Trend alert: What's heating up New Orleans' food scene this month

Trend alert: What's heating up New Orleans' food scene this monthPhoto: Mambo's/Yelp
Hoodline
Published on September 12, 2019

Wondering where New Orleans' 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 most discussed this month.

To find out who made the list, we 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.

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

Mambo's

Photo: mambo's/Yelp

With a new rooftop bar that opened earlier this year, this Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood, soul food and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Cajun/Creole" on Yelp.

Citywide, Cajun/Creole spots saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Mambo's saw a massive 119.4% increase, maintaining a superior 4.5-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Mambo's's review count increased by more than 220%.

It's not the only trending outlier in the Cajun/Creole category: Melba's has seen a 0.9% increase in reviews, and Gris-Gris and We Dat's Chicken and Shrimp have seen 5.6% and 5.4% increases, respectively.

Located at 411 Bourbon St. in the French Quarter, Mambo's offers a large menu that features fresh oysters and seafood, salads, po'boys and pastas, as well as main entrees like blackened ribeye steak, barbecue shrimp and grits, grilled redfish and crawfish étouffée.

Mambo's is open from 11 a.m.–1 a.m. on Monday-Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast

Photo: peter n./Yelp

Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the Central Business District's Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast, the well-established breakfast and brunch spot, which offers comfort food and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.

While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast bagged a 10.7% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a healthy four-star rating.

There's more that's trending on New Orleans' breakfast and brunch scene: Another Broken Egg Cafe has seen a 3.7% increase in reviews.

Open at 920 Poydras St. since 2018, Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast offers Southern breakfast items, such as chicken and waffles, omelets, shrimp and grits and fresh biscuits, all day long, as well as lunches like gumbo, fried chicken, po'boys, salads and more.

Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast is open 24/7 every day.

Felipe's Mexican Taqueria

Photo: felipe's mexican taqueria/Yelp

The French Quarter's Felipe's Mexican Taqueria is also making waves. Open since 2008 at 301 N. Peters St., the well-established Mexican restaurant and bar has seen a 1.7% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.8% for all businesses tagged "Bars" on Yelp.

Felipe's Mexican Taqueria offers classic Mexican fare, including burritos, chimichangas, traditional and Baja-style tacos, nachos, tamales and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a four-star rating among Yelpers.

Felipe's Mexican Taqueria is open from 11 a.m.–midnight 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.