A version of this post originally appeared in Stephanie Wu’s newsletter, “From the Editor,” which features an early peek at Eater’s biggest projects and a roundup of the biggest stories in food and dining. Subscribe now.
Big news: The Eater app just got a lot better, with a completely new look and experience. And yes, it’s free to download now on the iOS store.
Eater maps have always been the trusted way to find great restaurants. Our editors have eaten at thousands of restaurants so you never have a bad meal. But we’re going beyond “Where should we eat?” Now, you can actually be part of the Eater community. Build your profile, follow editors and chefs, create and share lists, see where editors and chefs are eating, and book your next great meal, all in one place.
If you’ve been here for some time, you may remember that we first launched our app in October 2024, to make sure you could access all of Eater’s recommendations at any time, from anywhere. It was no small undertaking to bring a brand new product into the world, particularly one that our readers had been requesting for many, many years.
As we continued to dream up and build new features, it became clear that our ambitions for the app outgrew its technological foundation, and we needed to start over, from scratch. Product manager Anique Halliday and her team of engineers and UX designers, working with our editors dining in their cities every day, rethought every element to make it much easier to find a great restaurant recommendation every single time.
You may have seen some of this new work across our sites, too. Last fall we began publishing Dining Reports, which track all the wonderful places our editors are dining at in a mobile-friendly format; these now surface in the app so that you can easily see our must-order dishes and insider tips.
Last year, we also introduced custom lists to the app, where everyone can save restaurants that have caught their eye. Our latest iteration takes it further, with the ability to personalize your feed by following Eater cities, editors, and even some well-known friends of Eater, like chefs Eric Ripert, Mei Lin, José Andrés, Aaron Franklin, and more. From there, you can save restaurants, share lists, and make reservations.
I’m saving the best for last — a brand new search experience. Now, if you know where you’re dining but want to read Eater’s take, you can easily look up the restaurant and find our thoughts. And our new conversational search allows you to ask for anything from “happy hour near Madison Square Park” to “date night with a great wine list in Portland,” and surfaces our editors’ expert tips and recommendations. I’ve used this search many times in the past months and it comes in clutch, particularly when I’m traveling to a different city.
I hope you’ll give it a test run: Download our iOS app, supported by Grubhub, and check out my lists featuring the ultimate NYC bakery crawl and kid-friendly places you’ll actually want to dine at, and start planning your next great meal.
We built this app for our most dedicated readers, and we want to hear your thoughts on how we can make it even better. Email me at [email protected] with any feedback, or send me any lists you make. To my fellow Android users, I see you. We don’t have an Android version just yet, but I promise you’ll be the first to know as soon as we do.
