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 and SafeGraph, a dataset of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to uncover which eateries have been getting a significant increase in attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at San Antonio 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. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.
Read on to see which spots have the momentum heading into back-to-school season.
Comfort Café
Open since May, this breakfast, brunch and lunch spot, which offers comfort food and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
Citywide, breakfast and brunch spots saw a median 2.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Comfort Café saw a massive 125% increase, maintaining an impressive five-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Comfort Café's review count increased by more than 170%.
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Snooze, an A.M. Eatery has seen a 29.6% increase in reviews, and La Panaderia and Chicago Bagel & Deli have seen 3.1 and 2% increases, respectively.
Located at 5616 Bandera Road, Comfort Café offers omelets, sweet cream pancakes, French toast, waffles and more for breakfast, as well as salads, pastas, hamburgers and hot, cold and grilled sub sandwiches for lunch. (Check out the full menu, which also features specialty coffee drinks and desserts, here.)
Comfort Café is open from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on Friday-Sunday. (It's closed on Monday-Thursday.)
Pharm Table
Downtown San Antonio's Pharm Table is also making waves. Open since 2015 at 106 Auditorium Circle, the popular New American and vegetarian cafe has seen a 4.5% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.9% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp. As for foot traffic, Pharm Table saw a 28% increase in visits over the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
Pharm Table makes its vegetarian, vegan and health-conscious meals with meat, such as soups and broths, salads, tacos, kale pizza, grain bowls and desserts, with local, organic products. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating improve from four stars to 4.5 stars. Brunch is served on weekends.
Pharm Table is open from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. daily. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., and on Saturdays and Fridays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Thursdays.
San Antonio Pig Stand
San Antonio Pig Stand is the city's buzziest traditional American spot by the numbers.
The popular traditional American spot, which opened at 1508 Broadway St. on 2006, increased its new review count by 7.3% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.8% for the Yelp category "American (Traditional)." It outperformed the previous month by gaining four times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
It's not the only trending outlier in the traditional American category: Quarry Hofbrau & Beer Garden has seen a 5.2% increase in reviews.
San Antonio Pig Stand offers breakfasts, like sausage, omelets, hashbrowns, grits and pancakes, as well as lunch and dinner options, such as chicken fried steak, grilled shrimp, fish and chips, liver and onions, hamburgers and sandwiches.
San Antonio Pig Stand is open from 7 a.m.–11 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and Sunday and 7 a.m.–2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
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.
