Wondering 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 increased their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance.
Read on to see which spots have the momentum heading into summer.
Taqueria Las Tortugas
Open since 2018, this Mexican and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers desserts and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp.
Citywide, Mexican spots saw a median 2.3 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Taqueria Las Tortugas saw a 40 percent increase, maintaining an outstanding five-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Taqueria Las Tortugas's review count increased by more than 300 percent.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Mexican category: Blanco Tacos + Tequila has seen a 12.9 percent increase in reviews.
Located at 1416 Eldridge Parkway in Eldridge / West Oaks, Taqueria Las Tortugas offers authentic Mexican fare like tacos, burritos, enchiladas and sandwiches. It's the second location for the family-owned restaurant, which also has an outpost in Michigan. On the menu, look for the pork loin sandwich on the eatery's signature bread, or the beef tongue or steak tacos on double corn tortillas. The spot also offers churros with caramel for dessert. (Check out the entire menu here.)
Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Afton Oaks / River Oaks Area's Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors, the well-established Southern and New American spot, which offers seafood and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Southern" on Yelp saw a median 2.9 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors bagged a 3.5 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a superior four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 5.0 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 2400 Mid Lane, Suite 100, since 2016, Eloise Nichols Grill & Liquors offers fish, chicken, pasta and beef on the dinner menu. Try ordering the caramelized Brussel sprouts as an appetizer and then digging into the chicken & dumplings. Stop in on "wine down Wednesday" for half off all bottles or Thursday for dollar oysters. (Here's the entire menu.)
B.B. Lemon
Washington Avenue Coalition / Memorial Park's B.B. Lemon is also making waves. Open since 2018 at 1809 Washington Ave., the gastropub and New American spot has seen a 12.3 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 3 percent for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
B.B. Lemon offers soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches and tavern-type entrees like shepherd's pie and fish and chips. Menu standouts include the D.W.B. mac & cheese (fresh pasta with jalapeños and bacon) as well as the steak frites (prime sirloin with béarnaise butter). Over the past month, B.B. Lemon has maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers. (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.
