Of the 20 food trucks we read around Evanston, not one had answered any of its recent reviews. Food trucks are the only trade in our data where that is true. Counting every review on the listing, the median food truck we read carries 315, and the three most-reviewed carry 933, 839 and 826.
Elsewhere in food and drink, we can name owners who answer. Among the restaurants someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, Trattoria Demi answered 9 of its last 10 reviews, on a listing of 1,434. Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) answered 8 of its last 10 on a listing of 2,064, and it appears among the restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries named here. Pâtisserie Coralie answered 8 of 10 and appears among both the coffee shops and the bakeries.
Every 10 of 10 figure in our data sits outside food and drink. Among the med spas, Pinch Concierge Med Spa | Illinois answered 10 of its last 10 on a listing of 1,079. Evanston Dental Associates answered 10 of 10 on 634 reviews. Among the orthodontists, Shoreview Orthodontics - Kenilworth and Orthodontic Experts Skokie each answered 10 of 10. Among the dermatology listings, LaserAway Evanston and Forefront Dermatology each answered 10 of 10, and among the veterinarians, Companion Skokie and Animal Medical Center did the same. EVA Nails and Rock Star Nails & Spa at Evanston each answered 10 of 10, Joe's Hair Salon answered 10 of 10 on 163 reviews, and The NOW Massage Evanston answered 10 of 10 on 83.
Among the barbershops, the one answering the most of its recent reviews that we could measure, Kutz and Blendz, answered 3 of its last 10. Among the hair salons, Joe's Hair Salon answered 10 of 10. For a single reference point, the benchmark measured here, across 48 businesses, is 68: a typical measured business answered 68% of its recent reviews.
What to do about it
Open your listing and look at your ten most recent reviews. Count how many carry a reply from you. Put that number beside the benchmark measured here, 68%, and beside the named owners in your own trade: a dentist can look at Evanston Dental Associates at 10 of 10 and a nail salon at EVA Nails at 10 of 10. If you run a food truck, the figure to beat is 0 — none of the 20 we read had answered a recent review.
Of everything in that exchange, the reply is the only part you write. Keep it short, thank the person for something specific they mentioned, and answer a critical review in the same calm tone as a glowing one. Then make it a standing task: check the listing on a set day each week and answer whatever has arrived since the last time you looked.
Food & drink in Evanston, IL
Among the food trucks someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, not one of the 20 we read had answered any of its recent reviews. That is the clearest point in this section. These are not empty listings: the median food truck we read carries 315 reviews, and the three most-reviewed carry 933, 839 and 826.
One name recurs across the other trades. Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) appears among the restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries named here, and it answered 8 of its last 10 reviews. Its listing carries 2,064 reviews, the highest count among the restaurants, cafés, bars and bakeries we read. Among the restaurants, Trattoria Demi answered 9 of its last 10; its listing carries 1,434 reviews, against a median of 253 for the restaurants we read.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 253 | 4.5 | Trattoria Demi | 9 of 10 |
| Cafés | 172 | 4.6 | Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) | 8 of 10 |
| Coffee shops | 199.5 | 4.6 | Pâtisserie Coralie | 8 of 10 |
| Bars | 188 | 4.6 | Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) | 8 of 10 |
| Bakeries | 270 | 4.6 | Cupitol Coffee & Eatery (Evanston) | 8 of 10 |
| Food trucks | 315 | 4.6 | — |
Hair, nails & barbering in Evanston, IL
Among the nail salons someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, EVA Nails and Rock Star Nails & Spa at Evanston each answered all of their last 10 reviews, and Kiara Nail Spa Evanston answered 7 of its last 10. Among the hair salons we read, Joe's Hair Salon also answered 10 of 10. Among the barbershops we read, Kutz and Blendz answered 3 of its last 10, ELEGANCE HAIR SALON & BARBERSHOP 2 of 10 and Ashor’s Fade 1 of 10. The highest reply figure among the barbershops named is 3 of 10.
Those figures cover only the most recent reviews on each listing. The review totals are the whole history, and they are a separate measure. The median barbershop we read carries 109 reviews, the median hair salon 93 and the median nail salon 114. The most-reviewed listing among the barbershops and the hair salons in this section is the same business: ELEGANCE HAIR SALON & BARBERSHOP, at 1,463 reviews, which appears among both the barbershops and the hair salons named in this section. Among the nail salons, the most-reviewed listing is Kiara Nail Spa Evanston at 793, followed by listings at 619 and 392. EVA Nails is the one at 392.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbershops | 109 | 4.75 | Kutz and Blendz | 3 of 10 |
| Hair salons | 93 | 4.8 | Joe's Hair Salon | 10 of 10 |
| Nail salons | 114 | 4.7 | EVA Nails | 10 of 10 |
See every hair, nails & barbering business we read in Evanston →
Spa & aesthetics in Evanston, IL
Among the spa and aesthetics businesses someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, Pinch Concierge Med Spa | Illinois answered 10 of its last 10 reviews, and its listing carries 1,079 reviews in total. It appears among both the med spas and the IV therapy businesses named in this section. Among the dermatology listings we read, LaserAway Evanston and Forefront Dermatology each answered 10 of 10, on listings of 265 and 156 reviews. Among the massage businesses, The NOW Massage Evanston answered 10 of 10 on a listing of 83 reviews.
