Want the intel on Portland's most talked-about 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 deduce which local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Portland 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 riding a trend this spring.
Malka
Open since January, this New American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month. Malka only recently appeared on Yelp, but while many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, it has seen strong initial popularity.
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: G-Love has seen a 18.6% increase in reviews, and Basilisk and Jacqueline have seen 1.9 and 4% increases, respectively.
Located at 4546 S.E. Division St. in Richmond, Malka offers zucchini fries, rice bowls, fried chicken sandwiches, rice pudding and more on the menu.
Pine State Biscuits
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Northwest's Pine State Biscuits, the bakery and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers coffee, tea and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, Pine State Biscuits bagged a 20.8% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a sound four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.8 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Portland's breakfast and brunch scene: Cafe Du Berry has seen a 0.7% increase in reviews, and Joule Crafted Nutrition and Arleta Library Bakery Cafe have seen 6.7 and 0.4% increases, respectively.
Open at 1717 N.W. 23rd Ave. since 2006, Pine State Biscuits offers buttermilk biscuits and gravy, biscuit sandwiches, hashbrowns and shrimp and grits, as well as a lineup of homemade pies.
Pine State Biscuits is open from 7 a.m.–3 p.m. daily.
Bartini
Northwest's Bartini is also making waves. Open since 2007 at 2108 N.W. Glisan St., the well-established lounge and cocktail bar has seen a 1% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.4% for all businesses tagged "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, visits to Bartini increased by more than 50% over the past month.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Portland's cocktail bar category: Jinx has seen an 11.1% increase in reviews.
Bartini offers over 100 martinis and 11 craft cocktails, as well as burgers, small plates, dessert fondues and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a solid four-star rating among Yelpers.
Bartini is open from 4 p.m.–midnight on Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.–1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m.–11 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest on Thursdays and Wednesdays, and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors over those two days, with a slowdown on Tuesdays.
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.
