Want the inside word on Portland's buzziest 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 deduce which local businesses have been getting a significant increase in attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Portland 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.
G-Love
Open since August 2019, this New American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, but G-Love saw an 18.3% increase, maintaining a superior 4.5-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis G-Love's review count increased by more than 220%.
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: Basilisk has seen a 1.9% increase in reviews.
Located at 1615 N.W. 21st Ave., Portland OR in Northwest, G-Love specializes in vegetarian entrees and meat-centric side dishes. Stop by for Tuscan bean stew with braised greens, toasted garlic, tomatoes and croutons, paired with roasted pork shoulder with celery root puree, crispy potato, Calabrian chili and herb salad.
G-Love is open from 5 p.m.–10 p.m. on Wednesday-Sunday. (It's closed on Monday and Tuesday.)
Cafe Du Berry
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill's Cafe Du Berry, the popular French and breakfast and brunch spot has seen a major increase in foot traffic recently.
While Cafe Du Berry stayed on par with the median 1.4% increase in new reviews businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp over the past month, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating, the number of visitors to Cafe Du Berry more than tripled over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
There's more that's trending on Portland's breakfast and brunch scene: Joule Crafted Nutrition has seen a 6.6% increase in reviews, and Arleta Library Bakery Cafe and Fried Egg I'm In Love have seen 0.4 and 8.2% increases, respectively.
Open at 6439 S.W. MacAdam Ave. since 2007, Cafe Du Berry offers a slew of morning eats, including spinach omelets, eggs Benedict and French toast. There's also a lineup of sweet and savory pastries on offer.
Cafe Du Berry is open from 7 a.m.–3 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, 7 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.–9 p.m. on Wednesday-Friday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.–9 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, people tend to visit Cafe Du Berry on Fridays and Sundays, and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors over those two days, so go on Tuesdays if you want to avoid the rush.
Scotch Lodge
Buckman's Scotch Lodge is also making waves. Open since May 2019 at 215 S.E. Ninth Ave., Suite 102, the cocktail bar, whiskey bar and French spot has seen a 27% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.4% for all businesses tagged "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Scotch Lodge's review count increased by more than 170%.
For more on the faces behind the business, we found this on Yelp: "A 17-year veteran of the bar industry and craft cocktail community, Tommy Klus grew up running around the since-defunct Henry Weinhard's brewery in Portland, Oregon, where his dad worked. After many years of experience behind the bar, he developed cocktail programs for some of the Pacific Northwest's most venerable watering holes, including Kask, Bluehour, Multnomah Whiskey Library and La Moule, which he co-owns."
There's more than one hot spot trending in Portland's cocktail bar category: Jinx has seen a 11.1% increase in reviews.
Scotch Lodge specializes in an assortment of whiskey cocktails, which includes the Lonesome Dove, a medley of Island scotch, beet-infused whey, grapefruit and yellow chartreuse. When it comes to food, this spot serves up fried brie with Verjus syrup, pumpernickel and pistachio; charred beets with hibiscus borscht, orange, yogurt and urfa; and smoked duck breast with porcini puree, apple, tarragon and hazelnuts.
Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down from five stars to 4.5 stars.
Scotch Lodge is open from 4 p.m.–11 p.m. on Monday and Sunday and 4 p.m.–midnight on Tuesday-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.
