Yelp Full Business Scraper

A comprehensive Apify Actor for extracting complete business profiles from Yelp. This actor provides structured access to business information, customer reviews, restaurant menus, popular dishes, and user profiles - everything you need for business intelligence and market research.

What Makes This Special:

• Yelp Business Data: Comprehensive restaurant and business information aggregated from Yelp
• Complete Profiles: Business details + reviews + menus + popular dishes in one go
• Analysis Ready: Structured JSON with consistent schemas for data science workflows
• Enterprise Features: Error handling, rate limiting, and pagination built-in

What You Get

Business Intelligence Data

Complete business profiles with:

• Core Business Info: Name, rating (0-5 scale), review count, price range ($, $$, $$$, $$$$)
• Location Data: Full address, city, state, ZIP, coordinates (latitude/longitude)
• Contact Info: Phone number, website URL, business hours
• Categorization: Business categories and subcategories
• Visual Assets: Primary photo, gallery images with captions
• Services & Amenities: Delivery, takeout, reservations, wheelchair access, WiFi, parking, etc.
• Health & Safety: Health inspection scores, COVID-19 measures
• Business Status: Claimed/unclaimed status, temporary closures

Customer Review Analytics

Comprehensive review data including:

• Review Content: Full text, star rating (1-5), publication date, language
• Author Profiles: User ID, name, location, elite status, total review count, friend count
• Social Engagement: Useful/funny/cool vote counts
• Business Responses: Owner/manager replies to reviews
• Photo Reviews: Images attached to reviews with captions

Restaurant-Specific Data

Menu intelligence for restaurants:

• Complete Menus: Item names, descriptions, prices by category (appetizers, entrees, desserts)
• Popular Dishes: Most-reviewed items with photo counts and review counts
• Menu Photos: Images of menu items when available

User Profile Networks

Reviewer insights extracted from reviews:

• User Demographics: Location, review history, elite status
• Social Graph: Friend counts, photo contributions
• Review Behavior: Patterns in rating distribution and review frequency

API Endpoints Used

• GET /search - Business search by location and term (returns basic business info)
• GET /search/category - Business search by category (returns basic business info)
• GET /each - Detailed business information including services, amenities, hours
• GET /reviews - Customer reviews with pagination, ratings, and user info
• GET /get_menus - Restaurant menus with items, prices, and descriptions (when available)
• GET /popular_dish - Popular dishes with ratings and photos (when available)
• GET /biz_url2id - Convert business URL to business ID

Exact Data Output

All data is delivered as structured JSON objects in your Apify dataset. Here's exactly what you receive:

Business Records (type: "business")

{
  "businessId": "qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ",
  "type": "business",
  "url": "https://www.yelp.com/biz/saloon-restaurant-philadelphia",
  "title": "Saloon Restaurant",
  "rating": 4.5,
  "reviewCount": 309,
  "priceRange": "$$$",
  "categories": ["Italian", "Seafood"],
  "address": {
    "city": "Philadelphia",
    "state": "PA",
    "postalCode": "19147",
    "addressLine1": "750 S 7th St",
    "addressLine2": "",
    "addressLine3": "",
    "formatted": "750 S 7th St\nBella Vista\nPhiladelphia, PA 19147\nUSA"
  },
  "coordinates": [{"latitude": 39.9398664, "longitude": -75.1545609}],
  "primaryPhoto": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/RmNxGXx3gTljQPe5VMykvQ/o.jpg",
  "phoneNumber": "+12156271811",
  "website": "https://www.saloonrestaurant.net",
  "hours": {
    "Mon": "5:00 PM - 9:30 PM",
    "Tue": "5:00 PM - 9:30 PM",
    "Wed": "5:00 PM - 9:30 PM",
    "Thu": "5:00 PM - 9:30 PM",
    "Fri": "5:00 PM - 9:30 PM",
    "Sat": "5:00 PM - 9:30 PM"
  },
  "businessServices": {
    "Takes Reservations": true,
    "Offers Delivery": false,
    "Offers Takeout": true,
    "Accepts Credit Cards": true,
    "Wheelchair Accessible": true,
    "Good for Kids": false,
    "Good for Groups": true,
    "Wi-Fi": "Free",
    "Has TV": false,
    "Dogs Allowed": false,
    "Alcohol": "Full Bar",
    "Gender-neutral restrooms": false,
    "Health Score": "98 out of 100"
  },
  "images": [
    {
      "url": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/RmNxGXx3gTljQPe5VMykvQ/o.jpg",
      "caption": ""
    }
  ],
  "isClaimed": "Unclaimed",
  "timestamp": "2026-01-17T10:40:03.456Z"
}

