Wondering where New Orleans' 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 local businesses have been getting the most attention this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at New Orleans 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 closing the summer out strong.
Le Bayou
Open since last November, this Cajun/Creole spot, which offers seafood and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp.
Citywide, seafood spots saw a median 1.5% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Le Bayou saw an 18.9% increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: BOIL Seafood House has seen a 12.2% increase in reviews.
Located at 503 Bourbon St. in the French Quarter, Le Bayou offers raw oysters, gumbo, blackened redfish, burgers, po'boys, salads and sandwiches. Handcrafted cocktails are also on the menu.
Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about the Central Business District's Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast, the breakfast and brunch spot, which offers comfort food and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.8% increase in new reviews over the past month, Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast bagged an 8.3% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a superior four-star rating.
Open at 920 Poydras St. since last October, Daisy Mae's Southern Fried Chicken & Breakfast serves Southern breakfast staples like shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, omelets and eggs Benedict all day.
We Dat's Chicken and Shrimp
The Central Business District's We Dat's Chicken and Shrimp is also making waves. Open since 2016 at 1407 Canal St., the Cajun/Creole spot, which offers chicken wings and more, has seen a 5.2% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.4% for all businesses tagged "Cajun/Creole" on Yelp.
We Dat's Chicken and Shrimp serves chicken wings, fried shrimp and catfish, wraps and quesadillas, as well as sodas and Southern desserts like banana pudding, strawberry shortcake and praline pound cake. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Faubourg Bistro
The French Quarter's Faubourg Bistro is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.
The well-established New American and Cajun/Creole spot, which opened in 2015 at 700 Burgundy St., increased its new review count by 3.5% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.6% for the Yelp category "American (New)."
Faubourg Bistro offers a wide variety of sandwiches and loaded french fries, as well as salads, fish and chips, fried chicken fingers, mac and cheese bites and chicken wings.
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.
