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 discover which restaurants have been in the spotlight this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at San Jose 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 worth exploring, right now.
Aqui Cal-Mex
Open since February, this Mexican restaurant is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp.
Citywide, Mexican spots saw a median 3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Aqui Cal-Mex saw a 22.9% increase, with a slight downward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to 3.5 stars today.
Located at 503 W. Capitol Expy in Fairgrounds, Aqui Cal-Mex offers chicken fajitas, Cuban pork enchiladas, Thai chicken burritos, goat cheese quesadillas and more.
Sushi Confidential
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown San Jose's Sushi Confidential, the well-established sushi bar and Japanese spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Japanese" on Yelp saw a median 2.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, Sushi Confidential bagged a 10.5% increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.4 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 31 N. Market St. since June 2016, Sushi Confidential offers poke tacos, honey-siracha salmon, ramen bowls and signature sushi rolls, including gluten-free options.
Gabi's Petite Cafe
Blossom Valley's Gabi's Petite Cafe is also making waves. Open since 2014 at 5685 Cottle Road, the popular creperie, coffee, tea and breakfast spot has seen an 8.8% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 3.1% for all businesses tagged "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Gabi's Petite Cafe's review count increased by more than 730%.
Gabi's Petite Cafe offers both sweet and savory crepes, breakfast croissant sandwiches, smoothies, Vietnamese coffee and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing four-star rating among Yelpers.
Teaspoon
North Valley's Teaspoon is the city's buzziest bubble tea spot by the numbers.
The bubble tea and shaved snow spot, which opened at 1698 Hostetter Road in January, increased its new review count by 18.2% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 3.9% for the Yelp category "Bubble Tea." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.0 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
It's not the only trending outlier in the bubble tea category: Oh My Boba has seen a 25% increase in reviews.
Teaspoon offers milk tea, roasted tea crema, Lychee black tea and more. There's also a variety of shaved snow desserts on offer in flavors like lemon tart, nutty taro and afternoon tea.
Ozumo
Winchester North's well-established Ozumo is currently on the upswing in the bar category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp saw a median 2.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, this izakaya, sushi restaurant and bar increased its new reviews by 10.6%—and kept its rating consistent at four stars. Review counts increased by more than 180% on a month-to-month basis.
There's more abuzz in the world of San Jose bars: Miniboss has seen a 9.6% increase in reviews.
Open for business at 355 Santana Row, Suite 1010 since May 2018, the business offers sushi, tempura and more paired with sake, Japanese whiskey and eclectic cocktails like its vodka, lychee and passionfruit purée.
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.
