Traditional American cuisine and more: What's trending on Dallas' food scene?

Traditional American cuisine and more: What's trending on Dallas' food scene?Photo: First Watch/Yelp
Hoodline
Published on August 22, 2019

Want the intel on Dallas's most happening local spots?

We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to discover which restaurants have been on the tips of diners' tongues this month.

To find out who made the list, we looked at Dallas 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.

First Watch

Photo: first watch/Yelp

Open since July, this traditional American cafe is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.

Citywide, traditional American spots saw a median 2.5% increase in new reviews over the past month, but First Watch saw a 92.9% increase, with a slight downward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to three stars today.

It's not the only trending outlier in the traditional American category: Hero has seen a 62.5% increase in reviews, and Rodeo Goat and Slater's 50/50 have seen 45.9% and 29.7% increases, respectively.

Located at 9285 Lookout Point, Suite 200, in Northeast Dallas, First Watch offers classic American breakfasts, such as pancakes, avocado toast, egg sandwiches and frittatas, and lunch options like fresh salads, sandwiches and "power bowls." (Check out the full menu here.)

First Watch is open from 7 a.m.–2:30 p.m. daily.

Mixt

Photo: mixt/Yelp

Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Oak Lawn's Mixt, the vegetarian and New American 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 3.9% increase in new reviews over the past month, Mixt bagged a 100% increase in new reviews within that time frame and maintained its 3.5-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 Dallas' New American scene: Punch Bowl Social Dallas has seen a 151.6% increase in reviews.

Open at 2355 Olive St. since May, Mixt offers a large menu of healthy meals such as fresh salads, grain bowls and sandwiches as well as grilled meats and fresh vegetables.

Mixt is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on Friday and 11:30 a.m.–8 p.m. on weekends.

Red Claws Crab Shack

Photo: chau h./Yelp

Far North's Red Claws Crab Shack is the city's buzziest bar by the numbers.

The second location for the Arlington-based Cajun/Creole restaurant and bar, which opened at 4727 Frankford Road, Suite 349, in January 2018, increased its new review count by 20.7% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.7% for the Yelp category "Bars." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 3.0 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.

It's not the only trending outlier in the bar category: SkinnyFATS has seen a 18.5% increase in reviews, and Nori Handroll Bar and Taco Diner have seen 12.2% and 11.9% increases, respectively.

Red Claws Crab Shack specializes in fresh, Cajun-style seafood, and the menu features raw oysters, crawfish fried rice, gumbo, mussels, baby octopus, shrimp and several types of crab. The full bar serves beer, wine and handcrafted cocktails.

Red Claws Crab Shack is open from noon–9:30 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and Sunday and noon–10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.


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.