Want the inside word on Boston's most talked-about local spots?
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 restaurants have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Boston 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 getting plenty of attention, right now.
Orfano
Open since 2019, this cocktail bar and Italian spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Italian" on Yelp.
Citywide, Italian spots saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Orfano saw a substantial 166.7% increase, maintaining a strong 4.5-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Italian category: La Famiglia Spagnuolo's has seen a 5.1% increase in reviews, and Bin 26 Enoteca has seen a 1.8% bump.
Located at 1391 Boylston St. (between Park Drive and Kilmarnock Street) in Kenmore, Orfano offers warm hand-pulled mozzarella, fusilli alla vodka, lobster bucatini and more.
Orfano is open from 5 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 5 p.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Time Out Market
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Kenmore's Time Out Market - Boston, the popular cocktail bar and New American spot, which offers desserts and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, Time Out Market - Boston bagged a 13.5% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a mixed three-star rating.
Open at 401 Park Drive (between Medfield Street) since 2019, Time Out Market - Boston offers a variety of food choices including Craigie Burger, George Howell Coffee, Gelato & Chill and more.
Time Out Market - Boston is open from 7:30 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m.–11 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday.
Temazcal Tequila Cantina
South Boston's Temazcal Tequila Cantina is also making waves. Open since 2011 at 250 Northern Ave. (between Boston Fish Pier and Trilling Way), the popular cocktail bar and Mexican spot, which offers seafood and more, has seen a 1.2% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses tagged "Seafood" on Yelp — but visits to Temazcal Tequila Cantina increased by more than 50% over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
Temazcal Tequila Cantina offers scallop rollitos, carne empanadas, grilled chicken tacos and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed three-star rating among Yelpers.
Temazcal Tequila Cantina is open from 11 a.m.–2 a.m. daily. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Saturdays and Fridays, so go on Thursdays if you want 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.
