This project aims to provide data-driven insights into the best Indian restaurants in New York City, helping Indian families find authentic culinary experiences. Using data from the Foursquare API, borough boundaries, and neighborhood demographics, this analysis identifies the top Indian restaurants across NYC's diverse neighborhoods and boroughs, tracking changes in restaurant popularity from 2020 to 2022.
Project Overview
New York City, home to over 8 million people, offers a wide variety of global cuisines, including Indian food. As more Indian families settle in NYC, the need for a reliable guide to authentic Indian dining experiences has grown. This project leverages data science techniques to uncover the best Indian restaurants in the city, using a combination of geo-location data, restaurant reviews, and customer ratings from the Foursquare API. The analysis reveals trends in restaurant popularity, customer preferences, and neighborhood dining options, helping families make informed decisions about where to eat.
Key Features
Data Sources:
Geo-Location Data: Provides information about New York City boroughs and neighborhoods to establish geographic context.
Foursquare API: Used to identify and locate Indian restaurants, collecting metrics such as ratings, tips, and likes to determine popularity and performance.
Borough Boundaries Dataset: This dataset defines the geographical boundaries of NYC’s boroughs, helping to map and visualize restaurant distributions.
Restaurant Comparison (2020-2022):
The analysis compares the performance of Indian restaurants between 2020 and 2022, highlighting changes in customer preferences and restaurant ratings.
Metrics analyzed include:
Ratings: Identifying the top-rated Indian restaurants.
Tips: Analyzing customer tips to gauge engagement and satisfaction.
Likes: Tracking customer preferences and popularity.
Observations from Data Analysis:
Total Neighborhoods: Queens consistently had the highest number of neighborhoods with Indian restaurants, while Manhattan had the fewest. Overall, 306 neighborhoods were analyzed.
Total Restaurants: The number of Indian restaurants increased slightly, from 144 in 2020 to 147 in 2022, with Queens hosting the most restaurants each year.
Tips Comparison: In 2020, Bhatti Indian Grill received the highest tips, but by 2022, The Kati Roll Company became the most tipped restaurant, indicating a shift in popularity.
Likes Comparison: The most liked restaurant in 2020 was Tamarind Tribeca, which was overtaken by The Kati Roll Company in 2022, showing evolving customer preferences.
Ratings Comparison: In 2020, Bombay Bistros was the highest-rated restaurant, but by 2022, Adda claimed the top spot for ratings.
Neighborhood Ratings: There was a notable decline in average ratings across several neighborhoods, but new areas emerged as contenders for top dining spots.
Borough Ratings: While Manhattan maintained its position as the highest-rated borough, Queens gained prominence, reflecting its diverse Indian restaurant scene.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Queens stands out as a top destination for Indian families, offering the highest number of Indian restaurants and maintaining strong dining options like Adda.
Manhattan remains a key player, housing highly rated restaurants like The Kati Roll Company, making it a prime choice for those seeking the best-rated Indian dining experiences.
For Indian families considering settling in New York City, Manhattan is recommended as the first choice due to its highly rated restaurants, while Queens offers a wide variety of dining options, making it an excellent secondary option.
This project demonstrates how data science can uncover important insights about restaurant trends and preferences, particularly for communities seeking familiar culinary experiences in new environments.
Challenges and Solutions
Data Accuracy: The Foursquare API provided valuable customer metrics such as tips and likes. However, care was taken to clean and validate the data, ensuring that outliers and inaccuracies were handled appropriately.
Evolving Trends: Since restaurant preferences and customer ratings can change over time, the analysis compared data over multiple years (2020-2022) to capture these trends and provide up-to-date insights.
Final Deliverables
Indian Restaurant Rankings: A list of the top Indian restaurants by ratings, tips, and likes, providing a comprehensive guide for Indian families.
Neighborhood and Borough Analysis: Insights into the number of Indian restaurants per borough, highlighting the best neighborhoods for authentic Indian dining.
Data Visualizations: Mapped visualizations showing the distribution of Indian restaurants across NYC and key metrics for each borough.
Conclusion
This project offers valuable insights into the Indian restaurant scene in New York City, providing a data-driven guide for families seeking authentic dining experiences. By leveraging data science techniques, the analysis highlights top restaurants, evolving trends, and neighborhood dynamics, making it easier for Indian families to find familiar culinary options in the city.
GitHub Link: View Full Code
