Want the inside word on Boston's buzziest 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 local businesses have been getting extra attention 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 closing the year out strong.
Ghost Pepper Taco + Tequila Bar
First, open since 2019, this bar and Mexican spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw a median 1% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Ghost Pepper Taco + Tequila Bar saw a dramatic 385.7% increase, maintaining a 3.5-star rating.
It's not the only trending outlier in the bar category: ilona has seen a 25.5% increase in reviews, and Bastille Kitchen has seen a 0.7% bump.
Located at 120 Savin Hill Ave. in North Dorchester, Ghost Pepper Taco + Tequila Bar specializes in tequila cocktails, offering classic, strawberry and ghost pepper margaritas, as well as Moscow mules and a variety of non-alcoholic drinks. Also on offer are chorizo tacos and nachos.
Ghost Pepper Taco + Tequila Bar is open from 3 p.m.–midnight Sunday-Thursday and 3 p.m.–1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Yankee Lobster
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about South Boston's Yankee Lobster, the well-established seafood market has seen a major increase in foot traffic recently.
While Yankee Lobster stayed on par with the median 1% increase in new reviews businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp over the past month, maintaining a strong four-star rating, the number of visitors to Yankee Lobster more than tripled over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
There's more that's trending on Boston's seafood scene: Bootleg Special has seen a 7.9% increase in reviews.
Open at 300 Northern Ave. (between C Street and Trilling Road) since 2006, Yankee Lobster offers stuffed clams, grilled swordfish, hot lobster rolls and more.
Yankee Lobster is open from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.–6 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest on Fridays and Mondays, and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors over those two days, with a slowdown on Sundays.
Dorset Hall
Finally, South Dorchester's Dorset Hall is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.
The popular New American spot opened at 367 Neponset Ave. (between Blackwell and Chickatawbut streets) in 2016, saw a 1.1% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses for the Yelp business category "American (New)" — but visits to Dorset Hall increased by more than 50% over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
Dorset Hall offers chicken wings, pizza, New England clam chowder and steak tips, as well as soups, salads, sandwiches and a kid-friendly menu.
Dorset Hall is open from 11:30 a.m.–1 a.m. daily. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Tuesdays.
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.
