{ "version": "1.0", "updated_at": "2026-09-08", "note": "Network master taxonomy for the BellyUp city network. Headlines use a {city} placeholder so this file is portable to every city property without a fork. A category is published as a page only when at least one real venue resolves to it; zero-venue categories are reported as discovery gaps in the city discovery report rather than shipped as empty pages.", "families": [ { "slug": "menu", "name": "On the Menu", "blurb": "What the kitchen actually serves. The part every other site already covers." }, { "slug": "room", "name": "The Room", "blurb": "What it is like to sit there. Views, patios, noise, music, the floor." }, { "slug": "occasion", "name": "The Occasion", "blurb": "Why you picked tonight. First dates, birthdays, the whole family, twelve coworkers." }, { "slug": "values", "name": "What They Stand For", "blurb": "Sourcing, ownership, access, and how a kitchen treats the people in it." }, { "slug": "story", "name": "The Story", "blurb": "Who built it, how long it has been here, and the rituals that make it theirs." } ], "categories": [ { "slug": "bbq", "name": "BBQ and Smokehouses", "family": "menu", "question": "Who is actually running a pit?", "headline_template": "{city} BBQ Worth Bellyin' Up For", "blurb": "Real smoke, real pits, and the rooms built around them.", "intro": "Every city claims barbecue. The useful question is which kitchens run a pit, what wood they burn, and what they do that nobody else in town does.", "match": { "venue_types": ["bbq"], "cuisine_contains": ["bbq", "barbecue", "barbeque"] } }, { "slug": "vegan", "name": "Vegan and Plant-Based", "family": "menu", "question": "Where can I eat with no asterisks?", "headline_template": "Vegan and Plant-Based Kitchens in {city}", "blurb": "Fully vegan kitchens and the places that treat a vegan order like a real order.", "intro": "There is a difference between a fully vegan kitchen and a restaurant with one vegan entree buried at the bottom of the page. Both belong here, labeled honestly.", "match": { "dietary_attributes": ["100_percent_vegan", "vegan_friendly", "vegan_options"] } }, { "slug": "craft-cocktails", "name": "Craft Cocktail Programs", "family": "menu", "question": "Who is taking the bar seriously?", "headline_template": "{city} Bars With a Real Cocktail Program", "blurb": "Bars where somebody wrote the drink list on purpose.", "intro": "A cocktail program is a choice a business makes. House syrups, a printed list that changes, a bartender who can tell you why. It shows up on the receipt and almost never in a search result.", "match": { "venue_types": ["cocktail_bar", "distillery"], "cuisine_contains": ["cocktail"] } }, { "slug": "brunch", "name": "Brunch", "family": "menu", "question": "Where is brunch worth the wait?", "headline_template": "Brunch in {city}", "blurb": "The late morning rooms people plan a weekend around.", "intro": "Brunch is one of the few meals people schedule days in advance, which makes it one of the few meals worth being discoverable for.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["brunch"], "cuisine_contains": ["brunch"] } }, { "slug": "late-night", "name": "Late-Night Food", "family": "menu", "question": "What is still open?", "headline_template": "Late-Night Food in {city}", "blurb": "Kitchens still firing when most of the city has closed.", "intro": "The late-night question is the most time-sensitive question in local search, and the answer changes more often than anybody updates it.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["late_night"] } }, { "slug": "gluten-free", "name": "Gluten-Free Kitchens", "family": "menu", "question": "Can this kitchen actually handle it?", "headline_template": "Gluten-Free Dining in {city}", "blurb": "Kitchens with a real gluten-free option, not a shrug.", "intro": "For a lot of diners this is not a preference, it is the whole decision. It deserves better structure than a note in a review.", "match": { "dietary_attributes": ["gluten_free", "gluten_free_options"], "cuisine_contains": ["gluten-free", "gluten free"] } }, { "slug": "seafood-oysters", "name": "Seafood and Oysters", "family": "menu", "question": "Who is getting good product in?", "headline_template": "Seafood and Oyster Bars in {city}", "blurb": "Raw bars, fish programs, and the rooms that shuck to order.", "intro": "Seafood is a sourcing story before it is a menu story, and the kitchens that take it seriously usually have something to say about