Review Records (type: "review")

{
  "businessId": "qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ",
  "type": "review",
  "reviewId": "lj4_5vrZUTAyHt0i2b_fcA",
  "rating": 5,
  "message": "Jose was a awesome server! The food was amazing and the atmosphere was outstanding.\n\nWe were there for my Son's Birthday and Jose made him feel special\n\nThank you Jose",
  "language": "en",
  "publishedAt": "2025-12-28T16:45:08-05:00",
  "userName": "Miriam M.",
  "author": {
    "id": "HlEpLwRwfQWOBxRJPh4mZg",
    "name": "Miriam M.",
    "location": "San Diego, CA",
    "photoUrls": {
      "mediaItemSrcUrl": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/photo/Mj67RocWk9MTph3c2Siyzg/60s.jpg",
      "userSrc": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/photo/Mj67RocWk9MTph3c2Siyzg/60s.jpg"
    },
    "friendCount": 0,
    "reviewCount": 1,
    "businessPhotoCount": 0,
    "isElite": false
  },
  "feedback": {
    "usefulCount": 0,
    "funnyCount": 0,
    "coolCount": 0
  },
  "reactions": {
    "useful": 0,
    "funny": 0,
    "cool": 0
  },
  "ownerResponse": null,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-01-17T10:40:03.456Z"
}

Menu Records (type: "menu")

{
  "type": "menu",
  "businessId": "qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ",
  "data": {
    "searched_id": "qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ",
    "status": "success",
    "menus": [
      {
        "Food Name": "Mediterranean Salad",
        "Category": "Lunch",
        "Details": "Mixed greens tossed with jumbo lump crab meat, shrimp, tuna...",
        "Price": "$14.50",
        "Photo": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/assets/2/www/img/dca54f97fb84/default_avatars/menu_medium_square.png"
      }
    ]
  },
  "timestamp": "2026-01-17T10:40:03.456Z"
}

Popular Dishes Records (type: "popular_dishes")

{
  "type": "popular_dishes",
  "businessId": "qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ",
  "data": {
    "popular_dishes": [
      {
        "identifier": "tiramisu",
        "review_count": 25,
        "photo_count": 15,
        "display_name": "Tiramisu",
        "photo_url": "https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/xyz/o.jpg",
        "description": "Classic Italian dessert",
        "price": "$12.00"
      }
    ]
  },
  "timestamp": "2026-01-17T10:40:03.456Z"
}

Real Usage Examples

1. Find Coffee Shops in San Francisco

Input:

{
  "searchType": "search",
  "location": "San Francisco, CA",
  "searchTerm": "coffee",
  "limit": 5,
  "businessDetailsType": "basic"
}

Output: 5 business records like:

{
  "businessId": "VD527WwvrhE3Nhzf5vaMNw",
  "type": "business",
  "title": "Sightglass Coffee",
  "rating": 4.0,
  "reviewCount": 2176,
  "categories": ["Coffee & Tea"],
  "address": {"city": "San Francisco", "state": "CA"}
}

2. Get Complete Business Profile

Input:

{
  "searchType": "business_details",
  "businessIds": ["qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ"]
}

Output: 1 detailed business record with hours, services, photos, health scores, etc.

3. Extract Customer Reviews

Input:

{
  "searchType": "reviews",
  "businessId": "qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ",
  "reviewsPerPage": 10,
  "sortBy": "Yelp_sort"
}

Output: 10 review records + 10 user profile records with full review text, ratings, and author details.

4. Restaurant Menu Analysis

Input:

{
  "searchType": "menu",
  "businessId": "qjIN4UbE96Cq6JKwLIQ9VQ"
}

Output: Complete menu with items, prices, descriptions organized by category.

