Want the inside word on San Jose's buzziest local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to discover which local businesses have been getting a notable increase in attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at San Jose 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 on a hot streak, right now.
Tostadas
Open since 2019, this breakfast and brunch and Mexican spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
Citywide, breakfast and brunch spots saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Tostadas saw a 48.3% increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Toby's Cafe has seen a 27% increase in reviews, and Sabores Of The Valley and Tostadas have seen 22.4 and 10.5% increases, respectively.
Located at 1699 W. San Carlos St. in the Rose Garden, Tostadas offers a variety of entrees, including chile verde, shrimp fajitas and steak ranchero, as well as Mexican street corn, tamales and handmade tortillas.
Tostadas is open from 7 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 7 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
MLKY
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown San Jose's MLKY, the tea room, which offers bubble tea, coffee and tea and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Coffee & Tea" on Yelp saw a median 1.9% increase in new reviews over the past month, MLKY bagged a 70% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight downward trend from a 4.5-star rating a month ago to its current four stars. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.0 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on San Jose's coffee and tea scene: Blue Bottle Coffee has seen a 27.7% increase in reviews, and Yoogool and Lucky Tea have seen 1.5 and 13.1% increases, respectively.
Open at 30 E. Santa Clara St., Suite 120 since November 2019, MLKY offers an assortment of milk and fruit teas with toppings like brown sugar boba, sea salt cream and lychee jelly.
MLKY is open from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. on Monday-Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.)
Bill's Cafe
West San Jose's Bill's Cafe, a franchise of the famous chain, is also making waves. Open since January 2018 at 5124 Stevens Creek Blvd., the well-established breakfast and brunch and traditional American spot has seen a 1% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses tagged "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
Here's more about the business from Yelp: "Since 1977 we strive to offer the best, the food comes big and hearty -- with quality preparation, fresh ingredients, and the friendliest service around."
Bill's Cafe offers brunch items like the veggie skillet, a medley of mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, tomato, avocado, onions and cheddar cheese. Over the past month, it's maintained a healthy four-star rating among Yelpers.
Bill's Cafe is open from 7 a.m.–2:30 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m.–3 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.
