Curious where Denver's in-the-know crowd is 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 restaurants have been getting a notable increase in 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, 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 worth exploring, right now.
The Brutal Poodle
This bar and traditional American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw review counts increase by a median of 2.2 percent over the past month, but The Brutal Poodle saw a 10.2 percent increase, maintaining an outstanding five-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis review counts increased by more than 220 percent.
Located at 1967 S. Broadway in Overland, The Brutal Poodle offers traditional American cuisine, like burgers, chili, and chicken and waffles, along with cocktails and beer.
Wendell's
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Berkeley's Wendell's, the diner is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "breakfast & brunch" on Yelp increased their review counts by a median of 2.5 percent over the past month, Wendell's bagged a 16.4 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, with a slight downward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to its current 3.5 stars. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.7 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open since spring at 3838 Tennyson St., Wendell's offers contemporary diner staples, such as the Black and White French Toast, consisting of chocolate and orange ginger-dipped brioche.
There's more that's trending on Denver's breakfast and brunch scene: Just BE Kitchen has seen a 6 percent increase in reviews.
Punch Bowl Social Stapleton
Punch Bowl Social Stapleton is also making waves. Open since 2017 at 3120 Uinta St., the gastropub and New American spot has seen an 8.9 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.5 percent for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
Punch Bowl Social Stapleton delivers "eatertainment," offering guests karaoke, bowling, bocci ball, cornhole and more, in addition to its food. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
