Wondering where Austin'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 local businesses have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Austin 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 getting plenty of attention, right now.
Plaza Colombian Coffee
This bakery and Colombian spot, which offers coffee and tea and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Coffee & Tea" on Yelp.
Citywide, coffee and tea spots saw a median 1.7 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Plaza Colombian Coffee saw a 45.5 percent increase, maintaining a strong 4.5-star rating throughout.
Located at 3842 S. Congress in Dawson, Plaza Colombian Coffee offers exotic fruit juices, espresso, cold brew coffee, empanadas and Colombian pastries.
Garrison
Downtown Austin's Garrison is also making waves. Open since 2018 at 101 Red River St., the steakhouse and New American spot, which offers seafood and more, has seen an 18.3 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.2 percent for all businesses tagged "Seafood" on Yelp.
Garrison offers wood-fired avocado, grilled octopus, Wagyu eye of rib-eye, smoked heritage chicken and more. Over the past month, it's maintained a stellar five-star rating among Yelpers.
Moonshine Comfort & Cocktails
Moonshine Comfort & Cocktails is the city's buzziest traditional American spot by the numbers.
The bar and traditional American and breakfast and brunch spot, which opened at 10525 W. Parmer Lane in 2018, increased its new review count by 19.4 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2 percent for the Yelp category "American (Traditional)." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.8 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
It's not the only trending outlier in the traditional American category: Anthem has seen a 13.5 percent increase in reviews, and Pluckers and Phoebe's Diner have seen 10.7 and 7.9 percent increases, respectively.
Moonshine Comfort & Cocktails offers chicken and waffles, seared rainbow trout, chicken fried steak, salads, sandwiches and more.
Flyrite Chicken
Brentwood's well-established Flyrite Chicken is currently on the upswing in the sandwich category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Sandwiches" on Yelp saw a median 2.4 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, this spot to score sandwiches, fast food and burgers increased its new reviews by 4.9 percent—and kept its rating consistent at three stars. Review counts increased by more than 280 percent on a month-to-month basis.
Open for business at 6539 Burnet Road since 2017, the business offers chicken sandwiches, wraps salads, breakfast tacos, shakes and more.
Sweet Chive
Open since 2018, this sushi bar and Taiwanese spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Sushi Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, businesses tagged "Sushi Bars" saw a median 2.4 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Sweet Chive saw a 15.9 percent increase, maintaining a convincing four-star rating throughout. It gained 0.9 times more reviews than expected based on past performance, significantly outperforming the previous month.
Located at 2515 E. Cesar Chavez St. in Holly, Sweet Chive offers rice bowls, beef noodle soup, vegetable chive pockets, cucumber salad and more.
Suerte
Is East Cesar Chavez's popular Suerte on your radar? According to Yelp review data, the Mexican spot is getting plenty of attention.
While businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp increased their media new review count by 2.2 percent over the past month, Suerte nabbed an 8.5 percent increase in reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a sound four-star rating.
Located at 1800 E. Sixth St., Suerte offers goat barbacoa, carne asada, crab tostada, ceviche 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.
