June 25th, 2024
There are 301,018 restaurants in the state of California according to data which we compiled using Google’s Maps Data. This number represents all restaurants listed on Google Maps in California and includes bars, coffee shops and other restaurant categories.
The data in this article is a representation of the number of restaurants in California and the various key findings we discovered.
Below are the key findings of this data report. If you’d like to view restaurant data for California cities, you can do so here: Los Angeles, San Francisco.
There are 301,018 restaurants in the the state of California according to Google’s data. The most popular restaurant categories (in no particular order) in California include: Mexican, Cafe, American, Pizza, Bar, Sandwich, Chinese, Bubble Tea, Fast Food and others.
With population of 39.54 million population in 2020 according to United States Census Bureau, there are 7.6 restaurants per 1000 residents in California.
Los Angeles has the most restaurants in California with 14,440 while also having the lowest number of restaurants per capita among the largest cities with 3.7. San Francisco is not far behind Los Angeles and has 13,448 total restaurants with an astounding 15.4 restaurants per capita. Rounding up the top five are San Diego (10,962), San Jose (7,184) and Fresno (4,266).
With land area of 155,812.8 square miles according to United States Census Bureau, there are 1.93 restaurants per one square mile in California.
15,485 restaurants are fast food which makes up about 5% of all restaurants in California. Most popular chains include McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr., Wendy’s and others.
Due to California’s new minimum wage state law, we also tracked Google Maps reviews for the keyword ‘expensive’ in fast-food restaurant listings from November, 2023 up until now.
Prior to the minimum wage increase for fast food workers coming into effect, there was an average of 1,332 Google reviews that contained the keyword word ‘expensive’ for fast food restaurants. After the law came into effect, there was an average of 1,740 Google reviews for fast-food restaurants that had the keyword ‘expensive’ in it. This is an increase of 31% since the law came into effect.
Among a variety of cuisine options throughout California, Mexican cuisine has the highest number of restaurants with 39,605. This is followed by the following cuisine focused restaurants: Chinese (12,107), American (8,033), Italian (5,658), Japanese (5,453) and Indian (3,495).
California is home to 88 Michelin Star restaurants that range from one to three stars. 66 restaurants in California have one Michelin star distinction, 12 have two Michelin star distinction and six have three star distinction. The six restaurants with three Michelin star distinction are: Atelier Crenn (San Francisco), Addison (San Diego), Quince (San Francisco), Single Thread (Healdsburg), Benu (San Francisco) and The French Laundry (Yountville).
California has a lot of bar options throughout the state which includes 17,309 options. Popular bar categories include: bar, sports bar and cocktail bar.
California has plenty of pizza restaurants with 19,541 restaurants. Popular chains include Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Little Caesars and others.
California has 20,209 coffee shops across the state with popular chains including Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee, Dunkin and others.
California also boasts a significant number of hamburger restaurants with 6,364.
California’s restaurant scene is one of the largest in the United States and offers an enormous variety of restaurants to food lovers across the state. From Mexican cuisine to fast food, there is something for everyone in California and finding a restaurant shouldn’t be a problem with an average of almost two restaurants per square mile in the entire state.
San Francisco has California’s best restaurants with 30 restaurants having one or more Michelin star dictinction.
There are 6 three Michelin star restaurants in California.
LA is known for its large selection of Mexican cuisine.
San Francisco is the food capital of California with second highest number of restaurants, highest number of restaurants per capita and most Michelin star restaurants.