Food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending at this very moment?
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 local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes 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 riding a trend this autumn.
Eden Hill Provisions
Open since September, this bar and traditional American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Eden Hill Provisions saw a noteworthy 200% increase, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to four stars today.
It's not the only trending outlier in the bar category: Bangrak Market has seen a 9.7% increase in reviews.
Located at 1935 Queen Anne Ave. North (between Crockett and Howe streets) in Queen Anne, Eden Hill Provisions offers kettle corn Brussels sprouts, cauliflower chilaquiles, sea scallop and crab lasagna, bacon and brisket burgers and more.
Daniel's Broiler
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Belltown's Daniel's Broiler, the steakhouse, which offers seafood and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp saw a median 1% increase in new reviews over the past month, Daniel's Broiler bagged a 14.6% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.7 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 808 Howell St. (between Olive Way and Ninth Avenue) since December 2018, Daniel's Broiler offers seafood dishes like bacon-wrapped scallops, oysters, crab cakes, clam chowder, Alaskan king crab, lobster mac and cheese and more.
Daniel's Broiler is open from 6:30 a.m.–midnight on weekdays and 7 a.m.–midnight on weekends.
Deep Dive
Belltown's Deep Dive is also making waves. Open since August 2018 at 620 Lenora St. (between Seventh and Sixth avenues), the well-established speakeasy and cocktail bar has seen a 15.2% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.7% for all businesses tagged "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Deep Dive's review count increased by more than 200%.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Seattle's cocktail bar category: Geo's Cuban Bar and Grill has seen a 9.4% increase in reviews.
Deep Dive offers classic cocktails like daiquiris, mint juleps, Old Fashioned's, martinis, negronis and more along with modern cocktail creations. Over the past month, it's maintained a strong four-star rating among Yelpers.
Deep Dive is open from 4 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 4 p.m.–midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Kokkaku
Wallingford's Kokkaku is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.
The steakhouse and New American and Japanese spot, which opened at 2208 N. 45th St. (between North Corliss and North Bagley avenues) in August 2017, increased its new review count by 8% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.2% for the Yelp category "American (New)." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.8 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Kokkaku offers fried chicken, pork tenderloin, wagyu steak, fingerling potatoes, cheese cake, pickled vegetables and more.
Kokkaku is open from 4:30 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and 4:30 p.m.–9 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on Tuesday.)
Watson's Counter
Ballard's popular Watson's Counter is currently on the upswing in the breakfast and brunch category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, this Korean and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers coffee, tea and more, increased its new reviews by 9.6% — and kept its rating consistent at 4.5 stars.
Open for business at 6201 15th Ave. NW (between 62nd and 63rd streets) since March, Watson's Counter offers chicken and waffles, eggs Benedict with pork belly, cereal French toast, Korean poutine and more.
Watson's Counter is open from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. daily.
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.
