Yelp Restaurant Bookings Surge in Honolulu, But New York Trails

(Bloomberg) -- Restaurant bookings via Yelp Inc. surged past pre-pandemic levels in almost every U.S. state in May, with the notable exception of New York.

Diners seated in Texas and Florida, which lifted mask mandates early and reopened businesses to 100% capacity, more than doubled compared with May 2019, according to Yelp, a local-search provider of reviews and booking software. California was back to pre-Covid-19 levels, while New York was still down from two years earlier.

The boost may be due in part to an increase in the number of restaurant owners who embraced technology from online platforms like Yelp, OpenTable or Toast during the pandemic to help set up digital menus, takeout reservations and contact-less payments.

Nationally, the number of diners seated via Yelp rose 48% to a record 3.7 million last month, compared with May 2019.

“We’re seeing the cities that lifted restrictions early are rebounding faster than some of the more densely populated cities that lifted reopening restrictions at a slower pace,” said Devon Wright, general manager of Yelp Restaurants.

Houston, Las Vegas and Honolulu are among cities that saw the biggest gains.

New restaurants and food businesses are opening at near pre-pandemic levels, Yelp also said.

About 6,600 opened in May, bringing the total over the past three months to more than 19,000, as vaccination rates increase and restaurateurs show confidence in the economic recovery in the face of spiking food costs and labor shortages.

Texas-based chef Tiffany Derry is among them: She’s planning to open Roots Southern Table, a full-service restaurant in Dallas this week.

“Opening a restaurant in today’s post-Covid environment presents unique challenges and uncertainties unlike any I’ve faced throughout my career,” Derry said in an emailed statement. Among the challenges: chicken prices that have almost doubled and difficulties in hiring staff.

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