Want the scoop on Seattle'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 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 have the momentum heading into springtime.
Pacific Room Alki
Open since June 2019, this music venue and New American and breakfast and brunch spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Pacific Room Alki saw a 25% increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Pacific Room Alki's review count increased by more than 130%.
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: Copine has seen a 2.1% increase in reviews.
Located at 2808 Alki Ave. SW (between South 62nd and South 63rd avenues) in West Seattle, Pacific Room Alki offers coconut prawns, Alaskan salmon, burgers, halibut and chips and more on the menu.
Pacific Room Alki is open from 4–10 p.m. daily.
Mioposto
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Ravenna's Mioposto, the popular Italian and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers pizza and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, Mioposto bagged a 1.8% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a solid four-star rating. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, Mioposto saw visits more than triple in the past month.
There's more that's trending on Seattle's breakfast and brunch scene: Market Fresh RS has seen a 10.2% increase in reviews, and Kona Kitchen and Honest Biscuits have seen 0.3 and 1.3% increases, respectively.
Open at 3426 N.E. 55th St. (between North 34th Avenue) since 2014, Mioposto offers brunch items like breakfast pizza, Shakshuka, breakfast sandwiches, frittatas, mimosas and more.
Mioposto is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Tuesdays and Saturdays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Mondays.
Good Neighbor Cafe
Central District's Good Neighbor Cafe is also making waves. Open since February 2019 at 166 19th Ave., Suite 1 (between Fir and Spruce streets), the spot to score sandwiches, coffee, tea and soups is relatively new to Yelp, but has seen a surge of new reviews, while all businesses tagged "Coffee & Tea" on Yelp saw an increase of 2.1% for new reviews in the past month. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Good Neighbor Cafe's review count increased by more than 100%. As for foot traffic, Good Neighbor Cafe saw visits more than triple over the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Seattle's coffee and tea category: DING TEA SEATTLE has seen a 3.8% increase in reviews, and Indi Chocolate and Youngstown Coffee Company have seen 3.7 and 7.4% increases, respectively.
Good Neighbor Cafe offers a variety of coffee, tea and latte drinks, baked goods, sandwiches, quesadillas, crepes and a daily soup.. Over the past month, it's maintained a stellar five-star rating among Yelpers.
Good Neighbor Cafe is open from 6:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. on weekends. According to SafeGraph, people visit Good Neighbor Cafe most on Fridays and Thursdays, and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors over those two days, with a slowdown on Wednesdays.
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.
