Yelp Changed My Life

I'm serious. You can look up reviews for everything from cheap Korean massage with ambiance, to restaurants, bars, night clubs, arts & entertainment, and shopping - whatever you're looking for. Great thing about it is that the reviews are written by real people - Average Joe's who write about their experiences and tell it like it is- so you get the real scoop. Also unlike some user review websites like chowhound, which can be outdated, this one has recent reviews. Reviews from the current month & year - who woulda thought? Just about every hole in the wall is listed in their database.

Textbook Definition
Yelp is a web 2.0 company that operates a social networking and user review website.

Founding Fathers
Yelp's founders, Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons, were early employees at PayPal. They received $6 million in initial funding and then an additional $10 million in their second round funding.

Seeing LA In A Whole New Way
It's peaked my interest in a lot of cool bars in LA that are off the beaten path -(like "The Prince" in K-town - I am so there!), not to mention all of the old & new establishments in my neck of the woods. Tonight for instance I'm going to check out 2 new bars within walking distance of one another on York Avenue in Highland Park that I found through Yelp (prior to going to dinner at the new southern restaurant "Larkin's" in Eagle Rock). One is called "Johnny's Bar" and the other is "Marty's." (Marty's is by the same owner of "Mia's" the sushi restaurant in Eagle Rock. The restaurant is named after his daughter Mia, and the bar is named after his son Marty.)

Good Ole U S of A
Yelp accepts reviews of any business or service in the United States. The most active cities include:

• San Francisco, CA — offers neighborhood filtering


• Boston, MA — offers neighborhood filtering


• Chicago, IL — offers neighborhood filtering


• New York, NY — offers neighborhood filtering


• Philadelphia, PA


• Washington, D.C.


• Seattle, WA — offers neighborhood filtering


• Los Angeles, CA — offers neighborhood filtering


• San Jose, CA


• Austin, TX


• San Diego, CA — offers neighborhood filtering

Review
Yelp is a great site, and has a craigslist/San Fran/community feel about it. Very cool.