Curious where Los Angeles's in-the-know crowd is 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 to analyze which restaurants have been getting a significant increase in attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we 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.
Read on to see which spots are extra hot this spring.
The Renegade
Open since February 2020, this gastropub and lounge is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Gastropubs" on Yelp.
Citywide, gastropubs saw a median 0.7% increase in new reviews over the past month. The Renegade 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 gastropub category: Rock and Reilly's USC Village has seen a 9.9% increase in reviews.
Located at 11136 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood, The Renegade offers chicken wings, pan-seared branzino and Thai barbecue baby back ribs. See what else is on the menu.
Furai Chicken
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Northridge's Furai Chicken, the chicken shop and Korean spot, which offers chicken wings and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Korean" on Yelp saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, Furai Chicken appeared on Yelp relatively recently. Many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, but it has seen a surge of interest.
According to its Yelp profile, "Furai Chicken serves delicious, fresh and crispy Korean fried chicken with homemade batter. We also have chicken sandwiches, rice bowls, and more for you to try. Enjoy our sides of other specialty Korean dishes."
Open at 9545 Reseda Blvd., Suite 14 since February 2020, Furai Chicken specializes in Korean fried chicken, with dishes like sweet and spicy chicken, fried kimchi and soy garlic chicken rice bowl.
Furai Chicken is open from 11:30 a.m.–10:45 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday and 11:30 a.m.–11:45 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday.
9th St Ramen
Downtown Los Angeles's 9th St Ramen is also making waves. Open since February 2020 at 111 W. Ninth St., the ramen spot is relatively new to Yelp, but has seen a surge of new reviews, while all businesses tagged "Ramen" on Yelp saw an increase of 1.5% for new reviews in the past month.
9th St Ramen features tonkotsu pork ramen, chicken tori paitan ramen and vegan charred onion and mushroom ramen. Check out the full menu. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down to four stars.
9th St Ramen is open from 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. on Monday, 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. and 5:30–10 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday and 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. and 5–11 p.m. on Thursday-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.
