Want the inside word on Los Angeles'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 analyze which local businesses have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Los Angeles 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 extra hot, right now.
Tacos 1986
Open since February 2020, this Mexican spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp.
Citywide, Mexican spots saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month. Tacos 1986 only recently appeared on Yelp, but while many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, it has seen strong initial popularity.
Located at 10874 Kinross Ave. in Westwood, Tacos 1986 serves mushroom tacos, chicken quesadillas and asada mulitas. See what else is on the menu.
Tacos 1986 is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–midnight on Friday and Saturday.
sweetgreen
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Studio City's sweetgreen, an outpost of the well-known chain, the vegetarian spot, which offers salads and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Vegetarian" on Yelp saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, sweetgreen bagged a 62.5% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, sweetgreen saw visits more than double in the past month.
According to its Yelp profile, sweetgreen offers "simple, seasonal, healthy salads and grain bowls made in-house from scratch, using whole produce delivered that morning."
Open at 13003 Ventura Blvd. since December 2019, sweetgreen's vegetarian dishes include sweet potato and kelp bowl, curry chickpea bowl and lentil and avocado salad. See what else is on the menu.
sweetgreen is open from 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. daily. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 12 p.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., and on Saturdays and Fridays, so go on Tuesdays if you want to avoid the rush.
Nat's Early Bite Coffee Shop
Van Nuys' Nat's Early Bite Coffee Shop is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The well-established diner, which has been open at 14115 Burbank Blvd. since 2006, increased its new review count by 1.1% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.4% for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch." According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, Nat's Early Bite Coffee Shop saw visits more than triple over the past month.
Nat's Early Bite Coffee Shop offers steak and eggs; chorizo, green onion, tomato, cheddar and avocado scramble; and breakfast burrito. View the menu here.
Nat's Early Bite Coffee Shop is open from 6 a.m.–3 p.m. on weekdays, 6:30 a.m.–4 p.m. on Saturday and 7:30 a.m.–4 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., and on Sundays and Saturdays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Thursdays.
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.
