As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending right now?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to analyze which restaurants have been getting extra attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Tacoma 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.
Tibbitts @ Fern Hill
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Tibbitts @ Fern Hill, the popular New American and breakfast and brunch spot 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 2.6 percent over the past month, Tibbitts @ Fern Hill bagged a 14 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining an impressive five-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining four times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open since early 2017 at 8237 S. Park Ave., Tibbitts @ Fern Hill offers both breakfast and lunch fare. Look for notable menu options like Dungeness crab salad-stuffed avocados with celery, onions, sweet gherkins and greens tossed in a lemon, garlic and Dijon dressing and the Meat and Gravy Bomb, which is hash brown casserole, scrambled eggs, greens, pepper jack cheese and candied bacon in a toasted sourdough bread bowl. Check out the full menu here.
Ming Palace
South End's Ming Palace is also making waves. Open since January 2017 at 8736 S. Hosmer St., the dim sum spot, which offers seafood and more, has seen an 11.4 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.3 percent for all businesses tagged "seafood" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis review counts increased by more than 300 percent.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Tacoma's seafood category: The Fish Peddler Restaurant and Market has seen a 6.1 percent increase in reviews.
Ming Palace offers a variety of dim sum options, bao sandwiches, dumplings and other traditional Chinese fare. Seafood dishes include honey walnut prawns, sweet and sour fish fillet and squid with broccoli. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Waffle Stop
North End's Waffle Stop is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.
The daytime eatery known for its breakfasts debuted at 2710 N. Proctor St. early this year. It increased its review count by 8.2 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 2.4 percent for the Yelp category "American (New)."
Waffle Stop offers sweet and savory waffles as well as egg-centric dishes, salads and other snacks. Check out the menu here for a complete list of offerings.
