Wondering where San Diego'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 analyze which eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at San Diego businesses on Yelp by category and counted how many reviews each received. Rather than compare them based on the 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 worth exploring right now.
Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill
Open since February 2019, this seafood spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp.
Citywide, seafood spots saw a median 1.7 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill saw an 87.5 percent increase, maintaining a healthy 4.5-star rating throughout.
Located at 5083 Santa Monica Ave., Suite 1B (between Bacon and Abbott streets) in Ocean Beach, Blue Water Seafood Market & Grill offers seasonal seafood and locally-caught fish. Diners can select their grilled fish of choice and an accompanying marinade.
WhipHand
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about East Village's WhipHand, the New American spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1.5 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, WhipHand bagged a 19 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a convincing 4.5-star rating.
Open at 935 J St. (between Tenth and Ninth avenues) since December 2018, WhipHand offers lemon pepper chicken wings, zucchini truffle fries, rosemary French onion soup, a smoked cheddar burger, a lobster roll and cheesecake mojito, among many other selections.
Kimae Ramen
La Jolla's Kimae Ramen is also making waves. Open since October 2018 at 8657 Villa La Jolla Drive, Suite 103 (at Via Mallorca), the Asian fusion spot, which offers ramen and more, has seen a 13.1 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.6 percent for all businesses tagged "Asian Fusion" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Kimae Ramen's review count increased by more than 220 percent.
Kimae Ramen offers fried gyoza, deep fried squid legs, bao buns with choice of meat, sushi rolls, ramen and rice bowls. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Fernside
South Park's Fernside is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The traditional American spot and cocktail bar, which opened at 1946 Fern St. (between Fir and Grape streets) in September 2018, increased its new review count by 14.1 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.7 percent for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.4 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Fernside offers an extensive menu, including corned beef hash, biscuits and gravy, an all-day breakfast sandwich, cornbread French toast, shrimp and grits and croque monsieur.
San Idli
Last but not least, Miramar's San Idli is currently on the upswing in the vegetarian category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Vegetarian" on Yelp saw a median 1.6 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, this Indian vegetarian and vegan spot increased its review count by 14.1 percent—and kept its rating consistent at four stars.
Open for business at 9550 Black Mountain Road, Suite G (between Miramar and Activity roads) since September 2018, the restaurant features flavorful items such as vada, chapati, onion uthappam, dosas, vegetable biryani, rices and chutneys.
This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
