Want the scoop on Seattle'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 restaurants have been in the spotlight this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Seattle 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.
Half And Half Doughnut
Open since October, this breakfast and brunch spot, which offers coffee, tea, doughnuts and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
Citywide, breakfast and brunch spots saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Half and Half Doughnut saw a considerable 328.6% increase, with a downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to four stars today.
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Mr West Cafe Bar has seen a 21.7% increase in reviews.
Located at 516 E. PIke St. (between Summit and Belmont avenues) in Capitol Hill, Half and Half Doughnut offers hand crafted doughnuts like apple fritters, chocolate, chai tea, chocolate and hazelnut creme filled, cinnamon twist and more.
Half and Half Doughnut is open from 6 a.m.–2 p.m. daily.
Baker's
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Ballard's Baker's, the cocktail bar is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, Baker's bagged an impressive 111.1% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining an impressive five-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.5 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Seattle's cocktail bar scene: Lady Jaye has seen a 122.2% increase in reviews.
Open at 6408 32nd Ave. NW (between 64th Street) since May, Baker's offers handcrafted cocktails, wine and beer, as well as bites like charcuterie boards, beef tartare, oysters and more.
Baker's is open from 4 p.m.–midnight daily.
Eight Row
Green Lake's Eight Row is also making waves. Open since August at 7102 Woodlawn Ave. NE (between 72nd and 71st streets), the beer bar and New American spot has seen a 36.1% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.2% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Seattle's New American category: Eden Hill Restaurant has seen a 1.9% increase in reviews.
Eight Row offers fried eggplant, bison tartare, pumpkin gnocchi, honey glazed smoked chicken, duck breast and more on the menu. Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Eight Row is open from 4 p.m.–10 p.m. on Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.–10 p.m. on weekends. (It's closed on Monday.)
Dochi
The International District's Dochi is the city's buzziest dessert spot by the numbers.
The well-established spot to score doughnuts and desserts, which opened at 600 Fifth Ave. South (between James and Weller streets) in August, increased its new review count by 35.8% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.9% for the Yelp category "Desserts."
Dochi offers Japanese mocha doughnuts in a variety of different flavors.
Dochi is open from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and noon–6 p.m. on weekends. (It's closed on Monday-Wednesday.)
Cortina
Central Business District's popular Cortina is currently on the upswing in the Italian category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Italian" on Yelp saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, this Italian spot increased its new reviews by 10.8% — and kept its rating consistent at four stars. Review counts increased by more than 200% on a month-to-month basis.
There's more abuzz in the world of Seattle Italian: Staple & Fancy has seen a 0.6% increase in reviews.
Open for business at 621 Union St. (between Sixth and Seventh avenues) since May 2018, Cortina offers Italian dishes like rigatoni, ravioli, pizza, smoked salmon bruschetta and burrata.
Cortina is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on weekdays, 4 p.m.–10 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m.–9 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.
