Curious where New York City'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 discover which restaurants have been in the limelight this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at New York City 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 worth exploring this autumn.
Pokeworks
Open since September, this sushi bar, which offers salads, poke and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Salad" on Yelp.
Citywide, salad spots saw a median 2.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Pokeworks saw a considerable 300% increase, with a slight upward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today.
Located at 61-24 190th St., Space 24A in Fresh Meadows, Pokeworks offers customizable poke salads, as well as burritos and rice bowls.
Pokeworks is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Sugar N Coal
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Woodside's Sugar N Coal, the hookah bar and traditional American spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, Sugar N Coal bagged a significant 183.3% 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 63-12 Broadway since September of this year, Sugar N Coal offers premium desserts, comfort food and a shisha lounge. Mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese bites and chicken and waffles are all on offer, as well as milkshakes, crepes and ice cream cake.
Sugar N Coal is open from 5 p.m.–midnight on Monday-Thursday and 5 p.m.–2 a.m. on Friday-Sunday.
Malibu Farm
The Financial District's Malibu Farm is also making waves. Open since September at 89 S St., the venues and event space, bar and New American spot has seen a staggering 220% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.5% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
Malibu Farm offers everything from cauliflower crust pizza and chicken pepper quesadillas to acai bowls and fish tacos. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating improve from 2.5 stars to three stars.
Malibu Farm is open from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. and 5 p.m.–10 p.m. daily.
Shun
Finally, Midtown's Shun is currently on the upswing in the French category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "French" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, this French and Japanese spot increased its new reviews by 100% — with its Yelp rating declining slightly from five stars to 4.5 stars. Review counts increased by more than 800% on a month-to-month basis.
Open for business at 610 Lexington Ave. since July, Shun offers luxury and high end three- and four-course menus, as well as the chef's Path of Nature dinner ($225 per person).
Shun is open from 5:30-10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 5:30–10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.)
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.
