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 getting a notable increase in attention 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 riding a trend this spring.
Top Thai Vintage
Open since February, this Thai restaurant and bar is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, cocktail bars saw a median 2% increase in new reviews over the past month. Top Thai Vintage 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 cocktail bar category: Piggyback has seen a 233.3% increase in reviews.
Located at 55 Carmine St. (near Bedford Street) in the West Village, this quirky, rickshaw-themed spot offers a full menu of Thai food favorites and a list of classic and specialty cocktails, including lychee margaritas, soju bombs and a Thai Mule — there are daily happy hour specials, too. Top Thai has two other locations around the city, near Washington Square and in Brooklyn.
Top Thai Vintage is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week.
Doma
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the East Village's Doma, the Korean spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, Doma appeared on Yelp relatively recently. Many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, but it has seen a surge of interest.
Here's more about the business, from Yelp: "Doma is an eclectic bistro serving approachable Korean food with Western and Japanese influences in a classic New York vibe. Located in the East Village with a townhouse-like setting, the restaurant is juxtaposed with traditional Korean references and serves an all-day menu, as well as anju (late-night) menu after 10:30 p.m."
Open at 120 First Ave. (near the corner of 7th Street) since February, Doma serves a selection of sake, soju, and beers from China, Japan and South Korea. Other beverage offerings include soju-forward cocktails and two "classic Korean drink pairings" — the Maksosa (makgeolli rice wine, soju and Sprite) and the Somaek (soju and Korean beer).
For drinkers with an appetite, Doma offers a menu of Korean Fusion small and large plates. Expect bar bites like Korean-style ceviche (made with prawns, squid and conch) and kimchi arancini, as well as heartier dishes like bibimbap and Korean fried chicken.
Doma is open from noon–midnight on Sunday-Wednesday, noon–1 a.m. on Thursday and noon–3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Omomo
Midtown's Omomo is also making waves. Open since February at 11 W. 36th St. (between Fifth and Sixth avenues), this sushi bar and izakaya is relatively new to Yelp but has seen a surge of new reviews, while all businesses tagged "Sushi Bars" on Yelp saw an increase of 1.7% for new reviews in the past month.
Opened by the team behind Fat Buddha in the East Village, Omomo specializes in traditional sushi offerings and robatayaki (grilled skewers with different meats and veggies), both of which are available either a la carte or as part of one of Omomo's three different omakase (tasting menus). Over the past month, the restaurant has seen its Yelp rating tick down from five stars to 4.5 stars.
Omomo is open for lunch from noon–3 p.m. on weekdays and for dinner from 5:30–10 p.m. on Monday-Saturday. (It's closed 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.
