rating sites as it includes Q&As with some of the most well-known chefs, restaurant owners, wine experts and celebrities from across the planet.  In addition, Gayot can help customers find the best restaurants around the world for various cuisines.

90 percent of all customers read less than 10 reviews before forming their opinion about the business – Website Builder

Roadfood is predominantly a US-based restaurant rating website where one can find food reviews for virtually every state across the U.S. However, what makes it different is that instead of generic restaurant reviews found on other restaurants rating sites, on Roadfood, patrons can read about individual dishes and view ratings for each dish. They also include small highway diners, small-town cafes, seaside shacks, casual drive-ins, barbecues, and local bake shops so if your restaurant falls under any of those categories, you know what to do.

Zagat holds the distinction of being one of the first restaurants rating sites and was founded all the way back in 1979. Zagat lets users make use of a numbered rating scale to rate restaurants across four different categories: food, decor, service, and cost.  Previously owned by Google, Zagat was recently sold to The Infatuation but still holds its reputation as being one of the most reliable restaurant ratings sites and source for restaurant recommendations.

Not to be left behind, Yahoo has their own recommendation and food rating website Yahoo! Local which helps users find local businesses and services online. As a restaurant owner, Yahoo! Local is undoubtedly a smart addition to your online local strategy. Moreover, you can even get started for free and it isn’t difficult to set up and manage a Yahoo! Local account. That being said – Yelp has recently partnered with Yahoo! Local which has meant that all reviews on Yahoo! Local have migrated and been replaced with reviews from Yelp.

Another restaurant review website with a bit of a unique focus is Foursquare. Foursquare has one of the largest databases of user-generated geolocation in the world and its user-friendly interface encourages users to leave “tips” or single phrase/sentence reviews. However, what makes Foursquare truly stand apart is its ability to provide business owners with incredibly compelling data set including includes information about most recent visitor, most frequent visitor, time of day, new visitors, and a gender breakdown for anyone interested in consumer behavior.

Eat24 is another website that encourages online restaurant reviews while also offering delivery service.  With a growing network covering over 30,000 restaurants in 1,500+ cities, Eat24 allows users to discover new restaurants based on their personal gastronomical preferences. Part of GrubHub now who acquired it in late 2017, Eat24 will soon be shut down after allowing existing users to migrate over to Grubhub’s platform.

94 percent of respondents stated that online reviews have convinced them to avoid a business – ReviewTrackers

Citysearch is yet another of those important restaurant search sites and has features several prominent restaurants, bars, and even local events across the nation. Thanks to its extensive syndication and fairly strong visitation, Citysearch puts its reviews almost everywhere including the top search engines & directories and have as much as 15 percent more exposure than a review written in Google Maps.

Manta is a local marketing software specially targeted at small business owners. If you’re your restaurant business is in need of an online presence, you can get an instant boost by featuring an ad on its homepage, and updating your business’ listing in Manta’s directory within 24 hours of signing up. If you sign up as a premium customer on this restaurant rating website, you can get alerts immediately when customers leave reviews thus allowing you to manage your online reputation quickly and efficiently across the web from a single place.