Want the inside word on New York City's buzziest local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to deduce which local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at New York City 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.
Read on to see which spots are closing the year out strong.
Shabu Garden
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Koreatown's Shabu Garden, the hot pot restaurant has been making waves, according to Yelp review data. Open since October at 24 W. 33rd St. (between Fifth Avenue and Broadway), this spot has seen a notable 428.6% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.1% for all businesses tagged "Korean" on Yelp.
Shabu Garden offers Korean-style shabu shabu — a Japanese hot pot meal popular in Korea. At this restaurant, the all-you-can-eat shabu shabu, whose name is an onomatopoeia of the swishing sound made when ingredients are stirred into the pot of broth, starts at $24.95 and features choice of broth, veggies and proteins like beef, lamb and shrimp. Shabu Garden also serves beer, sake and Korean soju, makgeolli and bokbunja. Over the past month, it's maintained its Yelp rating of 3.5 stars.
Shabu Garden is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily.
Ginjan
Next, East Harlem's Ginjan is the city's buzziest coffee and tea spot by the numbers.
The cafe, which opened at 85 E. 125th St. (at the corner of 125th Street and Park Avenue) in August, increased its new review count by a significant 200% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.5% for the Yelp category "Coffee & Tea." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 3.5 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
This cafe is the flagship brick-and-mortar location of Ginjan, the organic juice company founded by two brothers. Ginjan, which sells its products at stores across New York region, gets its name from a traditional West African ginger drink that's enjoyed either hot or cold.
This cafe serves up La Colombe coffee and tea, as well as specialty drinks made with Ginjan's own elixirs. It's open from 7 a.m.–7 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m.–6 p.m.on weekends.
SPiN 54
Finally, Midtown's SPiN 54 is currently on the upswing in the traditional American category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, this restaurant and ping pong bar increased its new reviews by 93.8% — with its Yelp rating improving from four stars to 4.5 stars. Review counts increased by more than 250% on a month-to-month basis.
Open for business at 7 E. 54th St. since March, this location is the second New York City outpost of SPiN, which has locations across the country, including one in the Flatiron District. In addition to ping pong tables, SPiN 54 offers beer, wine, craft cocktails and a full menu of small plates and bar bites. Check out the nachos, brick-oven pizzas, wagyu sliders and more.
SPiN 54 is open from noon–10 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday, noon–midnight on Thursday-Saturday and noon–8 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.
