French cuisine and more: What's trending on Boston's food scene?

French cuisine and more: What's trending on Boston's food scene?Time Out Market - Boston | Photo: Annie Z./Yelp
Hoodline
Published on September 16, 2019

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 restaurants have been getting extra attention this month.

To find out who made the list, we first looked at Boston 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. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.

Read on to see which spots are sizzling hot, right now.

Time Out Market

Photo: time out market - boston/Yelp

Open since 2019, this well-established cocktail bar and New American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.

Citywide, New American spots saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Time Out Market saw a 30.8% increase, maintaining a mixed three-star rating throughout.

It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: Dorset Hall has seen a 1.5% increase in reviews.

Located at 401 Park Drive in Kenmore, Time Out Market offers seafood, pasta and sandwiches, as well as vegetarian options, desserts and more.

Time Out Market is open from 7:30 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m.–11 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday.

Frenchie Wine Bistro

Photo: sophie p./Yelp

Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about South End's Frenchie Wine Bistro, the wine bar and French spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.

While businesses categorized as "Wine Bars" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, Frenchie Wine Bistro bagged a 1.7% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, Frenchie Wine Bistro saw visits double in the past month.

There's more that's trending on Boston's wine bar scene: Jaho Coffee Roaster & Wine Bar has seen a 4.7% increase in reviews.

Open at 560 Tremont St. (between Clarendon Street and Union Park) since 2017, Frenchie Wine Bistro offers escargot toast, steak tartare and artisanal cheeses. 

Frenchie Wine Bistro is open from 11 a.m.–midnight on weekdays and 10 a.m.–midnight on weekends. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at 12 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Fridays.

Lobstah On A Roll

Photo: igor r./Yelp

Back Bay's Lobstah On A Roll is the city's buzziest seafood spot by the numbers.

The popular spot to score seafood, soups and sandwiches, which opened at 537A Columbus Ave. (between Claremont Park and Worcester Street) in 2017, increased its new review count by 6.8% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.4% for the Yelp category "Seafood."

It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: Temazcal Tequila Cantina has seen a 0.5% increase in reviews.

Lobstah On A Roll offers jumbo lump crab cakes, lobster rolls and clam chowder, as well as a tuna sandwich and lobster macaroni and cheese.

Lobstah On A Roll is open from 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 10:30 a.m.–9 p.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.