As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending today?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to deduce which eateries have been in the limelight this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Portland 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.
Bamboo House
Open since April, this Vietnamese and Thai spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Thai" on Yelp.
Citywide, Thai spots saw a median 1.8% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Bamboo House saw a 35.9% increase, with a slight upward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Bamboo House's review count increased by more than 140%.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Thai category: Eem has seen a 21.2% increase in reviews.
Located at 4005 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. in Sunnyside, Bamboo House offers Asian fusion fare, including garlic tofu eggplant rice, seafood stir fry and vermicelli noodle bowls. There are also a variety of house cocktails on offer.
Bamboo House is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–midnight on Thursday-Saturday.
Tekka Bar: Handroll & Sake
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown Portland's Tekka Bar: Handroll & Sake, the sushi bar, bar and Japanese spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp saw a median 2.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, Tekka Bar: Handroll & Sake bagged a 26% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a healthy four-star rating.
There's more that's trending on Portland's bar scene: The Star has seen a 24.4% increase in reviews, and Revolution Hall Rooftop Bar and TILT have seen 15.4 and 12.7% increases, respectively.
Open at 1237 S.W. Washington St. since May 2019, Tekka Bar: Handroll & Sake offers scallop, tuna and salmon handrolls, as well as small bites like edamame, miso soup and onigiri rice balls. Nitro matcha green tea, Hitachino white ale and Kirin Ichiban rice lager are also on tap.
Tekka Bar: Handroll & Sake is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily.
Fried Egg I'm In Love
Sunnyside's Fried Egg I'm In Love is also making waves. Open since January 2019 at 3549 S.E. Hawthorne, the popular breakfast and brunch spot, which offers sandwiches and more, has seen a 17% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.6% for all businesses tagged "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
Fried Egg I'm In Love offers a variety of fried egg breakfast sandwiches on toasted sourdough bread. Burritos and bowls are also available, as well as cold brew, kombucha and mimosas. Over the past month, it's maintained a healthy 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Fried Egg I'm In Love is open from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. daily.
Grassa
Northwest's Grassa is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.
The well-established New American and Italian spot, which opened at 1506 N.W. 23rd Ave. on April 2016, increased its new review count by 4.5% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.3% for the Yelp category "American (New)."
Grassa offers handmade pasta, serving pork belly mac and cheese, squid ink tonnarelli and sweet corn ravioli. The eatery also features grilled mustard greens, tempura green beans and pickled blueberries.
Grassa is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily.
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.
