Want the inside word on Philadelphia'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 analyze which local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Philadelphia 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 worth exploring, right now.
Cajun Heroes Seafood Boil Gumbo & Po’Boys
Open since 2019, this Cajun/Creole and New American spot, which offers seafood and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 1.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Cajun Heroes Seafood Boil Gumbo & Po’Boys saw a 77.8% increase, maintaining a strong four-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: Dig has seen a 58.1% increase in reviews, and Forsythia and Jean-Georges Philadelphia have seen 18.2 and 17.4% increases, respectively.
Located at 228 South St. in Queen Village, Cajun Heroes Seafood Boil Gumbo & Po’Boys offers dishes like seafood boils, po'boy sandwiches, platters and gumbo.
Cajun Heroes Seafood Boil Gumbo & Po’Boys is open from 3 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, noon–10:15 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon–9:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Vesper Sporting Club
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Northern Liberties's Vesper Sporting Club, the sports bar and breakfast and brunch spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 2% increase in new reviews over the past month, Vesper Sporting Club appeared on Yelp relatively recently. Many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, but it has seen a surge of interest. As for foot traffic, Vesper Sporting Club saw visits double in the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
What does this business focus on? "Vesper Sporting Club features mega screens, an outdoor seating area, full dinner and brunch menu, along with bottomless mimosas, and live DJs and entertainment." — that's courtesy of its Yelp page.
There's more that's trending on Philadelphia's breakfast and brunch scene: Valerio Coffee Roasters has seen a 21.4% increase in reviews.
Open at 1029 Germantown Ave. since fall 2018, Vesper Sporting Club - Northern Liberties offers bites like short rib tacos, burgers and breakfast plates like French toast and waffles.
Vesper Sporting Club - Northern Liberties is open from 11 a.m.–6 p.m. on Saturday and noon–4 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on weekdays.) According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors during those hours, so go on Sundays if you want to avoid the rush.
Emmy Squared
Queen Village's Emmy Squared is also making waves. Open since fall 2019 at 632 S. Fifth St., the popular spot to score pizza, sandwiches and burgers has seen an 18.3% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.8% for all businesses tagged "Sandwiches" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Emmy Squared review count increased by more than 190%.
Here's more about the business, from its history section on Yelp: "Emmy Squared Pizza, co-founded by Emily Hyland and executive chef Matthew Hyland, are known for their elevation of Detroit-style pizza. Emmy Squared is also famed for their award-winning double-stack burger, the Le Big Matt. The menu also highlights a selection of salads and sandwiches."
There's more than one hot spot trending in Philadelphia's sandwich category: Prince Tea House has seen a 15.1% increase in reviews.
Emmy Squared offers other bites like roasted cauliflower, fried green tomato sandwiches and waffle fries. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Emmy Squared - Queen Village is open from 4 p.m.–9 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–10 p.m. 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.
