Curious where Washington'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 analyze which restaurants have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Washington 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 this winter.
The Meatball Shop
Open since October, this New York City import is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
Citywide, traditional American spots saw review counts increase by a median of 1.4 percent over the past month, but The Meatball Shop saw a 26.1 percent increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout.
Located at 1720 14th St. NW (between North R Street and North Riggs Place) in Logan Circle, The Meatball Shop offers a range of meatballs — from classic beef to Maine Lobster — in a variety of configurations and covered in one of seven sauces. But there's also pasta dishes, salads and a full bar.
Fancy Radish
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Capitol Hill's Fancy Radish, the vegan New American spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp increased their review count by a median of 2 percent over the past month, Fancy Radish bagged a 15.3 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a strong 4.5-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.1 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 600 H St. NE (between North Seventh and North Sixth streets) since last March, Fancy Radish offers upscale vegan versions of international street foods, like dan dan noodles, za'atar-grilled maitake mushrooms and Peruvian potatoes spiced with yellow chile pepper.
There's more that's trending on Washington's New American scene: Gravitas has seen a 17.2 percent increase in reviews.
Del Mar
Finally, Southwest's Del Mar is the city's buzziest cocktail bar by the numbers.
The popular Spanish spot from D.C. restaurateur Fabio Trabocchi, which opened at 791 Wharf St. SW in November 2017, increased its review count by 5.9 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median review increase of 2.2 percent for the Yelp category "Cocktail Bars." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.6 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Del Mar offers signature cocktails — like the "Silencio," a mixture of mezcal, figs, black lemon and egg white — alongside a selection of seafood-focused food menu.
