Thai And More: What's Trending On New York City's Food Scene?
NEW YORK (HOODLINE) -- 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 to deduce which restaurants have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we 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.
Read on to see which spots are on a hot streak this autumn.
The Elgin
Open since August, this cocktail bar, beer bar and New American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, but The Elgin saw a staggering 366.7% increase, maintaining a solid 4.5-star rating throughout.
Located at 64 W. 48th St. (between Avenue Of The Americas and Rockefeller Plaza) in Midtown, The Elgin offers burgers, steak and Detroit-style pan pizzas, as well as signature cocktails. The spot will also soon serve brunch.
The Elgin is open from 11 a.m.–midnight on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–2 a.m. on Thursday and Friday.
River Thai
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Harlem's River Thai, the Thai spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Thai" on Yelp saw a median 2% increase in new reviews over the past month, River Thai bagged a staggering 225% 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 2.2 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 1766 Amsterdam Ave. (between 147th and 148th streets) since July, River Thai offers fried rice dishes, noodles and salads. Try the pan fried or steamed chicken dumplings, or the pineapple fried rice with chicken, tofu, vegetables or shrimp.
River Thai is open from 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. and 4:30–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. and 4:30–10:30 p.m. on Friday, 11:30 a.m.–10:30 p.m. on Saturday and noon–10 p.m. on Sunday.
Go Nonna
Long Island City's Go Nonna is also making waves. Open at 10-50 44th Drive, the Argentine and Italian spot has seen an impressive 214.3% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.5% for all businesses tagged "Italian" on Yelp.
Look for chicken piccata, penne alla vodka and rigatoni with a meat sauce on the menu. For dessert, try the tiramisu or the chocolate almond cake. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down from five stars to 4.5 stars.
Go Nonna is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on weekdays and 2–9 p.m. on Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.)
Blank Slate
Midtown's Blank Slate is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The cafe and breakfast and brunch spot, which opened at 941 Second Ave. in June, increased its new review count by a massive 146.2% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.6% for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.1 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Blank Slate offers a roasted turkey sandwich with cranberry goat cheese and sauteed kale, an avocado caprese salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and a vegan chocolate chia sundae with cherries, banana and shaved coconut.
Blank Slate is open from 7 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 7 a.m.–7 p.m. on Friday-Sunday.
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.
