Unsure where Houston'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 uncover which local businesses have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Houston 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.
Akashi
Open since October, this sushi bar and Japanese spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Sushi Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, sushi bars saw a median 3 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Akashi saw a 46.4 percent increase, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to four stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Akashi's review count increased by more than 650 percent.
It's not the only trending outlier in the sushi bar category: Shun Japanese Kitchen has seen a 21.7 percent increase in reviews.
There are eight other Akashi locations across East Texas. This outpost, located at 5440 El Dorado Blvd., Suite 1800, in Clear Lake, offers Asian fusion fare. The spot serves up Japanese favorites like sushi and Chinese staples like Mongolian beef. Menu standouts include sweet and sour pork, the Fuji Volcano meal, the Houston Roll and the seaweed salad. Don't forget to order the hot saki.
Dan's Seafood & Wings
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Mid West's Dan's Seafood & Wings, the Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood and chicken wings, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp saw a median 3.8 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Dan's Seafood & Wings bagged a 67.9 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, with a slight downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to its current 4.5 stars.
There's more that's trending on Houston's seafood scene: BB’s Tex-Orleans has seen a 28.8 percent increase in reviews.
Dan's Seafood & Wings has one other location in East Houston. The second outpost, located at 3991 S. Gessner Road, since January, offers Asian, Latin and Cajun-inspired recipes, with seafood that can be ordered boiled, fried or grilled. The menu also features sandwiches, noodles, rice, soup and salad. (Find the full menu here.)
Blanco Tacos + Tequila
Greater Uptown's Blanco Tacos + Tequila is also making waves. Open since December at 5115 Westheimer Road, Suite C2520, the Mexican spot has seen a 24.4 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2 percent for all businesses tagged "Mexican" on Yelp.
There's more than one hotspot trending in Houston's Mexican category: Tamales Don Pepe has seen a 10.1 percent increase in reviews, and El Tiempo Cantina- Westheimer has seen a 4.4 percent bump.
Blanco Tacos + Tequila has multiple locations in Arizona and California. The first Texas outpost offers salads, tacos, burritos, fajitas and more. Try the hamachi and watermelon ceviche to start, and then move on to the chicken enchiladas along with a strawberry margarita. Over the past month, it's maintained a solid four-star rating among Yelpers. (Check out the entire menu here.)
Decadent Café and Dessert Bar
Afton Oaks / River Oaks Area's Decadent Café and Dessert Bar is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The cafe and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers desserts and more and opened at 4340 Westheimer Road, Suite 150, in January, increased its new review count by 30.2 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 3.2 percent for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch."
Decadent Café and Dessert Bar offers gourmet coffee and desserts. The breakfast crowd can choose from four different breakfast sandwiches or three varieties of West Coast waffles. Customers with a sweet tooth can order cake, brownies, cookies or the popular dessert skillets, which come to your table fresh from the oven. (Explore the menu here.)
This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
