Checking In On Yelp's Trends In 2025
Some really made me smile
We’re now in the midst of the holiday season, so I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and is not tired of Mariah Carey yet.
I’m working to get a hold of some fun interviews, but as usual, the holidays can make it tough to nail people down easily. So today, we’ll just dive into some trends that Yelp says are coming ahead in 2025, according to the company’s 2025 Trend Forecast.
(Plus, it’s a great way to tease that I plan on getting the second chapter of the Yelp review book that Ed and I are writing published soon!)
Yelp tells us what’s coming, maybe?
Even as someone who remains plugged into the food and beverage world, I’m regularly surprised by how random things pop and become the new IT thing.
Of the Yelp trends, there are definitely some surprising ones that they feel are catching on and they anticipate will keep growing. The first one they list, however, really lights up my heart: Hawaii takes the main stage.
Living in Las Vegas, which is sometimes called the Ninth Island because so many Hawaiians end up visiting and living there, there were dozens of Hawaiian restaurants. It became a little bit of a comfort meal for me at times.
Well, Yelp seems to think Hawaiian cuisine will be big soon. Searches on the platform for Hawaiian barbecue are up 88%, and Hawaiian Mac salad is up 523% compared to 2023. Then L&L Hawaiian Barbecue was named one of Yelp’s Fastest Growing Brands this year. I wouldn’t be mad if this came true.
A trend that wasn’t all the surprising is the increase in functional mushrooms on beverage menus across the US. When places like the New York Times are writing about it and older people start discussing it, it’s pretty safe to say it’s caught on. (Note: a search reveals NYT has been writing regularly about the mushroom trend since at least 2020!)
Something I hadn’t heard of even once is “burnaway cakes,” a cake apparently topped with wafer paper that, when lit on fire, reveals an image or message. Searches for the cakes are up more than 12,000% … which still could be a tiny amount, I suppose.
It's kind of nice to see the increase in dinner parties at restaurants—particularly among the younger generations. Customers are looking for private room dining, with searches up 6,531%, with large group restaurants up 1,461%. This is interesting strong growth, but maybe people are just now getting more comfortable gathering again.
Another trend that made me smile is the rise of food and drink flights. One of my favorite places in the world, the Mitten Brewing Company here in Grand Rapids, offers a pizza flight, where you can have six small versions of their pizzas served up on a wooden paddle. They’ve offered it pretty much since they opened, maybe introducing them in 2013? Well now, searches for things like egg flights, cookie flights and pasta flights are rising.
Weirdly, chain dining is back up in a big way, too? This is strange to me because they do not seem to be any more economical than going to a local restaurant at this point. But, searches for fast food deals are up 835%, and interest in Applebee’s “2 for $20” deal is up 7,000%. Kinda crazy, if you ask me.
There are a few more I didn’t include, so if you’re interested, you can see the full report here.
Cool Reads of the Week
When we were in the UK earlier this year, Alyssa’s co-workers informed of us “splitting the G” on a pint of Guinness. It’s a challenge to, on your first sip, drain the beer to be between the brand’s logo on the pint glass. Well, it’s made the New York Times!
This on hurts my heart a little bit, apparently draft beer is on a great decline. The great beer writer Kate Bernot dives into it for Bon Appétit.
As Gen-Z continues to affect the beverage industry with drinking less than previous generations and “sober curious” continues to catch on for other ages, apparently, “high-intensity drinking” is on the rise among middle-aged drinkers. And the Times just published an article called, “This Drinking Habit is More Dangerous Than Bingeing.”
The Wall Street Journal recently dove into the question, “Is This the Golden Age of Happy Hour?” Declaring the “ritual is better than ever.” Then it also highlighted 12 happy hours across the country.
What we’re drinking
This time of year, I drink a lot of Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale. It’s my favorite beer, perhaps of all time. It is the only beer I seek out with intent. The fresh hop IPA is only released during the holiday season, and it’s just so perfectly balanced and delicious and tastes like the holidays, at least to me.
I’m also insanely jealous of Alyssa, who just got to go on a work trip to Christmastime London. There, she indulged in the wonderful pub culture, sipping on delicious English ciders in the warm bars.