Yelp API
The Yelp API returns business search, reviews and ratings as clean JSON.
🤖 Using an AI assistant? Copy this link into ChatGPT / Claude / Cursor — it reads every endpoint and parameter instantly and tells you if this API fits your use case.
The primary business/reviews endpoint returns a business with its id, name, rating, review count, categories, phone, address and coordinates — plus the review text. You can also search businesses, pull business/details, list popular_dishes and menus, get photos and review_highlights, and resolve a Yelp URL to an id. It is built for local-data products, reputation monitoring and lead generation that need Yelp data without a scraper. One ReefAPI key, one shared credit pool, the standard envelope.
Real request and response JSON
Captured from the indexed primary action, search, on .
{
"method": "POST",
"url": "https://api.reefapi.com/yelp/v1/search",
"headers": {
"x-api-key": "$REEF_KEY",
"content-type": "application/json"
},
"body": {
"term": "Pizza",
"location": "San Francisco, CA",
"limit": 10
}
}{
"ok": true,
"meta": {
"api": "yelp",
"endpoint": "search",
"mode": "live",
"latency_ms": 3059.3,
"record_count": 10,
"bytes": 1283323,
"cache_hit": false,
"parse_source": "relay",
"offset": 0,
"limit": 10,
"filters": null
},
"data": {
"results": [
{
"enc_biz_id": "loZXJPwZujUlDE6_wVY7dQ",
"name": "[redacted-name]",
"slug": "seniores-pizza-san-francisco-5",
"url": "https://www.yelp.com/biz/seniores-pizza-san-francisco-5",
"rating": 3.4,
"review_count": 1421,
"price": "$",
"price_level": 1,
"categories": [
"Pizza",
"Burgers",
"American"
],
"address": "2415 19th Ave",
"city": "San Francisco",
"state": "CA",
"neighborhoods": [
"Parkside"
],
"image": null
},
{
"enc_biz_id": "NGoAss2hlQWXMSRYROCfYA",
"name": "[redacted-name]",
"slug": "joe-s-garage-café-and-market-san-francisco",
"url": "https://www.yelp.com/biz/joe-s-garage-café-and-market-san-francisco",
"rating": null,
"review_count": 0,
"price": null,
"price_level": null,
"categories": [
"Convenience Stores",
"Beer, Wine & Spirits",
"Pizza"
],
"address": "320 11th St",
"city": "San Francisco",
"state": "CA",
"neighborhoods": [
"SoMa"
],
"image": null
},
{
"enc_biz_id": "wEzg_lla5jqAzIXokYnZJA",
"name": "[redacted-name]",
"slug": "thats-amore-woodfire-pizza-san-francisco",
"url": "https://www.yelp.com/biz/thats-amore-woodfire-pizza-san-francisco",
"rating": 4.5,
"review_count": 354,
"price": "$$",
"price_level": 2,
"categories": [
"Pizza",
"Beer, Wine & Spirits",
"Italian"
],
"address": "1901 Ocean Ave",
"city": "San Francisco",
"state": "CA",
"neighborhoods": [
"Ingleside Terraces"
],
"image": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/bQDgDwmOfrUfK9eofcripA/ls.jpg"
}
],
"term": "Pizza",
"location": "San Francisco, CA"
}
}What the Yelp API does
| Action | Description | Concrete use case | Key params |
|---|---|---|---|
| business/reviews | Fetch all reviews (with full pagination — newest, oldest, highest rated or elite first) plus the complete Yelp business profile — rating, review count, categories, price, phone, address, hours, amenities and photos. Accepts up to 39 businesses per call via their Yelp business ID. | Support teams call business/reviews to fetch all reviews (with full pagination. | encBizIds, maxReviews, sortBy, ratings, language, ... |
| business/details | Get the full Yelp business profile without reviews — name, categories, star rating, review count, price level, phone, full address, coordinates, hours, amenities and photo. Faster and cheaper than business/reviews when you only need the listing. Accepts up to 39 businesses per call via their Yelp business ID. | Reputation platforms call business/details to get the full Yelp business profile without reviews. | encBizIds, includePii |
| search | Search Yelp by keyword or category in a location — just like typing 'Pizza in San Francisco, CA' on the Yelp website — with the same filters the site offers (price, rating, open-now, sort order and feature attributes). Returns a ranked list of businesses, each with its Yelp business ID, name, Yelp URL, star rating, review count, price level, categories, address and photo. Pass the business ID directly into business/reviews or business/details. Paginate with the offset parameter. | Market researchers call search to search Yelp by keyword or category in a location. | term, location, limit, offset, sort_by, ... |
| popular_dishes | Get a restaurant's popular dishes from Yelp — the 'Popular dishes' section shown on the Yelp business page — returning each dish's name and photo. Identify the restaurant by its Yelp business URL, its Yelp business ID (from the search or business details actions), or its Yelp slug. Restaurant pages only; returns an empty list when Yelp shows no popular dishes for that restaurant. | B2B review analysts call popular_dishes to get a restaurant's popular dishes from Yelp. | business_url, business_id, slug, limit |
