Curious 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 uncover which local businesses 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 increase their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance.
Read on to see which spots are worth exploring, right now.
Pony Up
Open since July, this popular cocktail bar, which offers sandwiches, salads and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, cocktail bars saw review counts increase by a median of 3.8 percent over the past month, but Pony Up saw a 15.3 percent increase, maintaining a superior 4.5-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis review counts increased by more than 220 percent.
Located at 1808 Blake St. in LoDo, Pony Up offers cuisine inspired by the founder's childhood favorite, The French Dip sandwich, along with cocktails like the Grande Matcha-Colada with aged rum, coconut cream, pineapple and matcha green tea; the Brown Butter Old Fashioned with W.L. Weller bourbon, black walnut and orange bitters; and My Paloma with Herradura Blanco, grapefruit, lemon agave and Peychaud's. (See the full menu here.)
ViewHouse Ballpark
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Five Points's ViewHouse Ballpark, the popular bar and traditional American spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp increased their review count by a median of 2.2 percent over the past month, ViewHouse Ballpark bagged a 9.6 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a mixed three-star rating.
Open at 2015 Market St. since 2013, ViewHouse Ballpark offers snacks like bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers and skillet fries, along with bigger meals like the chicken pesto sandwich and blue crab enchiladas. Brunch is also served on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
STK Denver
LoDo's STK Denver is also making waves. Open since 2017 at 1550 Market St., the well-established cocktail bar, steakhouse and New American spot has seen a 10.2 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.7 percent for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
STK Denver offers hearty meals like its Bourbon Apple Strip Steak, STK House Burger and Butter Poached Lobster Cobb with soft boiled egg, tomato, avocado, crispy prosciutto and lemon-truffle vinaigrette. (See the menu here.) Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing four-star rating among Yelpers.
