Want the inside scoop on Boston's buzziest local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to analyze which eateries have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Boston businesses on Yelp by category and counted how many reviews each received. Rather than compare them based on number of reviews alone, we calculated a percentage increase in reviews over the past month, and tracked businesses that consistently increased their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance.
Read on to see which spots are closing the year out strong.
Cheeky Monkey Brewing
Open since August 2017, this brewpub is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
Citywide, traditional American spots saw review counts increase by a median of 2.3 percent over the past month, but Cheeky Monkey Brewing saw a 13.6 percent increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout.
Located at 3 Lansdowne St. (between Ipswich Street and Brookline Avenue) in Kenmore, Cheeky Monkey Brewing offers creative burgers, flatbreads and sandwiches plus its own house beer.
Fin Point
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown Boston's Fin Point, the restaurant, which is open from morning to night, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "breakfast & brunch" on Yelp increased their review counts by a median of 2 percent over the past month, Fin Point bagged a 6 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a solid 4.5-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.2 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Located in the Hilton Boston Downtown at 89 Broad St., Fin Point offers elevated Benedicts, avocado toast and steak and eggs for breakfast, as well as Bloody Marys and mimosas.
Carmelina's
Finally, North End's Carmelina's is the city's buzziest Italian spot by the numbers.
The popular Italian eatery, which moved to its current location at 307 Hanover St. (between Lathrop Place and Prince Street) in 2017, increased its review count by 8.6 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 2.6 percent for the Yelp category "Italian."
Carmelina's offers traditional Sicilian comfort food, from the roasted catch of the day to penne Gorgonzola.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Italian category: La Famiglia Spagnuolo's has seen a 6.9 percent increase in reviews, and Aria Trattoria has seen an 8.1 percent bump.
