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 eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Sacramento 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 establishments are extra cool this autumn.
Fixins Soul Kitchen
Open since summer 2019, this popular bar and restaurant, which serves breakfast, brunch and other soul foods, is trending, in comparison to other businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
Citywide, breakfast and brunch outlets saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Fixins Soul Kitchen saw an 81.6% increase, maintaining a sound 4.5-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Tower Cafe has seen a 0.7% increase in reviews.
Located at 3428 Third Ave. in North Oak Park, Fixins Soul Kitchen offers traditional soul food made from scratch. Menu items include cornmeal-crusted fried catfish, fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, chicken wings, pimento cheese dip and oxtails with sweet garlic gravy.
Fixins Soul Kitchen is open from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.
The Morning Fork
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Midtown's The Morning Fork, the New American breakfast and brunch eatery is a hot topic, according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1% increase in new reviews over the past month, The Morning Fork bagged a 23.8% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a superior 4.5-star rating.
There's even more trending in Sacramento's New American cuisine scene: Tiger has seen a 12.1% increase in reviews, while SacTown Sports Bar & Grill and Yard House have seen 4.5 and 6.2% increases, respectively.
Open at 1111 21st St., The Morning Fork features a menu brimming with classic dishes like buttermilk pancakes, corned beef hash, eggs Benedict and pulled pork sandwiches.
The Morning Fork is open from 7:30 a.m.–2 p.m. daily.
Yue Huang
Yue Huang is also making waves. Open at 3860 Truxel Road, the well-established Cantonese bistro, which is known for its seafood and dim sum, has seen a 2.4% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.1% for all businesses tagged "Seafood" on Yelp. As for foot traffic, Yue Huang saw visits more than double over the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Sacramento's seafood category: Allora has seen a 6% increase in reviews, and Rockin Crawfish and Crawdads On The River have seen 5.6 and 1.9% increases, respectively.
According to its Yelp page, Yue Huang specializes in plates of freshly caught seafood, including honey walnut shrimp, steamed oysters and king crab. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Yue Huang is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m.–10 p.m. on weekends. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays, so go on Tuesdays if you'd prefer to avoid the rush.
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.