5. Complete Business Intelligence

Input:

{
  "searchType": "full_profile",
  "businessUrl": "https://www.yelp.com/biz/saloon-restaurant-philadelphia",
  "includeReviews": true,
  "includeMenu": true,
  "includePopularDishes": true,
  "reviewsPerPage": 20
}

Output: 20+ records including business details, reviews, menu, popular dishes, and user profiles.

Input Format Notes

• Business IDs: Use JSON editor for arrays ["id1", "id2"] or strings "id1,id2"
• URLs: Direct Yelp business URLs work for single business operations
• Pagination: Reviews support pagination with startOffset parameter

Search Types & API Usage

Choose the right search type based on your data needs:

Search Type	API Calls	Returns	Use Case
search	1	Business list with basic info	Finding businesses by location/keywords
category	1	Business list filtered by category	Finding restaurants, bars, etc.
business_details	1	Complete business profile	Deep dive on specific business(es)
reviews	1-2	Customer reviews + user profiles	Sentiment analysis, review mining
menu	2	Restaurant menu items	Menu analysis, pricing research
popular_dishes	2	Most popular menu items	Identifying top-selling items
url_to_id	1	Business ID from URL	Converting web links to API IDs
full_profile	2-4	Everything available	Complete business intelligence

Detailed Search Type Behavior

• search: Returns 1-50 businesses matching your search criteria with basic info (name, rating, address)
• category: Same as search but filtered by business category (Italian, Chinese, Bars, etc.)
• business_details: Single business deep-dive with hours, services, photos, health scores
• reviews: All customer reviews with full text, ratings, user profiles, and business responses
• menu: Complete restaurant menu with item descriptions, prices, and categories
• popular_dishes: Best-rated menu items with review counts and photos
• url_to_id: Converts Yelp URLs to business IDs for API use
• full_profile: Combines all available data - most comprehensive but uses most API calls

Rate Limiting

The actor includes built-in rate limiting to respect API limits:

• 1-second delay between API requests
• Automatic error handling for rate limit responses
• Request count tracking

Error Handling

The actor gracefully handles:

• API rate limits
• Invalid business IDs/URLs
• Network errors
• Missing data in API responses
• Malformed input parameters

Important Limitations & Data Availability

API Restrictions

• Search Results: Only businessDetailsType: "basic" works. "detailed"/"full" cause API errors.
• Menu Availability: ~60% of restaurants have menu data. Returns error for businesses without menus.
• Popular Dishes: ~40% of restaurants have popular dish data. Not available for all businesses.
• URL Characters: URLs with special characters (café, naïve) may fail URL-to-ID conversion.

Data Completeness

• Business Hours: May be missing or incomplete for some businesses
• Health Scores: Only available in certain regions (primarily US)
• Owner Responses: Not all reviews receive business responses
• Menu Photos: Most menu items lack photos in the API

Performance & Scale

• Rate Limiting: 1-second delays between API calls to respect limits
• API Usage: Monitor your API call volume to manage costs effectively
• Response Times: Menu/popular dish endpoints are slower (2-3 calls each)
• Data Volume: Full profiles generate 20+ records per business

Error Scenarios

• Business Not Found: Invalid IDs/URLs return clear error messages
• Network Issues: Automatic retry logic for temporary failures
• API Quotas: Graceful handling of rate limit exceeded errors
• Missing Data: Null/empty fields instead of errors for optional data

Dataset Organization

Your results are organized by data type for easy filtering and analysis:

Record Types in Dataset

• type: "business": Core business information (addresses, ratings, services)
• type: "review": Individual customer reviews with ratings and metadata
• type: "menu": Complete restaurant menu data when available
• type: "popular_dishes": Most popular menu items with engagement metrics
• type: "user": Reviewer profiles extracted from reviews
• type: "full_profile_summary": Overview of what was collected for full_profile runs
• type: "url_to_id": URL conversion results

Analysis Ready Data

• Normalized Schema: Consistent field names and data types across all records
• JSON Structured: Ready for import into databases, spreadsheets, or analysis tools
• Relationship Keys: businessId links reviews, menus, and dishes to businesses
• Timestamp Tracking: timestamp and scrapedAt fields for data freshness