Curious where Seattle'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 analyze which local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Seattle 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 worth exploring this autumn.
Deep Sea Sugar & Salt
Popular cake shop Deep Sea Sugar & Salt is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "bakeries" on Yelp.
Located at 6601 Carleton Ave. South in Georgetown, Deep Sea Sugar & Salt opened its first brick-and-mortar shop earlier this year following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Eater Seattle reports the business recently closed the Airstream trailer that previously housed its sweet treats.
The bakery offers unique flavors like the London Fog, composed of Earl Grey cake, honey, bergamot mascarpone cream and cream cheese frosting, and classic favorites such as chocolate salted caramel cake.
Citywide, bakeries saw review counts increase by a median of 1.4 percent over the past month, but Deep Sea Sugar & Salt saw a 17.5 percent increase, maintaining a sound 4.5-star rating throughout.
Jerk Shack
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Belltown's Jerk Shack, the cocktail bar, beer bar and Caribbean spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "cocktail bars" on Yelp increased their review counts by a median of 2.1 percent over the past month, Jerk Shack bagged a 9.8 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a strong four-star rating.
Open at 2510 First Ave. since December 2017, Jerk Shack offers a variety of meats, salads and comfort foods made with the popular Jamaican jerk flavor. Signature cocktails are also on offer.
Sizzle & Crunch
The University District's Sizzle & Crunch is also making waves. Open since early 2017 at 1313 N.E. 42nd St., the well-established Vietnamese spot, which offers salads and sandwiches, has seen a 4.2 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2 percent for all businesses tagged "sandwiches" on Yelp.
The fast-casual Sizzle & Crunch offers customizable Vietnamese fare and banh mi sandwiches along with rice and noodle bowls. Over the past month, it's maintained a healthy four-star rating among Yelpers.
