Wondering where Austin'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 analyze which restaurants 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 on a hot streak, right now.
Shore Raw Bar & Grill
Open since May, this Mexican and Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp.
Citywide, Mexican spots saw a median 2.1 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Shore Raw Bar & Grill saw a 29.6 percent increase, maintaining a solid four-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Shore Raw Bar & Grill's review count increased by more than 180 percent.
Located at 8665 W. Sh 71, Suite 100, in West Oak Hill, Shore Raw Bar & Grill offers gulf oysters with chorizo butter, grilled Spanish octopus tostadas, shrimp and oyster po'boys and a seafood sampler that includes king crab legs and house-made ceviche.
Unbarlievable
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown Austin's Unbarlievable, the circus-themed bar is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp saw a median 1.8 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Unbarlievable bagged a 7.2 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a mixed three-star rating.
Open at 76 Rainey St. since March 2017, Unbarlievable has circus-themed menu items like cotton candy, kettle corn and funnel cakes as well as creative cocktails.
Waffle House
Southeast's Waffle House is also making waves. Open since July at 7809 E. Ben White Blvd., the diner and traditional American and breakfast and brunch spot has seen a 5.3 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.3 percent for all businesses tagged "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Waffle House's review count increased by more than 200 percent.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Austin's breakfast and brunch category: Geraldine's has seen a 4 percent increase in reviews.
Waffle House offers lunch fare like burgers, Texas melts and other sandwiches, plus fan favorites like chocolate chip waffles and biscuits and gravy. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Cafe Blue
Downtown Austin's Cafe Blue is the city's buzziest seafood spot by the numbers.
The popular steakhouse and cocktail bar, which offers seafood and more, opened at 340 E. Second St. in the fall of 2016. It has increased its new review count by 6.1 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.1 percent for the Yelp category "Seafood." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.8 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Cafe Blue offers shucked-to-order oysters, crab cakes, steaks, global seafood dishes and a notable key lime pie. Popular items also include the crab mac and cheese, seafood crepes, and the lump blue crab cakes with a mustard wine sauce.
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.