| menus | Get a restaurant's menu from Yelp when Yelp hosts it — returning menu sections with each item's name, description, price and photo. Identify the restaurant by its Yelp business URL, Yelp business ID, or slug. Only menus hosted on Yelp are returned; many restaurants link to an external menu, which Yelp has no structured data for — `menu_available` is false in those cases. | Support teams call menus to get a restaurant's menu from Yelp when Yelp hosts it. | business_url, business_id, slug |
| business/photos | Get a Yelp business's photos — the images shown on its Yelp page, with captions and categories (food, menu, interior, etc.) where Yelp provides them. Identify the business by its Yelp business URL, Yelp business ID, or slug. | Reputation platforms call business/photos to get a Yelp business's photos. | business_url, business_id, slug, limit |
| review_highlights | Get a Yelp business's review highlights — the recurring phrases reviewers mention (e.g. 'happy hour', 'great service'), each with a sample snippet from a real review. A fast at-a-glance read on what the business is known for. Identify the business by its Yelp business URL, Yelp business ID, or slug. | Market researchers call review_highlights to get a Yelp business's review highlights. | business_url, business_id, slug, limit |
| business/url-to-id | Convert any yelp.com/biz/… business page URL into the Yelp business ID used by business/details, business/reviews, popular_dishes and menus. | B2B review analysts call business/url-to-id to convert any yelp.com/biz/… business page URL into the Yelp business ID used by business/detai…. | business_url |
| business/search | Find a Yelp business by name (plus optional location) and return its Yelp business ID, name and Yelp URL. Pass the business ID straight into business/reviews or business/details. No Yelp account required. | Support teams call business/search to find a Yelp business by name (plus optional location) and. | name, location, limit, resolveAll |
Call search from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/yelp/v1/search \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"term":"Pizza","location":"San Francisco, CA","limit":10}'import requests
r = requests.post(
"https://api.reefapi.com/yelp/v1/search",
headers={"x-api-key": REEF_KEY},
json={
"term": "Pizza",
"location": "San Francisco, CA",
"limit": 10
},
)
print(r.json()["data"])const res = await fetch("https://api.reefapi.com/yelp/v1/search", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"x-api-key": process.env.REEF_KEY,
"content-type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"term": "Pizza",
"location": "San Francisco, CA",
"limit": 10
}),
});
const { ok, data, meta, error } = await res.json();Ask your MCP-connected assistant: call reefapi.yelp.search with {"term":"Pizza","location":"San Francisco, CA","limit":10}.Who uses this API and why
- Reputation tools call business/reviews to monitor a business's Yelp rating and new reviews.
- Lead-generation products use search to build lists of local businesses by category and city.
- Local-data apps use business/details, menus and popular_dishes to enrich a restaurant listing.
Questions developers ask before integrating
What is the Yelp API?
Yelp API is a ReefAPI endpoint group for local business reviews, ratings and details. It returns live JSON through POST requests under /yelp/v1.
Is the Yelp API free to try?
Yes. ReefAPI starts with 1,000 free credits, no card required. Yelp calls use the same shared credit balance as every other ReefAPI engine.
Do I need a Yelp login or account?
No login to Yelp is needed for the API response. You call ReefAPI with your x-api-key header, and the playground can run live examples before you create a production key.
How fresh is the Yelp data?
The page example is captured from a live business/reviews call, and production requests fetch live data through ReefAPI rather than a static sample.
How many credits does the Yelp API use?
Yelp actions currently cost 1 credit per successful call. Failed or blocked calls are free, and all APIs draw from one credit pool.
Can I call Yelp from an AI assistant or MCP client?
Yes. Connect ReefAPI once through MCP and your assistant can call yelp actions with the same key, credit pool and JSON envelope used by normal REST requests.
Is the Yelp API a Yelp scraper?
It is the managed alternative to a DIY Yelp scraper. Instead of building and maintaining your own scraper — proxies, headless browsers, captcha and constant breakage — you call one ReefAPI endpoint and get the same local business reviews, ratings and details back as clean JSON.
Why does my Yelp scraper keep getting blocked?
Most Yelp scrapers break on anti-bot defenses, rate limits and IP bans that need rotating residential proxies and browser fingerprinting to clear. ReefAPI handles all of that for you — no proxies, no captchas, no maintenance — and returns live JSON. Blocked or failed calls are free.