Unsure where Atlanta'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 discover which local businesses have been getting outsized attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Atlanta 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 extra cool this summer.
The Fill Up Station
Open since March, this seafood and Caribbean spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp.
Citywide, seafood spots saw a median 2 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but The Fill Up Station saw a 58.8 percent increase, maintaining a convincing four-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis The Fill Up Station's review count increased by more than 140 percent.
Located at 2740 Greenbriar Parkway SW, Suite B-14, in Greenbriar, The Fill Up Station offers build-your-own seafood, steak and chicken bowls. Select from a base of salad, rice, pasta, nachos, mashed potatoes or other offerings, add your meat, pile on additions such as mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and peppers and season as you prefer.
Flower Child
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Buckhead's Flower Child, the New American and vegetarian spot, which offers salads and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 2.1 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Flower Child bagged a 7.1 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, with a slight downward trend from a 4.5-star rating a month ago to its current four stars.
Open at 3400 Around Lenox Drive, Suite 207, since summer 2018, Flower Child offers mainly vegetarian and vegan plates, bowls and wraps with ingredients like grilled asparagus, Thai green papaya, organic smashed potatoes, Indian spied cauliflower and tofu. For meat eaters, there's chicken, grass-fed steak and salmon.
Chido & Padre's
Chido & Padre's is also making waves. Open since March 2018 at 128 E. Andrews Drive NW, the bar and Mexican spot has seen a 6.1 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.1 percent for all businesses tagged "Mexican" on Yelp.
Chido & Padre's offers house specialties including grilled shrimp skewers, skirt steak, tacos, tamales and enchiladas. There are also vegetarian options like creamed corn and chayote tamales and ceviche. Over the past month, Chido & Padre's has maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
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.
