As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending right this minute?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to deduce which local businesses have been getting outsized attention 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 on a hot streak, right now.
Pony Up
Open since July, this neighborhood bar and eatery is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "sandwiches" on Yelp.
Citywide, sandwich spots saw review counts increase by a median of 2.8 percent over the past month, but Pony Up saw a 92.1 percent increase, with a slight downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today.
Located at 1808 Blake St. in LoDo, Pony Up focuses on French dip sandwiches. You can score a classic French dip sandwich, but the menu also has unique takes on the classic, including the Saigon, with lemongrass pork, cilantro, basil and jalapeños; and the Alameda Street classic, made with sea salt, rosemary, mayonnaise and beef jus.
Citizen Rail
LoDo's Citizen Rail is also making waves. Open since August 2017 at 1899 16th St., the New American restaurant has seen a 10.3 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.8 percent for all businesses tagged "breakfast & brunch" on Yelp.
If you're there in the morning, Citizen Rail offers dishes like the Smoked Pork Belly Frittata (with roasted Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, ricotta and sea salt), the Hole in the Wall (poached egg, eggplant, coppa, basil puree and heirloom tomato sauce) and the Hot Chicken Sandwich (house hot sauce, pickle, butter lettuce, duck schmaltz, house-baked white bread and malt fries). See the menus here.
Over the past month, it's maintained a strong four-star rating among Yelpers.
Bang Up To The Elephant!
Capitol Hill's Bang Up To The Elephant! is the city's buzziest bar by the numbers.
The bar, Caribbean spot and live music venue, which opened at 1310 Pearl St. in January, increased its review count by 6.2 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: SOL Mexican Cocina has seen a 5.8 percent increase in reviews.
Bang Up To The Elephant! offers an extensive drink menu, which includes beers, wines and cocktails. The latter includes the Newgate Knockers (gin, tamarind syrup, almond and lemon), the Lady Bird (vodka, damiana, mango syrup, lime, Thai basil and sparking wine) and the Scandal-Water (tequila, tropical shrub, hibiscus syrup, lime and club soda). See the full drink menu here.
