Unsure where San Diego'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 to deduce which local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at San Diego 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 extra hot this autumn.
Pure Project Balboa Park
Open since early August, this beer bar and garden is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Beer Bar" on Yelp.
Citywide, beer bars saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Pure Project Balboa Park saw a noteworthy 200% increase, with a slight upward trend from a 4.5-star rating a month ago to five stars today.
Located at 2865 Fifth Ave. in Park West, Pure Project Balboa Park's tap room offers a variety of the brand's brews, including two recent IPA releases, Murk of the Beast and Everything Permitted.
Pure Project Balboa Park is open from 3–9 p.m. on Monday, noon–9 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, noon–10 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday and noon–8 p.m. on Sunday.
Cocina 35
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the Otay Mesa's Cocina 35, the Mexican spot is a hot topic, according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp saw a median 1.8% increase in new reviews over the past month, Cocina 35 bagged a staggering 150% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to its current 4.5 stars.
Open at 9335 Airway Road since mid July, Cocina 35 specializes in chilaquiles (corn tortillas that are fried, cooked in salsa and sprinkled with cheese), and also offers huevos rancheros, tortas and more.
Cocina 35 is open from 8 a.m.–2 p.m. daily.
Submarina California Subs
Rancho Bernardo's Submarina California Subs is also making waves. Open since May at 17090 Bernardo Center Drive, Suite 126 (between Rancho Bernardo and Bajada roads), the sandwich spot has seen a 73.3% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.4% for all businesses tagged "Sandwiches" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Submarina California Subs's review count increased by more than 280%.
The shop offers such signature subs as the Santa Fe with oven-roasted chicken, avocado, jalapeno bacon and pepper jack cheese, and the Cali with turkey, bacon, avocado and provolone cheese.
Over the past month, it's maintained a sterling five-star rating among Yelpers.
Submarina California Subs is open from 10 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.–6 p.m. on Sunday.
Carl's Jr.
The San Ysidro's Carl's Jr. is the city's buzziest burger spot by the numbers.
This representative of a fast-food chain (more than 1,100 locations nationwide) opened at 805 W. San Ysidro Blvd. (between Rail Court and Sunset Lane) in late 2017. It has increased its new review count by 55.6% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.6% for the Yelp category "Burgers." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 5.0 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
In addition to charbroiled burgers, Carl's Jr. offers chicken filet sandwiches, salads, burritos, tacos and a variety of breakfast sandwiches.
Carl's Jr. is open 24 hours a day.
Black Market Brewing
Rolando's Black Market Brewing is currently on the upswing in the pizza category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Pizza" on Yelp saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, this brew pub, which offers pizza and more, increased its new reviews by 33.3% — and kept its rating consistent at 4.5 stars.
There's more abuzz in the world of San Diego pizza: Sisters Pizza has seen a 28.2% increase in reviews.
Open for business at 4800 Art St. (between El Cajon Boulevard and Catoctin Drive) since May, Black Market Brewing's bad-guy themed house pizzas include the meatball-bearing Capone and the buffalo chicken Dillinger.
Black Market Brewing is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–midnight 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.
