As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending at this very moment?
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 local businesses have been getting outsized notice 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 extra cool this spring.
R40
Open since January, this cocktail bar and Argentine spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, cocktail bars saw a median 1.9% increase in new reviews over the past month. R40 only recently appeared on Yelp, but while many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, it has seen strong initial popularity.
Located at 47-16 Vernon Blvd. in Long Island City, R40 offers empanadas, pasta and salads on the menu.
R40 is open from 5:30–10 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and 5–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. (It's closed on Monday.)
La Rotisserie du Coin
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Forest Hills's La Rotisserie du Coin, the French spot, which offers sandwiches and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "French" on Yelp saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, La Rotisserie du Coin appeared on Yelp relatively recently. Many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, but it has seen a surge of interest.
What does this business focus on? "We specialize in French Rotisserie, we also make all of our sides homemade." — that's according to its Yelp page.
Open at 107-10 71st Road since January, La Rotisserie du Coin offers rotisserie chicken and wings on the menu.
La Rotisserie du Coin is open from 11:30 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.
Kissaki Omakase
The East Village's Kissaki Omakase is also making waves. Open since January at 319 Bowery (between 2nd St. and Bond Street), the sushi bar and Japanese spot is relatively new to Yelp, but has seen a surge of new reviews, while all businesses tagged "Japanese" on Yelp saw an increase of 1.5% for new reviews in the past month.
Kissaki Omakase offers kaiseki dishes and more. Over the past month, it's maintained an impressive five-star rating among Yelpers.
Kissaki Omakase is open from noon–3 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.–midnight on Tuesday-Thursday, noon–3 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.–1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m.–midnight on Sunday. (It's closed on Monday.)
Ama Raw Bar
The East Village's Ama Raw Bar is the city's buzziest seafood spot by the numbers.
The cocktail bar and lounge, which offers seafood and more and opened at 190 Ave. B (between 12th and 11th streets) in December 2019, is still relatively new to Yelp but has seen a surge of new reviews. Meanwhile, the median new review count for the Yelp category "Seafood" was up 1.7% over the past month.
Intrigued so far? Here's more about the business from its Yelp history section: "Ama Raw Bar is a unique Asian-style seafood and cocktail restaurant in NYC. Some food specialties include fresh seafood from the Asian raw bar including oyster shooters, mussels and seafood towers, as well as bao buns, tofu, edamame and lobster ramen. The bar features the latest craft cocktails with frequent late-night happy hour specials and a trendy speakeasy-style lounge in the back as well as outdoor seating."
Ama Raw Bar also offers seaweed salad on the menu.
Ama Raw Bar is open from 5 p.m.–midnight on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday and 5 p.m.–2 a.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.
