Want the dirt on Seattle's most talked-about local spots? We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to deduce which local businesses have been most discussed 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, and tracked businesses that consistently increase their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance.
Read on to see which spots are extra cool, right now.
Shake Shack
Open at 2115 Westlake Ave. (between Blanchard Street and Ninth Avenue) in Belltown since October, this fast food chain is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
Citywide, traditional American spots saw review counts increase by a median of 1.7 percent over the past month, but Shake Shack saw an impressive 173.3 percent increase, with a slight downward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to 3.5 stars today.
It's not the only trending outlier in the traditional American category: Henry's Tavern South Lake Union has seen a 28.6 percent increase in reviews, and Dexter Brewhouse has seen a 22.9 percent bump.
Like locations across the country, Belltown's new Shake Shack offers a variety of burgers, flat-top hot dogs, sandwiches, fries, milkshakes, frozen custard and other desserts.
Cortina
Central Business District's Cortina is the city's buzziest Italian spot by the numbers.
The Italian spot, which opened at 621 Union St. (between Sixth and Seventh avenues) in May of this year, increased its review count by 24.6 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 2.2 percent for the Yelp category "Italian." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.8 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Cortina, courtesy of Ethan Stowell Restaurants, offers pizzas, pastas, seafood and more, as well as burgers and comfort food. The bar also offers specialty cocktails, wine and beer.
Cafe Opla
Belltown's Cafe Opla is currently on the upswing in the breakfast and brunch category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp increased review counts by a median of 1.8 percent over the past month, this cafe, which offers specializes in Vietnamese breakfast staples, increased its by 19 percent — and kept its rating consistent at 4.5 stars. Its review counts also increased by more than 190 percent on a month-to-month basis.
Open for business at 2200 Alaskan Way, Suite 120, since last December, Cafe Opla is named after the Vietnamese word that derived from "oeufs au plats," or fried eggs, according to its website. The cafe offers fried egg skillets — served with a variety of meats, tofu, veggies and a baguette — breakfast and bahn mi sandwiches, as well as coffee and tea drinks, as they're popularly served on the streets of Vietnam.
