Want the scoop on Dallas's buzziest local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to discover which local businesses have been on the tips of diners' tongues this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Dallas 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.
Delucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine
Open since November, this bar and Brazilian spot, which offers pizza and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw review counts increase by a median of 2.3 percent over the past month, but Delucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine saw a 73.5 percent increase, maintaining a strong four-star rating throughout.
Located at 1628 Oak Lawn Ave., Suite 100, in Near East, Delucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine offers Gaucho style dining where, for $20, customers can sample as many as 20 different types of thin-crust, brick-oven pizza. The handcrafted pies include Portuguese pizza with eggs, Prosciutto Cotto and olives, Turkish Lamb with Sumac onions, sauteed shrimp and Fontina and even dessert pies with Nutella or roasted pear, gorgonzola and honey. Each meal also starts with a charcuterie and antipasto platter and a cup of lobster bisque. (Click here to view the full menu.)
Da Munchies
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Eagle Ford's Da Munchies, the vegan and traditional American spot, which offers comfort food and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp increased their review count by a median of 2.3 percent over the past month, Da Munchies bagged a 39.4 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a superior 4.5-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.3 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Dallas's traditional American scene: #getfried fry cafe has seen a 16 percent increase in reviews.
Open at 4121 N. Westmoreland Road since August, Da Munchies offers finger food and burgers, hot dogs and tacos. Try the Philly cheesesteak egg rolls, fried guacamole onion rings and Big Munchie Burger. There are also many items on the herbivore section of the menu, like the jack fruit nuggets and vegan super dog.
Velvet Taco
Oak Lawn's Velvet Taco is also making waves. Open since 2017, at 3411 McKinney Ave., the New American and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers tacos and more, has seen a 22.1 percent bump in reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.5 percent for all businesses tagged "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
There's more than one hotspot trending in Dallas's breakfast and brunch category: Merchant House has seen a 19 percent increase in reviews, and Pizzeria Testa has seen a 14.1 percent bump.
Velvet Taco offers an entire menu featuring 21 different taco options with chicken, vegetables, pork, beef or fish. Diners can choose the slow-roasted Angus brisket taco with red chili mayo, avocado, relish, queso blanco, cilantro and cheese in a flour tortilla; or opt for the buffalo chicken taco with buffalo sauce, blue cheese, ranch crema, carrots and celery on a flour tortilla. Brunch, which is served all day, has breakfast-style tacos like bacon and eggs and the Monte Cristo with strawberry jam, honey ham, strawberry salsa and powdered sugar on a french toast tortilla. (Click here to review the whole menu.)
Over the past month, it's maintained a solid four-star rating among Yelpers.
Billy Can Can
Near East's Billy Can Can is the city's buzziest cocktail bar by the numbers.
The steakhouse and cocktail bar, which offers seafood and more and opened at 2386 Victory Park Lane in June, increased its review count by 31.2 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 4.1 percent for the Yelp category "Cocktail Bars." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 4.0 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
It's not the only trending outlier in the cocktail bar category: Vidorra has seen a 16.6 percent increase in reviews.
Billy Can Can offers an upscale menu that includes chicken, fowl, steak, seafood and fish selections. The 16 oz. prime New York strip is a popular choice, while the swordfish steak, which comes with beans and salsa verde, gets high marks as well. The restaurant has an extensive drink menu that includes local and international bottles of wine as well as cocktails, spirits and craft beers.
Charcoal Avenue
And then there's Far North's well-established Charcoal Avenue, which is currently on the upswing in the New American category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp increased review counts by a median of 3.4 percent over the past month, this New American, Mediterranean and Indian spot increased its by 9.8 percent—and kept its rating consistent at 4.5 stars. Review counts increased by more than 600 percent on a month-to-month basis.
Open for business at 17509 Coit Road, Suite 7, since September, the business offers flame-broiled food like tikka chicken (grilled spicy boneless chicken), kebabs (minced spiced beef) and gyros (shaved beef and lamb off rotisserie) in either rice, a salad or pita wrap with white, red or green sauce. The menu also features burgers, sandwiches and wings. (To view the full menu, click here.)
