As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending right now?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to discover which eateries have been getting outsized notice 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 getting plenty of attention, right now.
Guapo's of Georgetown
This family-owned Tex-Mex, Mexican and Latin American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp.
Citywide, Mexican spots saw a median 1.5% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Guapo's of Georgetown saw an 18.8% increase, maintaining a healthy four-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Mexican category: Mission Navy Yard has seen a 12.2% increase in reviews.
Located at 3050 K St. NW in Georgetown, Guapo's of Georgetown offers carne asada, fajitas, enchiladas and numerous house specialties.
Estuary
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown Washington's Estuary, the seafood spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp saw a median 3.9% increase in new reviews over the past month, Estuary bagged a 76.9% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining an impressive five-star rating.
There's more that's trending on Washington's seafood scene: Rappahannock Oyster Bar has seen a 23.4% increase in reviews.
Open at 950 New York Ave. NW (between North 10th and North K streets) Estuary sources ingredients from along the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to Maryland crab roll and oysters, the dinner menu features cedar-planked salmon and lamb pastrami.
Napoli Pasta Bar
Columbia Heights' Napoli Pasta Bar is also making waves. Open since March 2018 at 2737 Sherman Ave. NW (between North Fairmont and North Girard streets), the Italian and breakfast and brunch spot has seen a 13.3% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.9% for all businesses tagged "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Napoli Pasta Bar's review count increased by more than 550%.
Napoli Pasta Bar offers a variety of Italian dishes and pastas such as cavatelli con zucchine with zucchini cream, pork meat balls and ricotta salt cheese. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down from 4.5 stars to four stars.
Pisco y Nazca Ceviche Gastrobar
Foggy Bottom's Pisco y Nazca Ceviche Gastrobar is the city's buzziest cocktail bar by the numbers.
The well-established gastropub, cocktail bar and Peruvian spot, which opened at 1823 L St. NW (between North 19th and North 18th streets) in September 2018, increased its new review count by 15% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 3.6% for the Yelp category "Cocktail Bars."
Pisco y Nazca Ceviche Gastrobar offers Peruvian-style chicken and rice, Peruvian seafood soup and more of what the chefs describe as modern Peruvian cuisine.
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.
