Unsure where Seattle's in-the-know crowd is 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 and SafeGraph, a dataset of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to discover which eateries have been getting a noteworthy uptick in attention 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 getting plenty of attention, right now.
Ivar's Acres Of Clams
Open for more than a decade, this popular bar and traditional American spot, which offers seafood and more, is an outpost of the famous chain and has seen a major increase in foot traffic recently.
While Ivar's Acres of Clams stayed on par with the median 1.3% increase in new reviews for bars on Yelp over the past month, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating, the number of visitors to Ivar's Acres of Clams more than tripled over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
This chain outpost is not the only trending outlier in the bar category: Bangrak Market has seen a 7.2% increase in reviews.
Located at 1001 Alaskan Way (between Spring and Madison streets) in Central Business District, Ivar's Acres of Clams offers crispy calamari, grape tomato bruschetta and coconut shrimp, alongside chowders, sandwiches and entrees like garlic roasted portobello mushroom napoleon with tomato-basil garlic sauce, Parmesan cheese, sherry-braised sweet onions, piquillo peppers, garlic roasted baby Yukon Gold potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
Ivar's Acres of Clams is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a slowdown on Mondays.
Market Fresh RS
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Central Business District's Market Fresh RS, the buffet and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers salads 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, Market Fresh RS bagged an 11.1% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a solid 4.5-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 4.0 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance. As for foot traffic, Market Fresh RS saw visits more than double in the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
There's more that's trending on Seattle's breakfast and brunch scene: Kona Kitchen - Seattle has seen a 0.5% increase in reviews, and Honest Biscuits and Sound View Cafe have seen 1.3 and 0.6% increases, respectively.
Open at 1301 Fifth Ave. (between Union and University streets) since 1990, Market Fresh RS, a buffet-style eatery, offers breakfast items like eggs, sausage links and roasted potatoes, as well as sushi, potstickers and pad thai noodles.
Market Fresh RS is open from 7 a.m.–3 p.m. on weekdays. (It's closed on weekends.) According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest on Thursdays and Fridays, and it attracts half of its total visitors over those two days. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Wednesdays.
Kin Len Thai Night Bites
Fremont's Kin Len Thai Night Bites is also making waves. Open since September 2019 at 3517 Fremont Ave. North (between 35th Street and North Evanston Avenue), the cocktail bar and Thai spot, which offers tapas and more, has seen a 12.5% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.5% for all businesses tagged "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Seattle's cocktail bar category: Spin -Seattle has seen a 1.6% increase in reviews, and The Sexton has seen a 1% bump.
Kin Len Thai Night Bites offers crispy pad Thai, sesame shrimp toast, homemade rice dumplings, Thai papaya salad and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a healthy 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Kin Len Thai Night Bites is open from 4 p.m.–midnight on weekdays and noon–midnight on weekends.
Sawyer
Ballard's Sawyer is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.
The popular New American spot, which opened at 5309 22nd Ave. NW (between North Ballard Avenue and Market Street) in August 2018, increased its new review count by 4.6% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1% for the Yelp category "American (New)."
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: Brimmer & Heeltap has seen a 2.3% increase in reviews, and Copine has seen a 2.1% bump.
Sawyer offers both small and large plates — look for cheesy bread with lemon ricotta; wood-grilled artichokes with anchovy hazelnut remoulade; and wood-fired sirloin steak with potato croquette. Craving a sweet treat? This spot also serves up s'more choco tacos (graham cracker cones filled with peanut butter ice cream and meringue) and a cuatro leches cake (made with strawberry-makrut lime milk, rice crispies, huckleberries and matcha).
Sawyer is open from 4 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. and 4 p.m.–10 p.m. on 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.