it.", "match": { "cuisine_contains": ["seafood", "oyster", "fish"] } }, { "slug": "steakhouse", "name": "Steakhouses", "family": "menu", "question": "Where do I take a steak night seriously?", "headline_template": "Steakhouses in {city}", "blurb": "Chops, dry-age programs, and the rooms built for a long dinner.", "intro": "Steakhouses are an occasion category disguised as a food category. Aging program, cut selection, and the room matter about equally.", "match": { "venue_types": ["steakhouse"], "cuisine_contains": ["steak", "chophouse"] } }, { "slug": "sushi", "name": "Sushi", "family": "menu", "question": "Who is behind the counter?", "headline_template": "Sushi in {city}", "blurb": "Counters, omakase seats, and neighborhood rolls.", "intro": "Sushi ranges from a twelve-seat counter with one chef to a family room with a hundred rolls on the menu. Those are different answers to different questions.", "match": { "cuisine_contains": ["sushi", "omakase", "japanese"] } }, { "slug": "great-views", "name": "Great Views", "family": "room", "question": "What am I looking at while I eat?", "headline_template": "{city} Restaurants With Views Worth Bellyin' Up For", "blurb": "Skyline, sunset, water, or a room with one very good window.", "intro": "A view is one of the most common reasons somebody picks a restaurant and one of the least structured facts about it anywhere online.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["skyline_view", "sunset_view", "great_view"] } }, { "slug": "waterfront", "name": "Waterfront Dining", "family": "room", "question": "Can I eat next to the water?", "headline_template": "Waterfront Dining in {city}", "blurb": "River, intracoastal, lake, and dockside tables.", "intro": "Waterfront is a category people search by name and then sort by feel. Dock access, which side of the water, and whether the good tables are outside all matter.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["waterfront", "dock_access", "water_view"] } }, { "slug": "rooftops-patios", "name": "Rooftops and Patios", "family": "room", "question": "Can we sit outside?", "headline_template": "Rooftops and Patios in {city}", "blurb": "Open air, fire pits, rooftop bars, and shaded courtyards.", "intro": "Outdoor seating is treated as a checkbox almost everywhere. A fire-pit patio, a rooftop bar, and four sidewalk tables are not the same offer.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["outdoor_seating", "rooftop", "patio"] } }, { "slug": "live-music", "name": "Live Music", "family": "room", "question": "Where can I eat and hear a real band?", "headline_template": "{city} Restaurants and Bars With Live Music", "blurb": "Rooms where the music is part of the reason you came.", "intro": "A stage in the corner changes what a room is for. It is also one of the hardest things to find in a search result, because it lives on a calendar nobody indexes.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["live_music"], "venue_types": ["music_venue"] } }, { "slug": "dancing", "name": "Dance Floors", "family": "room", "question": "Where is the floor actually full?", "headline_template": "Where to Dance in {city}", "blurb": "DJs, dance floors, and rooms that turn over after midnight.", "intro": "Some rooms are a restaurant at eight and a different building entirely at midnight. That transition is a discovery category of its own.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["dancing", "DJ", "nightclub"], "venue_types": ["nightclub"] } }, { "slug": "quiet-dining", "name": "Quiet Enough to Talk", "family": "room", "question": "Can we actually hear each other?", "headline_template": "{city} Restaurants Quiet Enough to Talk In", "blurb": "Rooms built for conversation instead of volume.", "intro": "Noise is the single most common complaint in restaurant reviews and one of the least searchable attributes online. It matters for a first date, a business dinner, a hearing aid, and a Tuesday.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["quiet_conversation", "intimate"] } }, { "slug": "dog-friendly", "name": "Dog-Friendly Patios", "family": "room", "question": "Can the dog come?", "headline_template": "Dog-Friendly Patios in {city}", "blurb": "Patios that mean it, with water bowls and a place to tie off.", "intro": "Dog-friendly is either true or it is an awkward conversation at the host stand. It should be a structured fact, not a gamble.