Food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending right this minute?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to analyze which eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Austin businesses on Yelp by category and counted how many reviews each received. Rather than compare them based on the 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 getting plenty of attention, right now.
Artipasta
Open since July 2018, this Italian food truck is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Italian" on Yelp.
Citywide, Italian spots saw a median 4.6 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Artipasta saw a 68 percent increase, with a slight downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Artipasta's review count increased by more than 280 percent.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Italian category: Uncle Nicky's has seen a 38.5 percent increase in reviews.
Located at 7800 S. First St., Artipasta offers handcrafted pasta dishes from the owners' Northern Italian hometown; try its flagship lasagna filled with béchamel and house meat sauces, four-cheese macaroni and caserecce with sage and almonds pesto. Popular desserts like tiramisu and semifreddo made with figs and walnuts are also available.
First Watch
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Allandale's First Watch, the popular traditional American cafe serving breakfast and brunch is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp saw a median 2.2 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, First Watch bagged a 7.9 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a convincing four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.0 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Austin's traditional American scene: Anthem has seen a 14.7 percent increase in reviews.
Open at 2525 W. Anderson Lane, Bldg. 3, Suite 140 since October 2018, First Watch offers omelets, pancakes, sandwiches and more. Notable items include the Floridian French toast made of thick-cut brioche with wheat germ and powdered cinnamon sugar and covered with fresh banana, kiwi and seasonal berries and the Mexican corn hash with sliced avocado, cotija cheese, chipotle cream and cilantro.
Bird Bird Biscuit
Rosewood's Bird Bird Biscuit is also making waves. Open since July 2018 at 2701 Manor Road, the popular breakfast and brunch spot, which offers sandwiches and more, has seen a 13.1 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.3 percent for all businesses tagged "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp.
There's more than one hotspot trending in Austin's breakfast and brunch category: Il Brutto has seen a 7.1 percent increase in reviews, and Bao'd Up has seen a 7 percent bump.
Bird Bird Biscuit's star attraction is its Queen Beak biscuit sandwich with spicy chicken thigh, cayenne black pepper honey and chipotle mayo. This spot also offers dough-doughs, which is biscuit dough and rolled in sugar and cinnamon. Over the past month, this spot has maintained a convincing 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Gabriela's Downtown
Last but not least, central East Austin's Gabriela's Downtown is the city's buzziest Mexican spot by the numbers.
The Mexican spot and cocktail bar, which opened at 900 E. Seventh St. in February 2018, increased its new review count by 6.6 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.8 percent for the Yelp category "Mexican." It currently maintains a four-star rating among Yelpers.
Gabriela's Downtown offers margaritas and mezcal cocktails; its modern Mexican menu includes Aguachil shrimp and ceviche micheladas, tacos with fillings like beer-battered shrimp, marinated rib-eye steak and shredded chicken tinga, and desserts like chocoflan (flan and chocolate cake smothered in caramel sauce).
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.
