Wondering where New York City'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 and SafeGraph, a dataset of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to discover which restaurants have been in the limelight this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at New York City 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 on a hot streak this spring.
Pop's Pizzas
Open since December, this pizzeria is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Pizza" on Yelp.
Citywide, pizza spots saw a median 1.8% increase in new reviews over the past month. Pop's Pizzas only recently appeared on Yelp, but while many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, it has seen strong initial popularity.
Here's more about the business, from its Yelp page: "We at Pop’s Pizzas are a family-owned business. We are all about using fresh ingredients when it comes to our pizza. Our sauces are all made in house. We are passionate about what we do, and it shows in the quality of our pizza. Come join us for a slice."
It's not the only trending outlier in the pizza category: Toskana Pizzeria Restaurant has seen a 1.4% increase in reviews.
Located at 301 W. 57th St. (at Eighth Avenue), just off Columbus Circle, Pop's Pizzas serves up classic New York-style pizza, by the pie and by the slice, with toppings like meats, veggies and extra cheese. This spot also delivers.
Pop's Pizzas is open from 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The Whole Bowl
Williamsburg's The Whole Bowl is the city's buzziest vegetarian spot by the numbers.
This outpost of the Portland-based chain — the first on the East Coast — opened up at 488 Metropolitan Ave. (near Rodney Street and the BQE) back in November. Over the last month, it saw a 1.9% increase in new reviews — matching that of all businesses for the Yelp business category "Vegetarian."
The Whole Bowl specializes in one item: its namesake brown rice bowl topped with beans, olives, cheddar cheese, avocado, sour cream, salsa, cilantro and the fast-casual eatery's specialty "tali sauce." Bowls are available in four sizes and come in a "veganized" version, too. There's also kombucha, sides of chips, and brownies and cookies for dessert.
The Whole Bowl is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily.
Tacombi
Also in Williamsburg is Tacombi, which is currently on the upswing in the Mexican category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp saw a median 2% increase in new reviews over the past month, this location of the local taqueria increased its new reviews by a substantial 107.7% — and kept its rating consistent at 4.5 stars. Review counts increased by more than 280% on a month-to-month basis.
Open for business at 242 Metropolitan Ave. (between Bedford and Driggs avenues) since October, Tacombi — which has eight other restaurants around the city — offers more than a dozen different varieties of tacos, including barbacoa, carnitas, al pastor, shrimp and breakfast-ready egg tacos. To drink, there are fresh-pressed juices, homemade agua frescas and a full selection of beer, wine and cocktails.
Williamsburg's Tacombi is open from 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.–midnight on Friday and Saturday.
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.
