Unsure where Long Beach's insiders are 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 local businesses have been on the tips of diners' tongues this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Long Beach 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 have the momentum heading into back-to-school season.
Little Vice
Open since July 2019, this Mexican restaurant and bar is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp.
Citywide, Mexican spots saw a median 1.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Little Vice saw a considerable 957.1% increase, with a slight downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Little Vice's review count increased by more than 740%.
Located at 3317 E. Seventh St. in Long Beach, Little Vice offers ceviche, salsa, grilled chicken taco, chorizo and cauliflower burrito and shrimp quesadilla.
Little Vice is open from noon–10 p.m. daily.
The Crab Shack
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Long Beach's The Crab Shack, the Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp saw a median 1% increase in new reviews over the past month, The Crab Shack bagged a 75% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to its current four stars. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.7 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Long Beach's seafood scene: Baja Cali Fish & Tacos has seen a 11.9% increase in reviews, and Phil Trani's has seen a 1.8% bump.
Open at 601 E. Broadway since May 2019, The Crab Shack features fried oysters with fries, clam chowder, crab cake and seafood specialties with choice of seafood — including snow crab legs, lobster tail and crawfish — and seasoning and spice level.
The Crab Shack is open from 5 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 5 p.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, noon–11 p.m. on Saturday and noon–10 p.m. on Sunday.
Portuguese Bend Distillery
Long Beach's Portuguese Bend Distillery is also making waves. Open since June 2019 at 300 The Promenade North, the distillery, cocktail bar and New American spot has seen an 86.1% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.4% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
Portuguese Bend Distillery serves up pastrami chili cheese fries, Nashville hot chicken sandwich, short rib pot roast and vegan shepherd's pie. See what else is on the menu. Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Portuguese Bend Distillery is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Lou & Mike’s
Long Beach's Lou & Mike’s is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The eatery, which has been open at 3500 Los Coyotes Diagonal since February 2019, increased its new review count by 11.7% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.6% for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch."
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Vibes Beach Cafe has seen a 11.1% increase in reviews.
The Lou & Mike’s menu features chicken fried steak and eggs, crab and shrimp omelet, chilaquiles and pancakes. View the menu here.
Lou & Mike’s is open from 7 a.m.–2:30 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday and 7 a.m.–8:30 p.m. on Thursday-Sunday.
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.
