Some people use Goodreads or Strava to track their hobbies, but more and more Washingtonians are flocking to the social restaurant app Beli to track their foodie pursuits.
The app lets users rate their latest meals, create lists, and amass points on a leaderboard. To get inside the trend that’s making a splash in D.C.’s food scene, I talked with Ben J., the app’s top user in D.C., who has reviewed more than 816 restaurants since joining Beli in 2023.
“Food is a passion for me, I always liked tracking restaurants and keeping favorites for myself. Then I found Beli and found it to be a useful tool,” Ben said.
Since its release in 2021, Beli has become a favorite among young Washingtonian foodies who see the app as a more social and reliable version of Yelp. Roughly 80% of Beli’s users are under the age of 35. “My experience has been mixed on Yelp,” said Ben, “but I find Beli very easy and straightforward. You don’t need to deal with ads or sponsored reviews.”
Unsurprisingly, some of the all-time top rated restaurants on Beli in D.C. include Jônt, The Inn at Little Washington, and Albi. But Ben’s personal top rated spots on the app are Queen’s English, Thip Khao, and Astoria.
Dinner at Tapori, one of Ben’s top rated spots on Beli. (Kaela Cote-Stemmermann/City Cast DC)
Unlike Yelp, Beli adds another social element to restaurant reviews that users say make it more enjoyable. Users can follow friends, see other users' reviews, set goals and compete on city and nation-wide leaderboards. The app even creates a Spotify roundup-style report for you at the end of each month and generates recommendations based on a users’ preferences.
Ben says the somewhat competitive nature of the app encourages him to get out and try new restaurants in D.C., rather than sticking with his tried and true favorites. He also often gets ideas of new places to try from looking at other Beli users' rankings whose tastes are aligned with his.
After each meal at a new place Ben ranks it almost immediately. “The number one thing for me is the food, but other things like vibe and service also come into account.” But despite having over 800 restaurants ranked in Beli, Ben says he usually only goes out to eat twice a week.
Ben’s top-rated spot on Beli is Queen’s English. (Kaela Cote-Stemmermann/City Cast DC)
But not everyone is on board. Several residents that we talked to didn’t like the idea of gamifying restaurants, believing it takes a lot of fun out of the experience. “Not everything needs to be competitive,” said Petworth resident Seth P. “I just want to go to a restaurant to enjoy it.”
Another downside of the app is that you have to compare eateries of every cuisine and price point against each other, which can feel a little like comparing apples and oranges. For example, you might be asked to compare the taco truck you just ate at against The Inn at Little Washington or Omakase at Barracks Row, which can make the resulting ranking feel skewed.
D.C. resident and “local guide” on Google Adam P. says he doesn’t like the ranking system on Beli for this reason. “I think discrete ranking is trying to be more precise than reality often is. Different cuisine restaurants are hard to compare,” he said, preferring Google’s more tiered approach to ranking.
Although it’s not as popular in D.C. as it is in New York, where friends exchange Beli profiles before phone numbers and singles flex their Beli stats on Hinge, it’s still making waves in the D.C. food scene. Beli declined to say how many D.C. users they have but did say they have over 3 million ratings in the DMV. And, hundreds of users can be seen competing for the top spot on D.C.’s leaderboard.
Despite holding the app's top spot in D.C. for more than two years, Ben says he suspects he will be dethroned one day. “I can’t imagine I’ll be there forever. For some people it’s their job to go to restaurants, for me it’s more about growing up here and trying local spots throughout my life.”
