Unsure where San Antonio'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 restaurants have been in the spotlight this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at San Antonio 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 are riding a trend, right now.
Maverick Whiskey
Open since July, this distillery and traditional American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.
Citywide, traditional American spots saw a median 2.8% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Maverick Whiskey saw a remarkable 183.3% increase, maintaining a superior four-star rating throughout.
Located at 115 Broadway St. in downtown San Antonio, Maverick Whiskey offers main entrees like redfish on the half shell with lemon pepper grilled gulf coast red fish, citrus roasted vegetables and sweet potato duo, and smoked barbecue beef ribs with truffled cream corn, house-pickled vegetables and braised red cabbage. A solid list of cold and hot appetizers is also on offer, ranging from cast iron goat cheese to a deviled egg flight. (Here's the full menu.)
Maverick Whiskey is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday and 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Tuesday-Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.)
LA Crawfish
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about LA Crawfish, the Cajun/Creole and Vietnamese spot, which offers seafood and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp saw a median 2.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, LA Crawfish bagged a 50% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to its current four stars.
There's more that's trending on San Antonio's seafood scene: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. has seen a 12.4% increase in reviews.
LA Crawfish is a Texas chain with outposts across the state. Open at 25 N.E. Loop 410, Suite 124, since March, the eatery offers seafood sandwiches and baskets filled with fried shrimp, oysters, tilapia, crabs, salmon or crawfish. The spot also offers chicken wings, noodle dishes and sides like waffle-cut fries and cheesy crawfish rolls. (Explore the entire menu here.)
LA Crawfish is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Saturday and noon–9 p.m. on Sunday.
Twin Peaks
Shearer Hills - Ridgeview's Twin Peaks is also making waves. Open since 2014 at 702 N.W. Loop 410, the well-established sports bar and New American and traditional American spot has seen a 7.5% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.9% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
Twin Peaks is a national franchise with more than 80 locations across 26 states. The menu features bar bites, salads, soups, burgers, sandwiches, tacos, chicken and steak. Try the chicken fried steak with the Billionaire's Bacon with brown sugar, red chili flakes and smoked paprika along with a signature beer from the tap. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed three-star rating among Yelpers. (Check out the full menu here.)
Twin Peaks is open from 11 a.m.–midnight on Monday-Wednesday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–2 a.m. on Thursday-Saturday.
La Panaderia
La Panaderia is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The well-established bakery and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers desserts and more and opened at 8305 Broadway in 2014, increased its new review count by 2.7% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.6% for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch." As for foot traffic, La Panaderia saw a 20% increase in visits over the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Pete's Tako House has seen a 2.3% increase in reviews, and Chicago Bagel & Deli and Panchos and Gringos have seen 2% and 0.9% increases, respectively.
According to the business's website, La Panaderia specializes in "handmade bread and pan dulce inspired by Mexico’s Golden Era." The spot serves up breakfast sandwiches, salads, soups and coffee, with a full case of pastries like chocolate croissants, empanadas and monkey bread. (Find the full menu here.)
La Panaderia is open from 7 a.m.–8 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m.–5 p.m. on weekends. According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., and people visit La Panaderia most on Saturdays and Thursdays, so go on Mondays if you want to avoid the rush.
Beto's Alt-Mex
Oak Park - Northwood's well-established Beto's Alt-Mex has been getting a lot more foot traffic lately.
While Beto's Alt-Mex stayed in line with the median 3% increase in new reviews for businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp over the past month, visits to Beto's Alt-Mex increased by 31%, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
There's more abuzz in the world of San Antonio Mexican: Grand Tequila has seen a 1.4% increase in reviews.
Open for business at 8142 Broadway St. since 1997, Beto's Alt-Mex offers a healthier twist on traditional Tex-Mex fare, according to the business's website. On the menu, look for the chicken poblano empanadas, grilled fish tacos and Beto's Huaraches with chicken, beef or pork, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, nopales, crema and cotija cheese. (Explore the rest of the menu here.)
Beto's Alt-Mex is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.–9 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, people visit Beto's Alt-Mex most on Fridays and Saturdays, and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors over those two days, so go on Wednesdays 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.
