Wondering where Boston's in-the-know crowd is eating and drinking? It's easy to spot lines out the door, but some underlying trends are harder to see.
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to uncover 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 have the momentum heading into the end of the year.
Backyard Betty's
Open since May, this New American bar and grill is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw review counts increase by a median of 2.1 percent over the past month, but Backyard Betty's saw a 30.6 percent increase, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to four stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis review counts increased by more than 140 percent.
Located at 170 W. Broadway (between B Street and Gardner Place) in South Boston, Backyard Betty's offers salads, barbecue entrees, wood-grilled flatbread sandwiches and more. The menu is accompanied by a vast beer, wine and cocktail list.
Wahlburgers
Kenmore's Wahlburgers is also making waves. Open since 2015 at 132 Brookline Ave., the popular burger joint has seen a 7.5 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.5 percent for all businesses tagged "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
The burger chain backed by actor Mark Wahlberg and his family offers house and specialty burgers, sandwiches, salads and a long list of sides. Customers can wash it down with frappes and floats and top the meal off with ice cream. Over the past month, the eatery has maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Eventide – Fenway
Kenmore's Eventide - Fenway is the city's buzziest seafood spot by the numbers.
The restaurant, which opened at 1321 Boylston St. last year, increased its review count by 7.2 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 2.1 percent for the Yelp category "seafood."
The eatery is "a counter-style reimagining" of Portland's Eventide Oyster and features specials like Nantucket Bay scallop crudo and charred salmon belly, along with oysters on the half shell. It also serves beer and wine.
