Unsure where Denver'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 to deduce which local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Denver 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.
Read on to see which spots are riding a trend this autumn.
Rye Society
Open since July, this Jewish delicatessen is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "sandwiches" on Yelp.
Citywide, sandwich spots saw review counts increase by a median of 2.7 percent over the past month, but Rye Society saw a 50 percent increase, with a slight downward trend from a 4.5-star rating a month ago to four stars today.
Located at 3090 N. Larimer St. in Five Points, Rye Society offers bagel and brioche sandwiches along with pastrami, corned beef, tuna salad and turkey sandwiches.
Cherry Cricket Ballpark
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Cherry Cricket Ballpark, the Five Points sports bar is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Burgers" on Yelp increased their review count by a median of 2.6 percent over the past month, Cherry Cricket Ballpark bagged a 47.4 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a sound four-star rating.
Open since April at 2220 Blake St., Cherry Cricket Ballpark offers appetizers such as crispy mac and cheese bites and loaded nachos; Mexican cuisine like tacos, burritos and enchiladas; as well as customizable burgers with protein options that include beef, bison and turkey. Here's the menu.
Hungry Wolf BBQ
Hampden's Hungry Wolf BBQ is also making waves. Open since June at 9865 E. Hampden Ave., the Southern spot, which offers barbecue and seafood, has seen a 20 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2 percent for all businesses tagged "seafood" on Yelp.
Hungry Wolf BBQ offers chicken wings, chicken gizzards and mac and cheese bites to start. Look for catfish, perch, pulled pork and smoked turkey leg sandwiches as well as seafood and barbecue entrees. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
The Brutal Poodle
The Brutal Poodle, a hard rock-inspired tavern, is the city's buzziest bar by the numbers.
The bar and traditional American spot, which opened at 1967 S. Broadway in December 2017, increased its review count by 11.3 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 2.1 percent for the Yelp category "Bars."
It's not the only trending outlier in the bar category: The Griffin Tavern has seen a 9.6 percent increase in reviews, and Lucky Strike Denver and Recess Beer Garden have seen 8.2 and 5.5 percent increases, respectively.
The Brutal Poodle features an eclectic bar menu of "classic cocktails with a twist" and local beers, per its website. Hungry? Try the bacon-wrapped shrimp lollipops, smoked sausage wrapped in jalapeno cheddar corn breading and wings in a variety of flavors.