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["dog_friendly", "pet_friendly"] } }, { "slug": "tableside", "name": "Tableside Experiences", "family": "room", "question": "What happens at the table?", "headline_template": "Tableside Dining in {city}", "blurb": "Carts, carving, pours, grills, and anything finished in front of you.", "intro": "Tableside service is the kind of thing an influencer films once and nobody can find again. It should be a permanent local category.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["tableside_service", "tableside_grill", "cart_service"] } }, { "slug": "date-night", "name": "Date Night", "family": "occasion", "question": "Where do I take somebody I want to impress?", "headline_template": "{city} Restaurants Made for Date Night", "blurb": "Rooms that carry a conversation without trying too hard.", "intro": "Date night is a combination of noise level, lighting, table spacing, and whether the check lands at a comfortable number. No single field on any platform captures it.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["date_night", "romantic"] } }, { "slug": "family-table", "name": "The Whole Family Table", "family": "occasion", "question": "Will they be fine with a four-year-old?", "headline_template": "Family-Friendly Tables in {city}", "blurb": "Rooms that genuinely welcome kids instead of tolerating them.", "intro": "There is a real difference between a restaurant with a kids menu and a restaurant where nobody sighs when the stroller comes through the door.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["kid_friendly", "high_chairs"] } }, { "slug": "celebrations", "name": "Celebration Restaurants", "family": "occasion", "question": "Where do we do the birthday?", "headline_template": "Celebration Restaurants in {city}", "blurb": "Rooms that know what to do when the table is celebrating something.", "intro": "Anniversaries, graduations, promotions, and birthdays send people looking for a restaurant that will handle the moment instead of ignoring it.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["celebration", "special_occasion"] } }, { "slug": "private-dining", "name": "Private Dining and Buyouts", "family": "occasion", "question": "Can we take a room?", "headline_template": "Private Dining Rooms in {city}", "blurb": "Separate rooms, buyouts, and spaces built for a closed door.", "intro": "Private dining is a high-value search that almost always ends on a contact form. The restaurants that publish capacity and minimums get found first.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["private_dining", "buyout_available", "event_space"] } }, { "slug": "big-groups", "name": "Big Groups", "family": "occasion", "question": "Will they seat twelve of us?", "headline_template": "{city} Restaurants That Can Take a Big Group", "blurb": "Long tables, high tops, and rooms that do not flinch at a party of twelve.", "intro": "Group size is the constraint that decides most weeknight plans, and it is almost never published anywhere a machine can read it.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["group_friendly", "large_party"] } }, { "slug": "sustainable-kitchen", "name": "Sustainable Kitchens", "family": "values", "question": "What happens to what they do not serve?", "headline_template": "Sustainable Kitchens in {city}", "blurb": "Whole-animal butchery, composting, low waste, and honest sourcing.", "intro": "Sustainability in a kitchen is a set of specific practices, not a word on a menu. The kitchens actually doing it can usually name three of them.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["sustainable_kitchen", "zero_waste", "composting"] } }, { "slug": "locally-sourced", "name": "Locally Sourced", "family": "values", "question": "Who are they buying from?", "headline_template": "Locally Sourced Kitchens in {city}", "blurb": "Named farms, named boats, named producers.", "intro": "A kitchen that names its suppliers is making a claim it can be held to. That is worth structuring and worth measuring.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["locally_sourced", "farm_to_table"] } }, { "slug": "black-owned", "name": "Black-Owned", "family": "values", "question": "Who owns this?", "headline_template": "Black-Owned Restaurants and Bars in {city}", "blurb": "Ownership stated by the business itself.", "intro": "Ownership is a discovery category people search directly. It belongs here only when the business states it publicly, never when it is assumed.