Want the intel on Chicago's most talked-about local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to analyze which restaurants have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Chicago 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 are sizzling hot this summer.
Bob's Pizza
This pizza spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Pizza" on Yelp.
Citywide, pizza spots saw a median 1.9 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Bob's Pizza saw a 67.7 percent increase, maintaining a stellar five-star rating throughout.
Located at 1659 W. 21st St. (between Ashland Avenue and Paulina Street) in the Heart Of Chicago, Bob's Pizza offers specialty pizzas like spinach pesto with prosciutto and sun-dried tomato or the pickle pizza with mortadella and dill pickles.
Fatpour Tap Works
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Fatpour Tap Works, the bar and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers pizza and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.8 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Fatpour Tap Works bagged a 21.3 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to its current four stars.
There's more that's trending on Chicago's breakfast and brunch scene: Limitless Coffee & Tea - Fulton Market has seen a 9.2 percent increase in reviews, and etta and Ina Mae Tavern & Packaged Goods have seen 9.2 and 8.1 percent increases, respectively.
Open at 2206 S. Indiana Ave. (between 23rd Street and Cermak Road) since 2018, Fatpour Tap Works offers tacos, salads, pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and more.
Joe's Imports
West Town's Joe's Imports is also making waves. Located at 813 W. Fulton Market, the wine bar and Mediterranean spot, which offers tapas and more, has seen a 22.7 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.7 percent for all businesses tagged "Mediterranean" on Yelp.
Joe's Imports offers salads, seafood, lamb, ribs and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a convincing 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
Clearing (E)'s Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is the city's buzziest Italian spot by the numbers.
The Italian spot, which offers pizza and more and opened at 6456 S. Cicero Ave. in 2017, increased its new review count by 6.1 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.4 percent for the Yelp category "Italian." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.5 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria offers Chicago-style deep dish pizza, thin crust pizza, appetizers and more.
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.
