As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending at this very moment?
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 uncover which local businesses have been in the limelight 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 on a hot streak, right now.
The Emory
Open since 2019, this bar and New American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, but The Emory saw a dramatic 183.3% increase, maintaining a solid four-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the bar category: The Westland has seen a 17.5% increase in reviews.
Located at 21 Beacon St. (between Tremont Place and Somerset Street) in Beacon Hill, The Emory offers a variety of craft cocktails. Try the Polaris Derby with gin, grapefruit, matcha and honey, or the Guilty Pleasure with rum, pineapple, lime, coffee and cocoa.
The Emory is open from 11:30 a.m.–midnight on Monday-Saturday and 10:30 a.m.–midnight on Sunday.
Yankee Lobster
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about South Boston's Yankee Lobster, the popular seafood market 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, Yankee Lobster bagged a 1.4% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a solid four-star rating. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, Yankee Lobster saw visits more than triple in the past month.
There's more that's trending on Boston's seafood scene: Eventide - Fenway has seen a 4.7% increase in reviews, and Temazcal Tequila Cantina has seen a 0.3% bump.
Open at 300 Northern Ave. (between C Street and Trilling Road) since 2006, Yankee Lobster serves up traditional lobster rolls, fish and chips, clam chowder and more.
Yankee Lobster is open from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday and 11 a.m.–6 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, people tend to visit Yankee Lobster on Fridays and Mondays, and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors over those two days, with a slowdown on Sundays.
Trade
Finally, Downtown Boston's Trade is also making waves. Open since 2011, at 540 Atlantic Ave., the well-established cocktail bar and Mediterranean spot has seen a 1.9% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses tagged "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp — but visits to Trade increased by more than 50% over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Boston's cocktail bar category: Citrus & Salt has seen a 7.6% increase in reviews.
Trade serves beer, wine and craft cocktails. The drink menu includes a cucumber and mint mule with vodka and ginger beer, an espresso martini and a Snowbunny, which features vodka, elderflower, blackberry liqueur and lemon. The food menu items include burrata, grilled scallops an chicken meatballs. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Trade is open from 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–midnight on Friday and 4 p.m.–midnight on Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.) According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 12 p.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., and on Wednesdays and Tuesdays, so go on Saturdays 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.
