Food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending right now?
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 on the tips of diners' tongues 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 are extra cool this spring.
Colossus Bread
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Colossus Bread, the bakery and cafe, which offers coffee and tea and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Cafes" on Yelp saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, Colossus Bread bagged a 34.6% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight upward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to its current 4.5 stars. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 4.0 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 2311 S. Alma St. since July 2019, Colossus Bread features avocado toast, granola and coffee, as well as a daily selection of bread and pastries.
Colossus Bread is open from 7 a.m.–3 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on weekends.
Gino’s East
Sherman Oaks' Gino’s East is also making waves. Open since December 2019 at 12924 Riverside Drive, the well-established traditional American and Italian spot, which offers pizza and more, has seen a 24.9% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 0.9% for all businesses tagged "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
The restaurant serves appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pizzas and salads. On the menu, look for smoked sausage chili, Italian sausage sandwich and buffalo chicken pizza. View the menu here. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down from four stars to 3.5 stars.
Gino’s East is open from noon–9 p.m. daily.
Oyabun
Harvard Heights' Oyabun is the city's buzziest sushi bar by the numbers.
The izakaya and sushi bar, which offers seafood and more and has been open at 3060 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 150 since May 2019, increased its new review count by 14.4% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 0.8% for the Yelp category "Sushi Bars." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 3.8 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
According to its Yelp page, "Oyabun is a Japanese and Korean restaurant specializing in fresh seafood, sushi, izakaya, live seafood and more."
Oyabun offers omakase (chef's choice), special sashimi such as red snapper yuzu truffle sashimi and halibut carpaccio, and specialty sushi rolls like baked langostino roll and dragon roll. See what else is on the menu.
Oyabun is open from 11 a.m.–midnight daily.
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.
