Among the 20 cafés and the 20 coffee shops someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown, not one had answered any of its recent reviews. The median café we read carries 326.5 reviews and the median coffee shop 279. The most-reviewed coffee shop we read carries 1,259.
The other food trades each have a named business answering, at very different levels. Among the bakeries, Noah's NY Bagels answered 10 of its last 10 reviews and Antoine's Cookie Shop San Mateo 1 of 10. Among the food trucks, Ta’ Con Madre Taqueria Food Truck answered 6 of 10; among the bars, Happy Lamb Hot Pot, San Mateo 快乐小羊 answered 3 of 10; among the restaurants, Mala Town Express 自选麻辣烫 answered 1 of 10. Separately, the median restaurant we read carries 377 reviews, and the most-reviewed carries 1,689.
Several appointment trades have named businesses at or near 10 of 10 among those we could measure. Among the med spas, Ambition Medical Spa answered 10 of 10, and Reviv Med Spa & Laser Treatment and Sheila Marie Aesthetics 9 of 10 each. Among the dermatology practices, Schweiger Dermatology & Allergy - San Mateo and Cecilia Wan, M.D. each answered 10 of 10. Schweiger's listing carries 1,170 reviews, the most among the dermatology businesses we read. Among the veterinarians, Lenity Vet Specialists + Emergency Care and South Hillsdale Animal Hospital each answered 10 of 10; among the pet groomers, Alpha Grooming Pet Salon and Pawsitively Groomed Pet Salon did the same. Among the nail salons, D&J Nails - Nail Salon answered 10 of 10 and Relaxing Nails & Spa 9 of 10.
Some names recur. Y Salon & Spa, which answered 8 of 10, appears among the hair salons, nail salons and day spas named here; LuminaSkin Med Spa, also at 8 of 10, appears among the IV therapy, weight-loss and dermatology businesses named here. The benchmark measured here is 72%: the share of recent reviews a typical measured business answered, measured across all trades together.
What to do about it
Open your listing and count how many of your last 10 reviews carry a reply. That is the same measure behind every reply figure above. The benchmark measured here is 72%, and it is measured across all trades together, not your trade alone.
If you run a café or a coffee shop, the figure among the ones we read is 0: none had answered a recent review. If you run a med spa, Ambition Medical Spa answered 10 of 10 and Reviv Med Spa & Laser Treatment 9 of 10. If you run a bakery, Noah's NY Bagels answered 10 of 10. Whatever your trade, start with the next review that arrives and reply to it in your own words, whether it is praise or a complaint. You do not write the review, but you do write the reply.
Food & drink in San Mateo, CA
Among the cafés and coffee shops someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown, not one business we read had answered any of its recent reviews. We read 20 of each. The median café we read carries 326.5 Google reviews and the median coffee shop 279, and the most-reviewed in each trade carries 1,259. Those are whole-listing totals; the reply figure covers only each business's most recent handful of reviews. The median rating is 4.4 for the cafés and 4.3 for the coffee shops.
The bakeries we read look different at the top. Noah's NY Bagels answered 10 of its last 10 reviews, on a listing of 422. Antoine's Cookie Shop San Mateo answered 1 of 10, on 355. The median bakery we read carries 168 reviews with a median rating of 4.4, and the most-reviewed carries 1,640. Among the food trucks, Ta’ Con Madre Taqueria Food Truck answered 6 of its last 10, on a listing of 109 reviews. The median food truck we read carries 31.5 reviews and a median rating of 4.6; the three most-reviewed carry 143, 109 and 99.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | 377 | 4.45 | Mala Town Express 自选麻辣烫 | 1 of 10 |
| Cafés | 326.5 | 4.4 | — | |
| Coffee shops | 279 | 4.3 | — | |
| Bars | 270.5 | 4.35 | Happy Lamb Hot Pot, San Mateo 快乐小羊 | 3 of 10 |
| Bakeries | 168 | 4.4 | Noah's NY Bagels | 10 of 10 |
| Food trucks | 31.5 | 4.6 | Ta’ Con Madre Taqueria Food Truck | 6 of 10 |
Hair, nails & barbering in San Mateo, CA
Y Salon & Spa is named here among both the hair salons and the nail salons someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown, and it answered 8 of its last 10 reviews. Its listing carries 374 reviews, which matches the most-reviewed hair salon we read and the most-reviewed nail salon we read.
Among the nail salons we could measure, D&J Nails - Nail Salon answered 10 of its last 10 reviews, Relaxing Nails & Spa answered 9 of 10 and Y Salon & Spa answered 8 of 10. Those are named figures, not a description of the trade: we cannot say how the rest of the nail salons we read handle their reviews. Across the whole listing history, the median nail salon we read carries 35 reviews with a median rating of 4.5, and the three most-reviewed carry 374, 259 and 195.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbershops | 63.5 | 4.8 | Peoples Barber | 6 of 10 |
| Hair salons | 32 | 4.7 | Maison Salon Deux | 10 of 10 |
| Nail salons | 35 | 4.5 | D&J Nails - Nail Salon | 10 of 10 |
Spa & aesthetics in San Mateo, CA
Among the dermatology practices someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown, the most-reviewed listing carries 1,170 Google reviews. That listing belongs to Schweiger Dermatology & Allergy - San Mateo, and its owner answered 10 of its 10 most recent reviews. Cecilia Wan, M.D. answered 10 of 10 as well, on a listing of 145 reviews. The median dermatology listing we read carries 64 reviews, with a median rating of 4.9.
