Top 3 trending cuisines by city: U.S. food trends for restaurant owners

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As the world’s third-largest country by square mileage (thank you, Alaska and Texas) and a melting pot of global culture, the U.S. is a mecca for diverse and spectacular cuisine. Just about every state in the union is known for a signature dish, a unique take on classic American favorites, and a global-cuisine specialty.

Think Maryland crab cakes, Michigan pasties, Georgia soul food, or pasta from Little Italy in New York. From the sunny shores of Florida and Hawaii to the hustle and bustle of New Jersey and California, the U.S. offers seemingly limitless popular food options amidst an ever-evolving list of food trends.

Having so many options can create the happy problem of deciding what kind of food to eat. Peruvian? Vietnamese? Greek? Indian? Caribbean? Or go classic BBQ with some good ol’ fashioned apple pie for dessert? Before you know it, you could find yourself arguing with friends over whether Italian cuisine, Mexican cuisine, or Chinese cuisine reigns supreme.

So what are the top three trending cuisines by city in America? Let’s find out by looking at the most popular cuisine in 10 major metro areas across the U.S. Then we’ll share some more dining trends that restaurant owners need to know.

The top three trending cuisines by city in America

Here are the most popular cuisines in America. Yelp ranked the top three cuisines in 10 major metro areas.

Austin

1. Breakfast and brunch
2. New American
3. Traditional American

Chicago

1. New American
2. Breakfast and brunch
3. Traditional American

Los Angeles

1. Breakfast and brunch
2. New American
3. Japanese

Miami

1. New American
2. Seafood
3. Breakfast and brunch

New York

1. New American
2. Breakfast and brunch
3. Seafood

Philadelphia

1. Italian
2. New American
3. Traditional American

Phoenix

1. New American
2. Breakfast and brunch
3. Traditional American

San Francisco

1. New American
2. Breakfast and brunch
3. Seafood

Seattle

1. Breakfast and brunch
2. New American
3. Seafood

Washington D.C.

1. Breakfast and brunch
2. New American
3. Traditional American

Staying on top of American food trends

Whether you’re already serving up Cuban food in Miami or thinking of what restaurant to open next, it’s imperative to understand where food trends are going in the U.S. While successful restaurants will clearly define themselves for their target audience and not just change with the wind, timely menu offerings that cater to contemporary dining trends will bring in new customers through the door and bring regulars back for another visit.

Wondering how you can act on these American food trends? Consider the following:

• Add a New American twist: Clearly, customers want New American food, as 10 out of 10 cities had it in their top cuisines. This is a broad category—most chefs can’t agree on what it really means—but it’s pretty much any food that defies categorization. Think fusion food that combines different cuisines into one so that a dish can’t just be attributed to one place. Like the U.S., it is a melting pot of cuisine. This is your chance to get creative and let your head chef run wild.
• Serve breakfast: Brunch and breakfast are wildly popular in almost every city. Take advantage of the trend by trying out a brunch menu on the weekends to see how it goes, using Yelp Connect to promote your new offering to people searching for “brunch near me” on a Saturday morning.
• Make minor adjustments to current menu items: Tweak your mainstay items to tie in ingredients from the most popular cuisines in America. It can be as subtle as blending up a new pasta sauce, crafting a new burger, or creating another taco variation. No need to completely revamp your menu.
• Create a seasonal menu: Test out new items on a larger scale within a limited time frame. Assess whether any bestsellers should make your permanent menu.
• Launch a ghost kitchen: It’s possible to create a restaurant within your restaurant, specializing in one dish and offering it up on delivery apps. While this endeavor requires a much larger time commitment, there’s potential to create a whole new revenue stream by latching onto current food trends without sacrificing your restaurant’s identity.

Food trends impacted by the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has largely waned by now, and people are venturing out again—thank goodness. Taste trends that began during that period still persist, however, which are reflected in the preferred foods we’ve noticed. Notably, people naturally sought refuge in any way they could—and in the culinary world, multiple studies found that Americans gravitated toward comfort food during the pandemic.

