Curious where Long Beach's in-the-know crowd is 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 uncover which local businesses have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Long 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.
Read on to see which spots are getting plenty of attention, right now.
Arize Bistro
Open since September, this diner and breakfast and brunch and Asian fusion spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
Citywide, breakfast and brunch spots saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Arize Bistro saw a formidable 366.7% increase, with a slight upward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today.
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Plant Power Fast Food has seen a 16.9% increase in reviews, and Coffee Parlor and The Harbor have seen 14.9 and 5.6% increases, respectively.
Located at 306 Elm St. in Long Beach, Arize Bistro offers sandwiches, salads and omelets.
Arize Bistro is open from 8 a.m.–2 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5–9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 8 a.m.–9 p.m. on weekends.
The Crab Shack
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Long Beach's The Crab Shack, the Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, The Crab Shack bagged a 13.4% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a superior four-star rating.
There's more that's trending on Long Beach's seafood scene: Baja Cali Fish & Tacos has seen a 9.7% increase in reviews.
Open at 601 E. Broadway since May, The Crab Shack offers fish and chips, clam chowder and garlic noodles.
The Crab Shack is open from 4–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 4–11 p.m. on Friday, noon–11 p.m. on Saturday and noon–10 p.m. on Sunday.
Next Door
Long Beach's Next Door is also making waves. Open since November 2018 at 200 Pine Ave., Suite B, the bar and Mexican and New American spot has seen a 21.6% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.6% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Next Door's review count increased by more than 420%.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Long Beach's New American category: Portuguese Bend Distillery has seen a 20.7% increase in reviews, and The Carvery has seen a 13.6% bump.
Next Door offers nachos, fajitas and enchiladas. Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Next Door is open from 5–10 p.m. on Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.–9 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on Monday.)
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.
