Curious 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 uncover which restaurants have been in the limelight 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 getting plenty of attention this summer.
Blackbird
Open since early this year, this New American and French spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 2.2 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Blackbird saw a 40.6 percent increase, with a slight downward trend from a 4.5-star rating a month ago to four stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Blackbird's review count increased by more than 320 percent.
Located at 393 Marietta St. NW downtown, Blackbird offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, with brunch on weekends. Menu offerings include roasted pork tenderloin with braised rhubarb and English peas, avocado lime salmon, bone-in ribeye and whole roasted cauliflower.
Tin Lizzy's Cantina
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the downtown's Tin Lizzy's Cantina, the well-established sports bar and Tex-Mex and Mexican spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp saw a median 2 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Tin Lizzy's Cantina bagged a 5.6 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a mixed three-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.3 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Atlanta's Mexican scene: Babalu Tapas & Tacos has seen a 5.9 percent increase in reviews.
Open at 26 Andrew Young International Blvd. NE since summer 2015, Tin Lizzy's Cantina offers what the menu calls "FlexMex" cuisine, with flautas, quesadillas and tacos in flavors ranging from Korean barbecue to Philly cheesesteak. The bar specializes in margaritas.
Paschal's
Castleberry Hill's Paschal's is also making waves. Open since late 2006 at 180 Northside Drive SW, the popular Southern and soul food spot has seen a 2.5 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.6 percent for all businesses tagged "Southern" on Yelp. However, on a month-to-month basis Paschal's review count increased by more than 430 percent.
Heir to the original Paschal's, a center of Atlanta's African American culture during the civil rights movement, the restaurant offers familiar fare like fried chicken, burgers, po' boys, crab cakes, ribs, catfish and shrimp etouffee, collard greens, sweet potato fries and mac and cheese. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed three-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.