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["black_owned"] } }, { "slug": "women-owned", "name": "Women-Owned", "family": "values", "question": "Who owns this?", "headline_template": "Women-Owned Restaurants and Bars in {city}", "blurb": "Ownership stated by the business itself.", "intro": "Same rule as every ownership category here. It is listed when the business says so publicly, and left blank when it does not.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["women_owned"] } }, { "slug": "accessible", "name": "Easy to Get Into", "family": "values", "question": "Can everybody at the table get in the door?", "headline_template": "Accessible Restaurants in {city}", "blurb": "Step-free entry, usable restrooms, and parking that is not a project.", "intro": "Accessibility is a yes or no question for the person asking it, and almost nowhere online answers it with any confidence.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["accessible", "step_free_entry", "easy_parking"] } }, { "slug": "good-place-to-work", "name": "Great Places to Work", "family": "values", "question": "Would I want a job here?", "headline_template": "{city} Restaurants People Want to Work For", "blurb": "Benefits, tenure, training, and kitchens people stay at.", "intro": "Restaurants compete for staff as hard as they compete for tables, and nothing in local search helps them do it. A kitchen with real benefits and long tenure should be discoverable for that.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["staff_benefits", "known_employer", "training_program"] } }, { "slug": "chef-driven", "name": "Chef-Driven Kitchens", "family": "story", "question": "Is somebody actually cooking here?", "headline_template": "Chef-Driven Kitchens in {city}", "blurb": "Menus that change because a specific person changed them.", "intro": "A chef-driven kitchen has a point of view and a name attached to it. That is a durable reason to choose a restaurant and a fragile thing to find online.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["chef_driven", "tasting_menu", "changing_menu"] } }, { "slug": "historic", "name": "Historic Rooms", "family": "story", "question": "What was this building before?", "headline_template": "Historic Restaurants and Bars in {city}", "blurb": "Old buildings, long runs, and rooms with a previous life.", "intro": "A converted depot, a bungalow, a room that has been serving the same thing since the sixties. History is a reason people choose a table and a category nobody maintains.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["historic_building", "historic"] } }, { "slug": "neighborhood-institution", "name": "Neighborhood Institutions", "family": "story", "question": "What has been here forever?", "headline_template": "{city} Neighborhood Institutions", "blurb": "The places locals measure the neighborhood by.", "intro": "Every neighborhood has two or three restaurants that function as landmarks. Newcomers cannot find them and search engines rarely surface them.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["institution", "long_running"] } }, { "slug": "owner-story", "name": "Origin Stories", "family": "story", "question": "Who built this and why?", "headline_template": "The People Behind {city} Restaurants", "blurb": "Family businesses, second acts, and first restaurants.", "intro": "The story of how a restaurant got opened is often the most interesting thing about it and the least likely thing to appear anywhere structured.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["family_owned", "owner_operated", "founder_story"] } }, { "slug": "service-ritual", "name": "Service Rituals", "family": "story", "question": "What do they do that nobody else does?", "headline_template": "Service Rituals Worth Sitting Through in {city}", "blurb": "The bread that arrives unasked, the pour, the goodbye at the door.", "intro": "Rituals are what people describe when they tell somebody else about a restaurant. They are also completely absent from every structured listing on the internet.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["service_ritual", "signature_service"] } }, { "slug": "community-involvement", "name": "In the Community", "family": "story", "question": "What does this place do when it is not serving dinner?", "headline_template": "{city} Restaurants That Show Up for the Neighborhood", "blurb": "Fundraisers, feeding programs, school nights, and standing partnerships.", "intro": "Restaurants carry a lot of local weight that never shows up in a listing. Community work is a real reason to choose one and a real thing to be discoverable for.", "match": { "experience_attributes": ["community_partner", "gives_back"] } } ] }