Curious where Chicago's insiders are 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 deduce which restaurants have been most discussed 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.
Machine: Engineered Dining & Drink
Open since March, this bar and New American spot, which offers desserts, cocktails and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 2 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Machine: Engineered Dining & Drink saw a 48.5 percent increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: Hampton Social has seen a 10.8 percent increase in reviews, and The Madison Bar and Kitchen has seen a 5.7 percent bump.
Located at 1846 W. Division St. (between Marion Court and Wolcott Avenue) in Wicker Park, Machine offers world cuisine for brunch, lunch and dinner from chef Trevor Hoyte. Notable items include shrimp and grits, grilled cheese and French toast (it comes with caramelized banana, toasted hazelnut, chocolate, coconut powder and Vermont maple syrup). Try cocktails like Breaking Brulee, which is made with aged rum, strawberry, vanilla bean, egg and bruleed crust.
Merchant
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Logan Square's Merchant, the bar, gastropub and breakfast and brunch spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 2.1 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Merchant bagged a 15.5 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a convincing four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.8 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Chicago's breakfast and brunch scene: Etta has seen a 11 percent increase in reviews, and O'Shaughnessy's Public House and Ina Mae Tavern & Packaged Goods have seen 4 and 8.1 percent increases, respectively.
Open at 3137 W. Logan Blvd. since July 2018, Merchant offers lunch, dinner and late-night options. The menu features Nutella toast, biscuits and gravy and masa griddle cake with chorizo and your choice of egg. Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Dark Matter coffee are also on offer.
L'Ours Bakery Cafe
Little Italy's L'Ours Bakery Cafe is also making waves. Open since January at 1424 W. Taylor St. (between Loomis and Bishop streets), the cafe and bakery has seen a 23.3 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.8 percent for all businesses tagged "Coffee & Tea" on Yelp.
L'Ours Bakery Cafe offers breakfast sandwiches, cakes and pastries that include cheese danishes, strawberry and matcha croissants and chocolate ganache cake. You'll also find fruit and milk teas and lattes made with beans from local roaster Bridgeport Coffee. Over the past month, it's maintained a solid 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Sizzling Pot King
Greektown's Sizzling Pot King is the city's buzziest seafood spot by the numbers.
The Chinese spot, which opened at 769 W. Jackson Blvd. in July 2018, increased its new review count by 13.9 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.4 percent for the Yelp category "Seafood." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.7 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: Fisk & Co. has seen a 12 percent increase in reviews.
Sizzling Pot King offers Sichuan-style spicy crawfish, a steamed whole tilapia with Hunan pepper and griddle-cooked clam, shrimp or squid (all three are served with potato, cauliflower, celery, soybean sprouts and broccoli).
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.
