Wondering where San Francisco's insiders are eating and drinking? It's easy to spot lines out the door, but some underlying trends are harder to see.
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to analyze which eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at San Francisco 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 getting plenty of attention, right now.
Macondray
Open since December, this cocktail bar, which serves a menu of New England-inspired small plates, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
Citywide, traditional American spots saw a median 0.6% increase in new reviews over the past month. Macondray only recently appeared on Yelp, but while many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, it has seen strong initial popularity.
Located at 2209 Polk St. (between Vallejo and Green streets) in Russian Hill, Macondray offers a full selection of beer, wine and signature cocktails, as well as elevated bar bites. Stop in for fries with malt vinegar powder, steamed mussels, sliders and lobster roll bites. The new spot also hosts a daily happy hour from 5–6 p.m., featuring $1.50 oysters.
Macondray is open from 5 p.m.–1 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m.–1 a.m. on weekends.
Mastro's Steakhouse
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Mastro's Steakhouse, the San Francisco location of this notable chain is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Steakhouses" on Yelp saw a median 0.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, Mastro's Steakhouse bagged a remarkable 194.4% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating.
Open at 399 Geary St. (at the corner of Geary and Mason streets) since December, the new restaurant serves up steakhouse favorites, from wagyu steaks to porterhouses, with classic sides like mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and Caesar salad. Mastro's Steakhouse — which has restaurants across the country, including several in Southern California — also offers a full selection of sushi and seafood dishes.
Mastro's Steakhouse is open from 5–10 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 5–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Sumac
Russian Hill's Sumac is the city's buzziest Mediterranean spot by the numbers.
The fast-casual Turkish spot, which opened at 1096 Union St. (at Leavenworth) in November, increased its new review count by an impressive 104.8% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.1% for the Yelp category "Mediterranean."
Inspired by the street food of Istanbul, Sumac offers a selection of rice bowls, salads and sandwiches loaded with chicken, kofte (lamb and beef meatballs), chickpea salad, labneh and other fixings. Sides include warm pita and an assortment of dips.
Sumac is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Friday-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.
