As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, 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 uncover which local businesses have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Philadelphia 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 getting plenty of attention this summer.
Oh Brother Philly
Open since spring 2018, this spot to score cheesesteaks, burgers and sandwiches is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Cheesesteaks" on Yelp.
Citywide, cheesesteak spots saw a median 1.8 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Oh Brother Philly saw a 7.4 percent increase, maintaining a sound 4.5-star rating throughout.
Located at 206 Market St. in Old City, Oh Brother Philly offers items like buttermilk chicken tenders, smoked brisket sandwiches and a Southwestern-style vegan burgers.
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Washington Square's Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, the popular brew pub and traditional American spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp saw a median 2 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant bagged a 13.7 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a healthy four-star rating.
Open at 1150 Market St. since fall 2018, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant offers main dishes Moroccan-style salmon, baked crab cake sandwiches and rib-eye steaks.
Pizzeria Beddia
Fishtown's Pizzeria Beddia is also making waves. Open since 2019 at 1313 N. Lee St., the popular bar, which offers pizza and more, has seen an 11.4 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.5 percent for all businesses tagged "Bars" on Yelp.
Pizzeria Beddia offers specialty 16-inch pizzas. Look for the pie topped with dandelion greens, roasted red peppers, cream and garlic. There's also beer, wine and cocktails. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down from 4.5 stars to four stars.
Middle Child
Washington Square's Middle Child is the city's most buzzworthy breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The breakfast and brunch spot, which offers sandwiches and coffee and tea and opened at 248 S. 11th St. since 2017, increased its new review count by 5.4 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.5 percent for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.7 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Middle Child offers breakfast bites like jam toast with ricotta, along with specialty sandwiches like The Surfer loaded with turkey, cheese, blueberry masala jam, arugula and mayo.
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.
