Food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending at this very moment?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to discover which restaurants have been getting a significant uptick in attention 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 increase their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance.
Read on to see which spots are riding a trend this winter.
Tremonte Restaurant & Bar North End
Open since July, this Italian wine bar is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Wine Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, such establishments saw review counts increase by a median of 1.8 percent over the past month, but TreMonte Restaurant & Bar North End saw a 32.3 percent increase, maintaining a sterling five-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the wine bar category: City Winery has seen an 8.8 percent increase in reviews.
Located at 76 Salem St. (between Hull and Stillman streets) in North End, TreMonte Restaurant & Bar North End offers Northern Italian cuisine such as lobster ravioli, chicken and eggplant parmigiana, and entrees such as filet mignon and pork medallions coated in Dijon and rosemary with a roasted pepper sauce.
See the full menu here.
Whaling in Oklahoma
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about South End's Whaling in Oklahoma, the bar and Japanese joint with a New American twist is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp increased their review count by a median of 2 percent over the past month, Whaling in Oklahoma bagged a 33.3 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating.
There's more that's trending on Boston's bar scene: Tuscan Kitchen has seen a 12.8 percent increase in reviews, and Explorateur and Coogan's have seen 10.6 and 5.6 percent increases, respectively.
Open at 647 Tremont St. (between Brookline and Canton streets) since August, Whaling in Oklahoma offers sashimi of yellowfin tuna, rice with fried chicken and egg, fried winter squash tempura and grilled fare such as Atlantic halibut. (You can view the entire menu, including a vast wine and drink list, here).
Lobstah On A Roll
Back Bay's Lobstah On A Roll is the city's buzziest seafood spot by the numbers.
The spot to score seafood, sandwiches and soup, which opened at 537A Columbus Ave. (between Claremont Park and Worcester Street) last November, increased its review count by 14.8 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 1.9 percent for the Yelp category "Seafood."
Lobstah On A Roll offers, no surprise, lobster rolls in different variations. There is the Big Papi, which is a roll built for four people, and even The Quad, a four-foot option. Not a fan of lobster? No problem, as there are also plenty of other items on the menu.
