As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending right this minute?
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 deduce which restaurants have been on the tips of diners' tongues this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at New Orleans 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 riding a trend, right now.
Faubourg Bistro
Open since June, this 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 Faubourg Bistro saw a 76.9% increase, maintaining a superior 4.5-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: The Delachaise has seen a 0.5% increase in reviews.
Located at 7537 Maple St. in East Carollton, Faubourg Bistro offers appetizers like the PBB&J wings with Thai-style peanut sauce, crumbled bacon and spiced grape jelly sauce. You'll also see burgers, chicken, roast beef and fried catfish sandwiches, as well as a pizza mac and cheese skillet with creamy mac and cheese, pizza sauce, melted mozzarella, pepperoni and garlic bread. (Click here to view the menu.)
Faubourg Bistro is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 11 a.m.–midnight on Friday and Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.)
Fat Boy Pantry
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Lower Garden District's Fat Boy Pantry, the well-established spot to score ice cream and frozen yogurt, sandwiches and coffee and tea is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Sandwiches" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, Fat Boy Pantry bagged a 2.2% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a strong four-star rating. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, visits to Fat Boy Pantry increased by more than 50% in the past month.
Open at 1302 Magazine St. since 2016, Fat Boy Pantry features a menu that includes a fried lobster po'boy sandwich, the U'Z in Philly sandwich and the wild boar sloppy Joe with espresso barbecue sauce. For drinks, look for coffee, lattes, espresso and almond milk, plus a bevy of dessert options like a homemade ice cream sandwich, ice cream floats and the Magazine Street Sundae with two scoops and two toppings.
Fat Boy Pantry is open from 8 a.m.–8 p.m. daily. According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., and people visit Fat Boy Pantry most on Fridays and Saturdays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Sundays.
Bearcat Cafe
Freret's Bearcat Cafe is also making waves. Open since 2017 at 2521 Jena St., the popular breakfast and brunch and vegan spot, which offers coffee and tea and more, has seen a 6% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.5% for all businesses tagged "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
At the Bearcat Cafe, diners can choose from the Good Cat section of the menu, which has lighter fare, or the Bad Cat part that includes more hearty dishes. At breakfast, try the vegan ranchero with black beans, house salsa, ranchero sauce, avocado, cashew crema and a corn tortilla, off the Good Cat. For lunch, consider the Bad Cat's chicken farro with oyster mushrooms, a carrot stack and Nola barbecue sauce.
Over the past month, it's maintained a solid 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Bearcat Cafe is open from 7 a.m.–4 p.m. on Tuesday-Sunday. (It's closed on Monday.)
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.
