Want the intel on Boston's most talked-about 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 analyze which eateries have been on the tips of diners' tongues 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.
Pink Taco
Open since 2019, this bar and Mexican spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Pink Taco saw a noteworthy 266.7% increase, maintaining a mixed three-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the bar category: Bastille Kitchen has seen a 0.7% increase in reviews.
Located at 374 Congress St. (between Pittsburgh Street and Thomson Place) in South Boston, Pink Taco offers margaritas, sangria, mojitos and mules. Try the cucumber cilantro margarita or the frozen pink sangria. In terms of food, lobster enchiladas, Baja tacos and carne asada burritos are all on offer.
Pink Taco is open from 11 a.m.–midnight on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–1 a.m. on Friday, 10 a.m.–1 a.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.–midnight on Sunday.
Orfano
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Kenmore's Orfano, the cocktail bar and Italian spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Italian" on Yelp saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, Orfano bagged a 56% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a healthy four-star rating.
There's more that's trending on Boston's Italian scene: Table has seen a 29.7% increase in reviews.
Open at 1391 Boylston St. (between Park Drive and Kilmarnock Street) since 2019, Orfano offers Nonna's garlic bread, cacio e pepe and a lobster bucatini, as well as New York sirloin and a variety of salads.
Orfano is open from 5 p.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 5 p.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Time Out Market
Kenmore's Time Out Market is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.
The well-established cocktail bar and New American spot, which opened at 401 Park Drive in 2019, increased its new review count by 14% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.3% for the Yelp category "American (New)."
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: 75 Chestnut has seen a 0.4% increase in reviews.
Time Out Market offers 15 different spots to grab food, including a spot for burgers, one for sandwiches and another for greens and grain bowls.
Time Out Market - Boston is open from 7:30 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m.–11 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.–10 p.m. 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.
