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 uncover which restaurants have been in the spotlight 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.
Levain Bakery
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the Noho location of Levain Bakery, it's a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Bakeries" on Yelp saw a median 1.5% increase in new reviews over the past month, the new Levain Bakery appeared on Yelp relatively recently. Many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, but it has seen a surge of interest.
Open at 340 Lafayette St. (at the corner of Bleecker) since February, this latest outpost of Levain, the cookie bakery's sixth overall, is its first shop to open downtown. Since debuting on the Upper West Side back in 1995, Levain Bakery has made a name for itself by selling huge, 6-ounce cookies, which Insider named the best in the state.
Along with the new Noho shop, Levain Bakery has rolled out a fresh cookie flavor — Two Chip Chocolate Chip — its first new flavor in 25 years.
Levain Bakery is open from 8 a.m.–8 p.m. daily.
Ricardo Steak House
East Harlem's Ricardo Steak House is also making waves. Open since 2004 at 2145 Second Ave. (between 110th and 111st streets), the well-established steakhouse has seen only a 0.4% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 0.9% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp. However, according to SafeGraph foot traffic data, Ricardo Steak House saw visits more than triple over the past month.
Interested so far? We found this on Yelp: "When Ricardo Steak House opened, its patrons were treated to the sight of exposed brick walls adorned with local artwork, an open kitchen showcasing talented chefs, and an outdoor patio. A particular point of pleasure for diners, the backyard patio is perfect for summer nights. It is also enclosed and heated during the colder months. Most importantly, our guests are continually greeted by warm and familiar faces."
In addition to a wide selection of steaks and chops, Ricardo Steak House offers seafood, salads, pasta dishes, weekend brunch and a full bar serving signature cocktails and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a solid four-star rating among Yelpers.
Ricardo Steak House is open from 4–11 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday, 4 p.m.–midnight on Thursday, noon–midnight on Friday and Saturday, and noon–11 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest at 7 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., and people visit Ricardo Steak House most on Fridays and Saturdays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Tuesdays.
Museum of Ice Cream
SoHo's Museum of Ice Cream is the city's buzziest frozen dessert spot by the numbers.
This Instagram-friendly, ice cream-themed pop-up, which opened at 558 Broadway (between Spring and Prince streets) in December, increased its new review count by 18.8% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 0.9% for the Yelp category "Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt."
Museum of Ice Cream features "imaginative, multi-sensory installations that bring to life your most delightful dreams: Savor the sweetest treats on a floating table, ride our out-of-this-world pink 'Celestial Subway,' slide down an epic three-story slide, and follow the sound of a buzz that will lead you to a giant 'Queen Bee' hive." — that's courtesy of its Yelp page.
General admission to the Museum of Ice Cream's interactive exhibits is $39 per person, but if you're just looking to grab a treat and chill, its scoop shop is free to enter and open to the public. Swing by to sample one of Museum of Ice Cream's seven signature ice cream flavors, including Malt Shake, Churro Churro and Queen Bee (honey ice cream with chocolate-covered honeycombs and English toffee).
Museum of Ice Cream is open from 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and 9:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m. on Friday-Sunday. (It's closed on Tuesday.) Visit its website to reserve a ticket.
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.