The med spas we read have a median of 138 reviews and a median rating of 5. Alongside Pinch Concierge Med Spa | Illinois, One Magnificent MedSpa answered 9 of 10 and Skinflection Laser and Facial Med Spa 8 of 10, on listings of 330 and 658 reviews. In IV therapy, Skinfluencers MedSpa answered 9 of 10 on a listing of 272 reviews; the median IV therapy business we read carries 99 reviews and a 4.9 rating.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day spas | 81 | 4.5 | One Magnificent MedSpa | 9 of 10 |
| Massage | 27 | 4.3 | The NOW Massage Evanston | 10 of 10 |
| Med spas | 138 | 5 | Pinch Concierge Med Spa | Illinois | 10 of 10 |
| IV therapy | 99 | 4.9 | Pinch Concierge Med Spa | Illinois | 10 of 10 |
| Weight-loss clinics | 27 | 5 | Wellness Revolution | 9 of 10 |
| Dermatology | 27 | 4.8 | LaserAway Evanston | 10 of 10 |
Fitness & wellness in Evanston, IL
We read 20 gyms among the businesses someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, and the gym we can name as answering its reviews is also the most-reviewed one we read. McGaw YMCA carries 1,060 Google reviews, and its owner replied to 2 of its 10 most recent. We could not measure replies for every gym we read, and we can't say how many were measured, so this is a name with a figure, not a count of who answers and who does not.
The listing totals describe something different. They cover each listing's whole history, not its recent reviews. The median gym we read carries 105 reviews. The three most-reviewed carry 1,060, 631 and 606. The median rating among the gyms we read is 4.9. That is a single middle value: it says where the typical gym we read sits, not how closely the others sit around it, and it says nothing about any one listing.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gyms | 105 | 4.9 | McGaw YMCA | 2 of 10 |
Dental & orthodontics in Evanston, IL
We read 20 dentists and 20 orthodontists among the businesses someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown. The top review count among those dentists is 634, and that is the listing of Evanston Dental Associates. The same practice answered 10 of its last 10 reviews. The practices named below are, in each trade, the ones we saw answering the most of their recent reviews; these figures say nothing about the other practices we read.
Among the dentists, Webster Dental Care Evanston answered 5 of its last 10, and its listing carries 420 reviews. Designer Smiles answered 3 of its last 10, on a listing of 587 reviews. The median dentist we read carries 122.5 reviews, and the median rating among them is 4.8.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dentists | 122.5 | 4.8 | Evanston Dental Associates | 10 of 10 |
| Orthodontists | 165 | 4.9 | Shoreview Orthodontics - Kenilworth | 10 of 10 |
See every dental & orthodontics business we read in Evanston →
Pets in Evanston, IL
The clearest reply figures in this section belong to veterinarians. Among the veterinarians someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, Companion Skokie answered 10 of its last 10 reviews, and Animal Medical Center also answered 10 of 10. Oz Animal Hospital Rogers Park answered 6 of 10. We read 20 veterinarians in all; these three are named because they answer, and we can't see how the others we read reply.
The review totals are a separate, lifetime count. The median veterinarian we read has 189 Google reviews, the median pet groomer 73 and the median boarding business 30. The three most-reviewed veterinarians we read carry 566, 470 and 406 reviews. The median rating is 4.6 for veterinarians, 4.7 for groomers and 4.8 for boarding.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pet grooming | 73 | 4.7 | Pet Supplies Plus Evanston | 9 of 10 |
| Pet boarding | 30 | 4.8 | Dogtopia of Downtown Evanston | 7 of 10 |
| Veterinarians | 189 | 4.6 | Companion Skokie | 10 of 10 |
Method
Every figure comes from public Google listings — the businesses and owner replies any customer can see — read on 2026-09-24. Counts describe the businesses someone searching in Evanston, IL is shown, which is the competitive set a customer actually chooses from, not a register of businesses inside the city limits. A business is named only where we read at least eight of its recent reviews, and only the ones answering the most are named; the rest of a market appears as a distribution with its denominator. Chains are counted but never named. Nothing is ranked on star rating. Evanston, IL has a population of 76,552 and a median household income of $95,766 (US Census) — context for the town, not a predictor of its reviews.