Unsure where Virginia 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 and SafeGraph, a data set of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to analyze which eateries have been getting a noteworthy uptick in attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Virginia 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. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.
Read on to see which spots are extra cool, right now.
Boil Bay
Open since this year, this Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood, chicken wings and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp.
Citywide, seafood spots saw a median 2.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Boil Bay saw a 51.6% increase, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to four stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Boil Bay's review count increased by more than 230%.
It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: Harpoon Larry's Oyster Bar has seen a 0.5% increase in reviews, and Bubba's Seafood Restaurant & Crabhouse and Aberdeen Barn Steakhouse have seen 2% and 1.3% increases, respectively.
Located at 3244 Holland Road, Boil Bay offers catfish sliders, lobster hoagie rolls and more.
Boil Bay is open from 12:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m. daily.
First Watch
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about First Watch, the cafe and breakfast and brunch and traditional American spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 2.5% increase in new reviews over the past month, First Watch bagged a 20.4% increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating.
There's more that's trending on Virginia Beach's breakfast and brunch scene: Becca Restaurant & Garden has seen an 11.3% increase in reviews.
Open at 2168 General Booth Blvd., First Watch offers avocado toast, a BLT Benedict and more on the menu.
First Watch is open from 7 a.m.–2:30 p.m. daily.
1608 Crafthouse
Thoroughgood's 1608 Crafthouse is also making waves. Open at 1608 Pleasure House Road, the well-established pub and New American and breakfast and brunch spot has seen a 2.1% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp — but visits to 1608 Crafthouse increased by more than 50% over the same timeframe, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Virginia Beach's New American category: The Bee and the Biscuit has seen a 1.8% increase in reviews, and Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurants has seen an 8.3% bump.
1608 Crafthouse offers burgers, oysters, scallops and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a healthy 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
1608 Crafthouse is open from 3 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 3 p.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, noon–11 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.–7 p.m. on Sunday.
According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., and on Saturdays and Tuesdays, with a slowdown on Sundays.
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.
