Yelp Maps Show Where To Find Hipsters, Cheap Eats

by Libby Zay on

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Yelp, the go-to place for restaurant reviews, is now mapping trending topics in major cities. By pulling frequently used keywords from reviews, data visualizations show where the dim sum hotspots are in San Francisco and where hipsters congregate in New York (Williamsburg is a big red cluster, go figure!).

At first the maps seem to do little besides confirming stereotypes. But for travelers exploring new cities, the tool could come in handy. Filter locations by “cheap” and find hotbeds of budget dining in Los Angeles. Or use “view” and “romantic” to locate a neighborhood with some ambiance in Philly. Other helpful keywords include “kosher,” “brunch” and “espresso.” Yelp’s World Map site currently covers 16 cities, mostly in the U.S.

[via Gizmodo]

Get Personalized Guides For Food And Drink With Eight Spots

by Meg Nesterov on

If you are traveling in a big city and want restaurant recommendations, it can be overwhelming to turn to online review sites like Trip Advisor or Yelp that list hundreds of places, many of which are irrelevant to your tastes and preferences. A new website launches today, giving you personalized guides of where to eat and drink, focused on spots you’ll like. Eight Spots gives you just that: a list with recommended spots for breakfast, coffee, lunch, dinner and drinks. Take the fun 10-question “taste survey” (think: night owl or early bird), and tell them a few of your favorite spots, and it will generate a personalized guide for any of the featured cities. The more spots you review or add to your go-to lists, the more tailored your recommendations become. You can also integrate Facebook to further filter your guides based on friends’ recommendations. The current range of cities include Berlin, London, New York, Paris, Perth and Sydney, with plans to expand to 90 cities worldwide.

Get your picks at EightSpots.com

[Photo credit: Eight Spots]