Wondering where New Orleans' 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 and SafeGraph, a dataset of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to uncover which eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at New Orleans 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 this autumn.
Morrow's
Open since April 2018, this Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Cajun/Creole" on Yelp.
Citywide, Cajun/Creole spots saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Morrow's saw a 10.2% increase and maintained a healthy four-star rating in that time frame.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Cajun/Creole category: Mahony's Po-Boys & Seafood has seen a 6.7% increase in reviews.
Located at 2438 St. Claude Ave. in Marigny, Morrow's is owned and operated by mother-son duo, Chef Lenora Chong and Event Curator Larry Morrow. The menu features upscale Cajun/Creole cuisine, such as grilled oysters, po'boy sandwiches, crawfish étouffée and ribeye steak. Specials are served Tuesday-Friday.
Morrow's is open from 4–10 p.m. on Monday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. on Sunday.
Wakin' Bakin'
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Mid-City's Wakin' Bakin', the popular breakfast and brunch spot, which offers sandwiches, coffee and more, has seen a major increase in foot traffic recently.
While Wakin' Bakin' stayed on par with the median 1.8% increase in new reviews as other businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp over the past month, the number of visitors to Wakin' Bakin' more than doubled over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data. The eatery has also maintained a strong four-star rating.
There's more that's trending on New Orleans' breakfast and brunch scene: Tout De Suite Cafe has seen a 1.1% increase in reviews.
Open at 4408 Banks St. (one of two locations in the city) since 2012, Wakin' Bakin' offers classic Southern comfort foods, such as a hemp granola parfait, breakfast burrito, omelets, avocado toast, barbecue shrimp and grits, sandwiches and more. Catering services are also available.
Wakin' Bakin' is open to dine-in and carry-out customers from 7 a.m.–2 p.m. daily. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon, and on Saturdays and Sundays, with a slowdown on Thursdays.
Café Sbisa
The French Quarter's Café Sbisa is the city's buzziest Southern and Cajun/Creole spot by the numbers.
The popular fine-dining Southern restaurant, which specializes in seafood and opened at 1011 Decatur St. in 1899, increased its new review count by 4.5% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.6% for the Yelp category "Southern." It outperformed the previous month by gaining three times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Café Sbisa offers brunch, small plate and dinner menus, with highlights being crab cakes, fresh trout filet, citrus and herb roasted chicken, duck a l'orange and rack of lamb. Inquire about scheduling a private event here.
Café Sbisa is open from 5:30–10 p.m. on Wednesday-Saturday and 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 5:30–10 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on Monday and Tuesday.)
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.