The med spas we read show named owners replying too. Ambition Medical Spa answered 10 of its last 10 reviews, and Reviv Med Spa & Laser Treatment and Sheila Marie Aesthetics each answered 9 of 10. The median med spa listing we read carries 74.5 reviews at a median rating of 5; the most-reviewed carries 277. Among the IV therapy businesses, Blissfusion l San Francisco Bay Area answered 10 of 10 and LuminaSkin Med Spa 8 of 10. Among the weight-loss clinics, Dr Syverain Weight Loss Clinic answered 10 of 10, on a listing of 262 reviews, and Morph Fitness answered 9 of 10. Reviv Med Spa & Laser Treatment appears among both the med spas and the IV therapy businesses named here, and LuminaSkin Med Spa among the IV therapy, weight-loss and dermatology businesses named here.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day spas | 48.5 | 4.7 | Y Salon & Spa | 8 of 10 |
| Med spas | 74.5 | 5 | Ambition Medical Spa | 10 of 10 |
| IV therapy | 32.5 | 5 | Blissfusion l San Francisco Bay Area | 10 of 10 |
| Weight-loss clinics | 41 | 5 | Dr Syverain Weight Loss Clinic | 10 of 10 |
| Dermatology | 64 | 4.9 | Schweiger Dermatology & Allergy - San Mateo | 10 of 10 |
Fitness & wellness in San Mateo, CA
We read 20 gyms among the businesses someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown. The median gym we read carries 58 Google reviews. The three most-reviewed carry 1,040, 580 and 347. A median is a single middle value and says nothing about how the other listings are spread, but it does put a number on the typical gym in this search, and it sits a long way below the listing at 1,040.
The median rating among the gyms we read is 4.9. Like the review counts, that figure covers each listing's whole review history. It tells you where the middle of this group sits on the star scale, not how any single gym is rated.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gyms | 58 | 4.9 | Crossfit Burlingame | 8 of 10 |
Dental & orthodontics in San Mateo, CA
Among the orthodontists someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown, Orthodontics of San Mateo answered 9 of its last 10 reviews, and Alborzi Orthodontics answered 8 of its last 10. Among the dentists we could measure, the highest reply figure belongs to San Mateo Dental Care, which answered 3 of its last 10. Those three figures cover only the most recent handful of reviews on each listing, and they are all we can say about who replies in these two trades.
Those names are not a count. Not every practice we read could be measured, so the names above say nothing about how many dentists or orthodontists answered. They name the practices answering the most of their recent reviews among those we could measure, and nothing more.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dentists | 143 | 4.9 | San Mateo Dental Care | 3 of 10 |
| Orthodontists | 89.5 | 5 | Orthodontics of San Mateo | 9 of 10 |
Pets in San Mateo, CA
Among the pet groomers someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown, the two most-reviewed listings carry 1,367 and 1,365 reviews, and both owners appear among the businesses answering. Alpha Grooming Pet Salon, on 1,365 reviews, answered 10 of its last 10. Art Pet Mobile Grooming, on 1,367, answered 5 of its last 10. Pawsitively Groomed Pet Salon, on a listing of 234 reviews, also answered 10 of its last 10.
We read 20 businesses in each of three pet trades. The median groomer we read carries 50 reviews and a 4.8 rating. The median boarding business carries 33 reviews and a 4.75 rating, and the most-reviewed boarding listing carries 784. The median veterinarian carries 133 reviews and a 4.4 rating, and the most-reviewed veterinarian carries 1,244. Those review counts and ratings cover each listing's whole history.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pet grooming | 50 | 4.8 | Alpha Grooming Pet Salon | 10 of 10 |
| Pet boarding | 33 | 4.75 | hmbdoghouse | 10 of 10 |
| Veterinarians | 133 | 4.4 | Lenity Vet Specialists + Emergency Care | 10 of 10 |
Shops & studios in San Mateo, CA
Among the tattoo studios someone searching in San Mateo, CA is shown, Belmont Tattoo & Piercing answered 8 of its last 10 Google reviews. That is the highest reply figure of the three studios we can name. Paw Tattoo and Lyfestyle Ink each answered 1 of their last 10. Those are the only studios we can name for this trade; we can't see how the other studios we read handled theirs, so nothing here describes them.
We read 20 tattoo studios in this catchment. The median one carries 31 Google reviews, and the median rating is 4.9. The three most-reviewed listings carry 205, 164 and 140. Belmont Tattoo & Piercing's listing holds 140 reviews in total, Paw Tattoo's 164 and Lyfestyle Ink's 105. Those are whole-listing totals, counted across each studio's entire time on Google, and they are a different window from the reply figures above, which cover only the last 10 reviews.
| Trade | Median reviews | Median rating | Answers reviews best | Answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tattoo studios | 31 | 4.9 | Belmont Tattoo & Piercing | 8 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 San Mateo, CA 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. San Mateo, CA has a population of 103,555 and a median household income of $152,669 (US Census) — context for the town, not a predictor of its reviews.