Want the scoop on Houston's buzziest local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to analyze which restaurants have been getting a noteworthy uptick in attention 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.
1751 Sea And Bar
Open since March, this cocktail bar, which offers seafood and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp.
Citywide, seafood spots saw a median 3.5 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but 1751 Sea and Bar saw a significant 143.8 percent increase, with a slight downward trend from a five-star rating a month ago to 4.5 stars today.
It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: Captain Crawfish has seen a 41.9 percent increase in reviews, and Crawfish & Beignets has seen a 40 percent bump.
Located at 191 Heights Blvd. in Washington Avenue Coalition / Memorial Park, 1751 Sea and Bar offers a raw oyster bar, along with seafood selections like swordfish, mussels, crawfish, calamari and clams. (See the full menu here.)
La Vibra Tacos
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the Heights's La Vibra Tacos, the Mexican spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp saw a median 2.1 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, La Vibra Tacos bagged a 25.8 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a convincing four-star rating.
Open at 506 Yale St., Suite A, since January, La Vibra Tacos offers a wide selection of street tacos on either a corn or flour tortilla. Try the pastor classico (marinated pork, onion, cilantro and pineapple on a corn tortilla) and the costilla costra with ribs and Gouda cheese on a flour tortilla. (Explore the rest of the menu here.)
Dish Society
The Heights's Dish Society is also making waves. Open since January at 1050 Yale St., the New American and breakfast and brunch spot has seen a 51.8 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.5 percent for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Dish Society's review count increased by more than 200 percent.
There's more than one hotspot trending in Houston's New American category: Bloom & Bee has seen a 9.1 percent increase in reviews.
Dish Society has five Houston area locations. The restaurant offers comfort food with separate breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner menus. Early risers can order favorites like Nutella and French toast, breakfast sandwiches and chicken and biscuits. Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing 4.5-star rating among Yelpers. (Find the rest of the menu here.)
1/2 The Guilt
Greater Uptown's 1/2 The Guilt is the city's buzziest burger spot by the numbers.
The halal spot, which offers burgers and more and opened at 2721 Chimney Rock Road in March, increased its new review count by an impressive 158.3 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 8.4 percent for the Yelp category "Burgers."
1/2 The Guilt offers grass-fed beef burgers, free-range chicken and more using organic ingredients. The spot also serves up vegetarian and vegan burgers. (The rest of the menu can be found 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.
