Beli: BU Students Take a Bite

Beli, a restaurant-focused social media app, allows the Boston University community to connect with each other through their stomachs

By Yasmine Chang

Graphic by Melissa Lemieux

Boston University sits in the heart of one of the most major cities in the United States. Its history, along with its diverse neighborhoods, creates a culture as unique as the people who live in it. Recently, Beli — a social media app where users can rank restaurants they’ve been to — has become a popular part of that culture, especially among BU students.

After Beli first rolled out its university leaderboard feature, students from BU were quick to join the ranks. The leaderboard ranking is based on the number of places on a user’s “Been List.”

Doris Chang (@dorischang), a recent BU graduate, is currently ranked at #14 on the BU leaderboard with 193 Boston food/drink establishments under her belt. She considers Beli to be “a good social app for food,” and uses it to keep up with her friends’ dining activities.

Chang attributes the friendships she made at BU to the common joy of sharing food with people. “I don’t use any other resource to keep track of where I eat, and food is just a big part of my culture… [It’s] how I’ve made friends along the way in BU… It’s just a nice way to keep track of things and just to see where my other friends wanna go,” Chang said.

In addition to being able to see restaurants that friends have tried, users are able to see restaurants on their friends’ “Want to Try” lists.

Senior Melody Lin (@melodee) is currently ranked at #44 with 139 Boston food/drink establishments. Lin uses her friends’ reviews and “Want to Try” restaurants for dining inspiration. 

“I think for me, food has always been pretty important to me and I love exploring,” said Lin. “I think those two go hand in hand — I just love exploring the food scene of wherever I am and trying new spots. I think Beli is just the perfect platform for that. Whether that’s just logging my own exploration or seeing what my friends are eating… It’s a really nice way to document.”

In comparison with other social media apps, Lin believes Beli is more “intentional.”

“I feel like it’s a little different from other social media apps, in the sense that if I’m going on the app, I go with the goal of logging my food and the restaurants I’m hitting or to find a recommendation,” Lin said. “I’m not really going on there for hours on end with no intention, but I have a goal in mind.”

Chang and Lin both agree that Boston’s food scene still has plenty left to discover. Even with so many restaurants already under their review, both of their current favorites remain close to campus: Chang’s top Boston spot is the Thai restaurant Mahaniyom in Brookline, while Lin’s go-to is the Brazilian bakery and café, Bōm Dough in Cambridge.