Phoenix restaurants and their Google reviews: what the best do differently

We read the public reviews and owner replies on 378 Phoenix-area restaurant listings. Here is who replies, how fast reviews arrive, what goes unanswered — and the ten restaurants that answer the most of their reviews.

Never replied

41%

of 378 Phoenix restaurants have not answered a single review we read.

The median restaurant

6%

of its reviews answered. A quarter answer 64% or more; a quarter have answered none at all.

Reviews a month

9.5

for the median restaurant; the top quarter gets 16 or more (369 measured).

Who replies, and how much

Ranked on the share of reviews with an owner reply, among Phoenix restaurants with at least 30 reviews read. Every name here is a public fact stated plainly: this is what their listing shows to the next customer. 21 of the 378 answered every review we read; the ten shown are those with the fewest older reviews still unanswered.

#BusinessReplied toOf the newestAvg reply
1=Carcara · Phoenix100%5070 words
1=Tap That Downtown · Phoenix100%5029 words
1=Rihana's Pizza & Wings · Phoenix100%5014 words
1=Sun Asian Kitchen · Phoenix100%5038 words
1=Sunshine Breakfast Bar · Phoenix100%5031 words
1=Galeto Brazilian Steakhouse · Chandler100%5052 words
1=Crust Pizzeria 16th St · Phoenix100%5043 words
1=Arrowhead Grill · Glendale100%5048 words
1=Bird Brainz™ Wingz AZ · Phoenix100%5037 words
1=Tee Pee Mexican Food · Phoenix100%5057 words

For scale: 30% of the 378 answer at least half their reviews, and 16% answer nine in ten. Of the reviews we read, the median restaurant has 31 that are more than a month old and still unanswered, and 84% have at least one review of three stars or fewer with no reply under it — the one a customer reads first.

What their replies look like

Not our words — theirs. One recent reply each from the restaurants above, quoted as it appears on their listing, under a critical review where we could find one.

“Dear Baliente, We appreciate the generous rating. It is a pleasure to know that we were successful in providing a great dining experience. We would love to welcome you again soon at Carcara, and we wish you all the best. Restaurant Management”

— Carcara, replying to a 5-star review

“Thank you for sharing your feedback, Liz! We appreciate your honesty and understand that our self-service model isn't for everyone. We're glad to hear you enjoyed the selection and outdoor seating, and we hope you'll consider giving us another try in the future!”

— Tap That Downtown, replying to a 3-star review

“We're sorry something went wrong. We appreciate you taking the time to rate us, and we wish this had been a better experience!”

— Rihana's Pizza & Wings, replying to a 1-star review

What the top quarter does differently

The 94 restaurants with the highest reply rates against the other 284. Three contrasts, each measured, none of them about star rating:

  • They answer most of what comes in. Median reply rate 94% versus 0%.
  • They leave no negative review unanswered. 51% of the top quarter have zero unanswered reviews of three stars or fewer, against 5% of the rest.
  • Customers keep writing to them. Median reviews a month 9.5 for the top quarter, 9.5 for the rest. Replying does not create reviews on its own — but in this market the restaurants that answer are also the ones customers keep writing to.

How fast reviews arrive

Ranked on Google reviews received per month, among restaurants with at least 50 reviews. Pace is the number that decides how much any one bad review weighs.

#BusinessReviews a monthTotal reviews
1Diablo Rooftop · Phoenix50.61057
2Casa de Julia Restaurant Bar · Phoenix50.3637
3Rustler’s Rooste · Phoenix49.89058
4Pizza To The Rescue · Phoenix48.82092
5Arrowhead Grill · Glendale46.34726
6Hope’s Brunch House · Phoenix46.2646
7Joe's Real BBQ · Gilbert45.96107
8Rosita's Place · Phoenix45.62890
9Taco Chelo Phoenix · Phoenix43.32758
10Fry Bread House · Phoenix42.54347

Of the 21 restaurants whose history reaches back a full year, 67% are receiving reviews more slowly than they were twelve months ago (median change -22%). A slower pace is normal across most categories we measure; what matters is whether yours is slowing faster than the market's.

What “normal” looks like in Phoenix

The typical Phoenix restaurant in this audit has 896 Google reviews, a 4.5 rating, answers 6% of them, and receives about 9.5 a month. Ratings cluster high in almost every local category, which is why this page never ranks on them — the difference customers can actually see is in the replies.

How Oh Local helps a Phoenix restaurant

Most of your customers pay, leave, and are gone — the review only happens if something they took with them asks for it. The restaurants at the top of this page answer what comes in and keep it coming: a review link on the receipt or a card, a reply to every negative review within days (how to write one), and no unanswered three-star review a customer can find first.

How it works

  1. Run the free audit. We read your public Google reviews and replies and send you the numbers: reply rate, the reviews still waiting for an answer, and the oldest of them — with the table on this page to put them beside.
  2. Claim your page. Pick your listing, and your QR card and short link are ready to print — from your own phone, no onboarding call.
  3. Get the weekly email. Every new review with its reply drafted, private feedback that came in, and the short list of what to fix on your listing and site.
  4. Approve, and that’s it. You press approve on the replies you like. The rest — the card, the page, the measuring — runs on its own.

What you get

Your review page

A printed QR card and a short link that open every review option — Google, Tripadvisor, Facebook — capture the customer’s email, and give an unhappy customer a private word first. About four minutes to a printable QR.

Reviews handled

Every new review on your platforms, with the reply drafted in your voice, in one weekly email. Negative ones first. You approve, edit or skip; nothing posts without you.

Local standing

Where you rank around your shop, what competitors are doing, what changed on your listing — with the exact fix for each. Recommendations can lead to better rankings and more visibility; no tool can promise a position, including ours.

The Phoenix restaurant median, beside you
Phoenix medianYou
Reviews answered6%the audit fills this in
Older reviews still unanswered31—
A ≤ 3★ review with no reply84% have one—
Reviews a month9.5—
Get the free auditSee pricing

FAQ

How many Phoenix restaurants reply to their Google reviews?

Of the 378 Phoenix-area restaurants we audited, 41% had never replied to a review, the median had replied to 6% of its reviews, and 16% had replied to nine in ten or more.

How many Google reviews a month does a Phoenix restaurant get?

The median Phoenix restaurant in our audit receives about 9.5 Google reviews a month; the top quarter receives 16 or more (369 listings measured).

Which Phoenix restaurants reply to reviews the most?

Ranked on the share of reviews with an owner reply, among listings with at least 30 reviews read: Carcara (100%), Tap That Downtown (100%), Rihana's Pizza & Wings (100%), Sun Asian Kitchen (100%), Sunshine Breakfast Bar (100%), and five more on this page.

Where does this data come from?

From public Google listings: the reviews and owner replies visible to any customer, read on September 22, 2026 for 378 restaurants in Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Tempe. Nothing comes from any business's private data, and businesses are ranked on reply behaviour and review pace, never on star rating.

Method

378 listings with at least 15 Google reviews in Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Tempe, in the industry Google's own listing category gives them. Up to the 50 most recent reviews read per listing. Reply rate = reviews with an owner reply ÷ reviews read. Named lists rank on reply rate (≥ 30 reviews read) and on reviews per month (≥ 50 reviews) — never on rating; equal values share a rank. Listings whose name carries an offer, a claim or a disclaimer are counted but not named. Public data only, read on the date shown; a listing can change any day. Oh Local is not affiliated with Google. Think a number is wrong? info@ohlocal.co.