# Welcome to Opulist The founding blog post introducing Opulist, a directory of beautiful and aesthetically appealing restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and hotels searchable by vibes and design, created by founder Sara Bacon. - Canonical URL: https://www.opulist.app/articles/welcome-to-opulist - Markdown URL: https://www.opulist.app/articles/welcome-to-opulist.md - Published: Sat Apr 11 2026 18:03:22 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) - Updated: Sun Jun 28 2026 19:32:41 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) ## Categories - Travel Guides ## Tags - None listed ## Venues Mentioned - None listed ## Related Collections - None listed ## Article Welcome to Opulist Published: Sep 1 | Written By: Sara Bacon Welcome to Opulist! cue sparkle sound The site that gives you a simple way to search by vibes and design. Opulist was created for the people who prioritize aesthetics and ambiance for their travels and nights out, who want a simple way to find the places near them most aligned to their mood, and who get a thrill from discovering the most beautiful places to eat, drink, and stay that each city has to offer them. The idea for Opulist was born in founder Sara Bacon's brain after too many hours spent googling haphazard search phrases yielding messy results, and from the desperate desire for a site like this to exist in the world. She and her team have spent months researching and scouting locations by city, profiling each business, and creating the start of what will someday soon be an abundantly stocked database of the most beautiful locations this world has to offer. We're so excited to finally share Opulist publicly and can't wait for you to start using it. What is Opulist? Opulist is a directory of beautiful and aesthetically appealing restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and hotels within your city of choice. Based on design and "vibes," Opulist allows you to find the best of the best wherever you are or where you'd like to go. How are locations chosen? The factors taken into consideration when choosing locations for Opulist are as follows: - Does it fall under the category of restaurant, bar, coffee shop, or hotel? - Does it have overall good aesthetics: beautiful design, good lighting, stunning, unique or artistic features, a photogenic environment, and pretty surroundings or compelling views? - Does it have good vibes? Does it have a good energy, is it an inspiring place to work from, is it calming and peaceful or energizing and exciting, does it make you feel generally sparkly inside? - Compared to other places in that city, does it stand out? What won't Opulist have? If you're looking for food or menu reviews, long form location descriptions, or itemized travel guides, you won't find those here. We believe enough resources for these services already exist. How do you use it? Simply head to Opulist's main search page, type in the city you're looking for, and filter further by choosing your Category and Features of choice. How else can I use it? Traveling to a new city? Type in the city name and leave the categories and features off to browse all the best designed places it has to offer. Going out on a Friday and want to remember all the vibey bars your city has to offer? Choose your city, pick the "Bar" category, and scan all the pretty pics. Need an inspiring place to work wherever you are? Choose your city, pick the "Work Remote" feature (or "Coffee Shop" category), and choose your office for the day. What if I don't see the city I'm looking for? While Opulist is still in beta, we're working hard to add as many new cities and locations every week that we can. Head to our Submit page to let us know what you'd like to see. Does Opulist have an app? Not yet! For now we're web-based only, but to DIY an app for your iPhone, go to Opulist's search page on Safari, click Share, choose "Add to Home Screen," rename to "Opulist" and voila! What features are still to come? - A map view - Ability to "star" your favorite spots - User ratings and reviews for each location - Expanded Category and Filter options - International locations once the U.S. is more populated - An app that is equal parts easy and beautiful to use Like what you're seeing? We love words of affirmation around here, specifically in the form of shares on social media, newsletter subscribers, and telling your friends about Opulist! Follow our social channels on Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest and share our content as much as possible. Thank you for being here. We hope this site fills a fun and sparkly desire in your heart to chase after beauty wherever you go, and allows you to enjoy your days and this life just that much more. Stick around for all that's still to come. ## FAQ ### What is Opulist and how does it help find aesthetic restaurants and bars? Opulist is a curated directory of beautiful restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and hotels that lets you search by vibes and design rather than just location. Created by founder Sara Bacon, it's specifically designed for people who prioritize aesthetics and ambiance when choosing where to eat, drink, or stay, allowing you to filter by categories like 'Work Remote' or specific venue types to find the most photogenic and inspiring places in any city. ### How does Opulist choose which restaurants and bars to include in their directory? Opulist selects venues based on four key criteria: they must be a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, or hotel; have beautiful design with good lighting and photogenic environments; offer good vibes that make you 'feel sparkly inside'; and stand out compared to other places in that city. The platform focuses exclusively on aesthetics and atmosphere rather than food reviews or detailed travel guides, which founder Sara Bacon believes are already well-covered by other resources. ### Can I use Opulist to find aesthetic coffee shops to work from remotely? Yes, Opulist has a specific 'Work Remote' feature that helps you find inspiring coffee shops and cafes perfect for remote work. You can search by your city and either select the 'Coffee Shop' category or use the 'Work Remote' filter to discover aesthetically pleasing spaces with good energy for productivity. ### Is there an Opulist app for finding beautiful restaurants on my phone? Opulist doesn't have a native app yet, but you can create a DIY app on your iPhone by going to Opulist's search page in Safari, clicking Share, choosing 'Add to Home Screen,' and renaming it to 'Opulist.' The platform is currently web-based only while in beta, with plans for a full app that's 'equal parts easy and beautiful to use' in the future.