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 discover which eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.

To find out who made the list, we first 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. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.

Read on to see which spots are worth exploring, right now.

Richmond Republic

Open since September 2018, this gastropub is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.

Citywide, traditional American spots saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Richmond Republic saw a 1.7% increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, the number of visitors to Richmond Republic more than tripled over the past month.

Located at 4459 Amboy Road in Eltingville, Staten Island, Richmond Republic offers pub grub favorites with a twist, like pastrami egg rolls, nachos with house-made beer cheese, chicken Caesar tacos in a Parmesan taco shell and a selection of burgers, sandwiches and wings. Richmond Republic also pours more than 150 different beers, and on Sundays, it offers a "bottomless brunch" special.

Richmond Republic is open seven days a week.

Westwood Bar

Flatbush's Westwood Bar is the city's buzziest cocktail bar by the numbers.

Westwood Bar, which opened at 1715 Foster Ave. (between 17th and 18th streets) in January, is still relatively new to Yelp but has seen a surge of new reviews. Meanwhile, the median new review count for the Yelp category "Cocktail Bars" was up 2% over the past month.

We turned to Yelp for more information.

"A trendy new bar that specializes in high-quality food and cocktails! We serve great, tasty food like fried cauliflower, hanger steak tacos and lobster sliders. Come in for a free shot, mimosa or coffee!" — that's from the business's Yelp page.

Opened by the team behind nearby Ox Tavern, Westwood Bar mixes up 10 different signature cocktails, such as the Ciao Bae (bourbon, amaro, cinnamon and lemon), the Respect (rum, hibiscus syrup, ginger syrup and lime) and the Chan Chan (Tito's vodka, Rumchata and white creme de cacao). If you've got an appetite, check out the full menu of bar bites and pub grub.

Westwood Bar is open from 5 p.m.–2 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m.–2 a.m. on weekends.

Casa Nomad

Midtown's Casa Nomad is currently on the upswing in the New American category on Yelp.

While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, this cafe and eatery increased its new reviews by 100% — with its Yelp rating declining slightly from five stars to 4.5 stars.

Open for business at 1204 Broadway (between 29th and 30th streets) since last fall, this elegant daytime spot offers breakfast, brunch and lunch seven days a week. Stop by in the morning for breakfast sandwiches served on brioche bread, bowls of oatmeal, avocado toast and classic espresso drinks. Or swing by at lunchtime for veggie-friendly grain bowls and combo platters featuring health-conscious proteins like salmon and chicken.

Casa Nomad is open from 7 a.m.–5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.–4 p.m. on weekends.

---

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.