Curious where Los Angeles'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 uncover which restaurants have been seeing especially high review volumes 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 have the momentum heading into springtime.
El Huarache Veloz
Open since August 2009, this popular Mexican spot has been getting a lot more foot traffic lately.
While El Huarache Veloz stayed on par with the median 1.5% increase in new reviews for Mexican spots on Yelp over the past month, maintaining a mixed three-star rating, the number of visitors to El Huarache Veloz more than tripled over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
"Our specialty is the huaraches," reads the business' Yelp page. "They come with salsa, onions and cheese and your choice of topping."
Located at 11661 Glenoaks Blvd. in Pacoima, El Huarache Veloz also offers chilaquiles, tortas, quesadillas and tamales.
El Huarache Veloz is open from 9 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday, 9 a.m.–9 p.m. on Tuesday-Saturday and 8 a.m.–8 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest at 11 a.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., and people visit El Huarache Veloz most on Saturdays and Thursdays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Mondays.
Jinky's Cafe
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about West Hills' Jinky's Cafe, the traditional American spot, which offers coffee and tea and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, Jinky's Cafe bagged a 44.4% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a sound four-star rating.
Open at 22818 Vanowen St. since December 2019, Jinky's Cafe serves popcorn chicken, lemon-herb grilled chicken and barbecue chicken flatbread.
Jinky's Cafe is open from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.
Qi Steam Kitchen
Mid-Wilshire's Qi Steam Kitchen is currently on the upswing in the Asian fusion category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Asian Fusion" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, this Chinese and Asian fusion spot increased its new reviews by 40.7% — and kept its rating consistent at 4.5 stars.
Open for business at 5966 W. Olympic Blvd. since December 2019, Qi Steam Kitchen features steamed jumbo prawn with vermicelli, pork dumpling in Sichuan chili sauce and Sichuan-style chicken with chili sauce. View the menu here.
Qi Steam Kitchen is open from 11 a.m.–9 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.