Restaurants closing for dine-in became a catalyst for takeout and delivery, where fast food and casual restaurants held a natural advantage. Takeout and delivery are still popular, but sit-down dining is making a roaring comeback.

American food staples like hamburgers (which are actually German but have since been adopted by the U.S.), hot dogs, and fried chicken are higher in demand than they were previously, which is really saying something. Popular international cuisines often reserved for dining out, like French, Spanish, and Italian food (minus pizza), took a back seat, but they’re making a comeback, too—just look at the white pizza trend that was big in 2022.

Over the past few years, cuisines that hold up better with takeout and delivery rose in popularity, as did the growing number of ghost kitchens that served them. These delivery-only restaurants, cooking from a commercial kitchen with no dining room or within kitchens of other restaurants, often specialize in a particular type of cuisine: Chinese food, Thai food, and Mexican food, to name a few. Others specialize in specific dishes, like Korean BBQ tacos or Tex-Mex chili con carne.

Wildly popular among millennials and Gen Z diners, these new restaurant concepts quite literally delivered comfort to patrons’ doors. Even now, after lockdowns have been lifted, the comfort craze shows no signs of slowing down.

And there’s some good news here, too: There are more options for new restaurants to start up, especially those with limited capital. The market has shown that these ghost kitchens are a viable business model, for example, so there’s incentive for new businesses to sprout up like mushrooms after the rain.

Brunch skyrocketed in popularity

Breakfast and brunch are by far the most popular meals. Rated as one of the top three most-searched-for cuisines in a whopping nine out of 10 major metro areas, breakfast and brunch are clearly a force to be reckoned with.

While the term “brunch” was first coined in 1895, it’s gotten wildly popular over the years. Most cities are home to myriad trendy brunch spots, each offering up its own fun take on breakfast. Here are a few reasons behind the brunch craze:

• Brunch often features classic American cuisine, which appeals to a wide audience and has risen in popularity.
• Often offered at a lower price point compared to lunch and dinner at similar-caliber restaurants, brunch allows people to indulge in a dining experience where they’d otherwise be priced out later in the day.
• While lunch and dinner naturally invite social dining experiences, brunch has become a culture of its own, fostering group gatherings that people were starved for through the pandemic.
• Similarly, brunch has created a separate drinking culture, largely focused on mimosas and bloody marys.

Cuisines that (surprisingly) missed the list

American comfort food, including breakfast and brunch, dominates the top three trending cuisines by city in the U.S. Consequently, this movement pushes out other popular cuisines that one would otherwise think of as a shoo-in for the most popular cuisines in America.

Asian cuisine missed the list in almost every metro area from Yelp’s study despite representing some of the most popular cuisines. Japanese was the only cuisine to make the cut, ranking third in Los Angeles. Chinese, Thai, Korean, Indian, and Vietnamese food all missed out, though they likely fall into the mix as fusion items in “New American” food that runs rampant across the rankings.

The same goes for Mediterranean food, including Italian and Greek cuisine. While none of these cuisines were ranked individually as the most popular foods in America (except in Philly, yo!), it’s safe to assume that Mediterranean fusion ties into the “New American” craze.

Use customer data to boost your bottom line

As the world’s leading online review site, Yelp can harness the power of its massive customer network to produce some pretty interesting findings. Restaurant owners will be pleased to know that Yelp can help them collect data from their customers to bring in new business and convert first-timers into repeat visitors.

Yelp for Restaurants is a full front-of-house management system that lets owners and operators handle online reservations, waitlists, takeout, and online ordering seamlessly. Integrating with most major POS systems, Yelp for Restaurants provides critical data around customer dining habits, orders, and special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. Yelp Connect and Yelp Guest Manager further add to the mix by enhancing your marketing outreach and operational efficiency.

Learn more about how Yelp can help your restaurant reach new heights.