Savor Scout › Cities › California › Bakersfield, CA
Where to eat in Bakersfield, CA
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A few places to eat in Bakersfield
- ohannas Ice Cream and Candies Candy Store · 0.1 miles
1412 17th St, Bakersfield - My Spot Downtown Grill · 0.1 miles
1412 17th St Ste F, Bakersfield - Horse in the Alley Steakhouse · 0.1 miles
1421 17th Pl, Bakersfield - Uricchio's Trattoria Italian · 0.1 miles
1400 17th St, Bakersfield - El Cuscatleco Restaurant Salvadoran · 0.1 miles
1525 18th St, Bakersfield
The closest few by distance from central Bakersfield, not a ranking — local places listed ahead of chains. Listings from Overture Maps open data (September 2026); hours and openings change, so check before you go. Want one picked for what you're craving instead? Ask Savor Scout in Bakersfield.
The food scene in Bakersfield
Open listings put 329 places to eat within 2 miles of central Bakersfield, 108 within a ten-minute walk (half a mile). The most common: Mexican (55), American (15) and burgers (15). 36 are fast-food counters; the rest are sit-down restaurants, cafés, bakeries and takeaway spots.
What stands out in Bakersfield is Salvadoran, Latin American and health food — types that are listed here at 4 to 6 times the national rate.
By type of food — tap one for what to order and how to spot a good one:
Mexican 55 American 15 Burgers 15 Bakery 15 Coffee 13 Pizza 10 Sandwiches 9 Diner 8 Barbecue 8 Steakhouse 7
The food in Bakersfield
Bakersfield has plenty of places to eat, and that is the problem. A ranked list of thirty gets you no closer to a decision than you were before you opened it.
Savor Scout picks one restaurant in Bakersfield and tells you why it picked it. Say what you're craving and it reads menus and reviews for that specific dish, rather than sorting places by overall star rating. Free, runs in the browser, and one search needs no account.
Eating out in Bakersfield
Bakersfield has a population of about 363,630. Enough choice to argue about for twenty minutes, which is usually what happens. Savor Scout searches up to 35 miles around Bakersfield, so places just outside the city are still on the table when they are worth the drive.
Bakersfield is a little thinner on options than average
Bakersfield sits in Kern County, where the Census counts 471 full-service restaurants, 705 limited-service places, 152 cafés and snack bars and 54 bars — 1,382 places to eat or drink in all. Bakersfield makes up about 40% of the county's population.
That is 15.2 per 10,000 residents, a little under the national median of 19.4. Fewer options than average, which makes picking the right one matter more. Counter service clearly outnumbers sit-down — more a drive-through town than a linger-over-dinner one.
Those county figures also cover Delano, all within Savor Scout's search radius from Bakersfield.
County-level counts from the US Census (2022) — how we got these numbers.
What are you craving in Bakersfield?
- tacos in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- pizza in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- sushi in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- burgers in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- ramen in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- wings in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- chinese food in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- italian food in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- thai food in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- mexican food in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- barbecue in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- seafood in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- brunch in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- indian food in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- sandwiches in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
- noodles in Bakersfield — what separates a good one from an average one
Near Bakersfield
- Delano, CA — about 30 miles away
- Porterville, CA — about 48 miles away
- Tulare, CA — about 60 miles away
- Visalia, CA — about 68 miles away
- Lancaster, CA — about 68 miles away
- Santa Clarita, CA — about 73 miles away
Campuses in and near Bakersfield
Each has its own page: what is within walking distance and a few places to start with.
How this differs from Google Maps and Yelp
Maps and Yelp are directories: they rank everything nearby and leave the deciding to you. Savor Scout makes the call and shows its reasoning — the match score, what it beat, and the evidence behind the pick. The underlying place data comes from the same public sources, so the difference is the selection, not the data.
Guides
- What to eat when… — 30 guides by situation, from a first date to a hangover to a group of twelve.
- Food guides — what separates a good taco, ramen or pizza from an average one.
- Eating out with a restriction — allergies, halal, kosher, vegan and more.
- Near a campus? — food around 637 US universities.