Austin/ Food & Drinks
AI Assisted Icon
Published on August 27, 2019
Polynesian cocktails, Vietnamese sandwiches and more: What's trending on Austin's food scene?The Lost Lei. | Photo: Wade N./Yelp

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 and SafeGraph, a dataset of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to deduce which local businesses have been in the spotlight this month.

To find out who made the list, we first 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. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.

Read on to see which spots have the momentum heading into back-to-school season.

The Git Out

Photo: Jimmie G./Yelp

Open since July, this bar and traditional American spot, which offers chicken wings and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.

Citywide, traditional American spots saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, but The Git Out saw a formidable 233.3% increase, maintaining a sound 4.5-star rating throughout.

It's not the only trending outlier in the traditional American category: TLC Austin has seen a 7.2% increase in reviews.

Located at 4930 S. Congress Ave., Suite C-307, in West Congress, The Git Out offers chicken wings, tacos, burgers and sandwiches. Trash Frys are made with waffle fries, cheddar jack blend queso, pico de gallo, jalapeños, tequila crema and cotija cheese. It’s topped with a sunny side up egg.

The Git Out is open from 4 p.m.–midnight on weekdays, 4 p.m.–1 a.m. on Saturday and 4–11 p.m. on Sunday.

Rosedale Kitchen and Bar

Photo: ROSEDALE KITCHEN AND BAR/Yelp

Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Rosedale's Rosedale Kitchen and Bar, the New American spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.

While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, Rosedale Kitchen and Bar bagged a substantial 272.7% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight upward trend from a 4.5-star rating a month ago to its current five stars.

There's more that's trending on Austin's New American scene: Gotham has seen a 16.9% increase in reviews, and The Brewer's Table and BurgerFi have seen 5.9 and 4.4% increases, respectively.

Open at 3800 N. Lamar Blvd. since July, Rosedale Kitchen and Bar offers BLT sandwiches made with pork belly, pan roasted salmon with sweet potato noodles, spinach and mushroom, and peanut butter ice cream for dessert.

Rosedale Kitchen and Bar is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, 5–11 p.m. on Saturday and 5–9 p.m. on Sunday.

V Cafe

Photo: Mia N./Yelp

V Cafe is also making waves. Open since July at 10700 Anderson Mill Road, Suite 210, the Vietnamese spot, which offers coffee and tea and sandwiches, has seen an impressive 216.7% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.9% for all businesses tagged "Sandwiches" on Yelp.

There's more than one hot spot trending in Austin's sandwich category: Gourmands Neighborhood Pub has seen a 0.6% increase in reviews.

V Cafe offers noodle soups, vermicelli rice bowls and sandwiches. Try the grilled beef on a croissant, which comes with carrots, pickles, cucumber, jalapeño, cilantro and house mayonnaise. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down from five stars to 4.5 stars.

V Cafe is open from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Wednesday-Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.)

The Lost Lei

Photo: Wade N./Yelp

Downtown Austin's The Lost Lei is the city's buzziest cocktail bar by the numbers.

The tiki bar, cocktail bar and venues and event space, which opened at 117 W. Fourth St., Suite 101A, in December, increased its new review count by a considerable 105.3% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.6% for the Yelp category "Cocktail Bars."

This spot has about ten signature cocktails — all made with rum. Offerings include the Mai Tai, island hurricane and beach bum.

The Lost Lei is open from 4 p.m.–2 a.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m.–2 a.m. on weekends.

Haymaker

Photo: rus m./Yelp

Upper Boggy Creek's popular Haymaker has seen a major increase in foot traffic recently.

While Haymaker stayed in line with the median 1.6% increase in new reviews for businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp over the past month, visits to Haymaker increased by more than 50%, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.

Open for business at 2310 Manor Road since October 2018, Haymaker offers entrees like wild-caught grouper, grilled broccolini and fried quail as well as brunch items like cinnamon doughnut holes with bourbon raspberry sauce.

Haymaker is open from 11 a.m.–midnight on weekdays and Sunday and 11 a.m.–1 a.m. on Saturday. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., and on Fridays and Saturdays, so go on Mondays if you want to avoid the rush.


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.