Food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending right now?
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 discover which restaurants have been on the tips of diners' tongues this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Indianapolis 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.
Rooftop Garden
Open since August 2013, this bar and traditional American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp.
Citywide, bars saw a median 3.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Rooftop Garden saw a 26.3% increase, maintaining a mixed 3.5-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Rooftop Garden's review count increased by more than 250%.
It's not the only trending outlier in the bar category: Tony's of Indianapolis has seen a 14% increase in reviews, and Condado Tacos - Mass Ave and Half Liter Beer & BBQ Hall have seen 23.6 and 13.7% increases, respectively.
Located at 1105 Prospect St. in Fountain Square, Rooftop Garden offers cocktails, beer and appetizers.
Rooftop Garden is open from 6–11 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and 6 p.m.–1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. (It's closed on Monday, Tuesday and Sunday.)
LouVino
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown Indianapolis's LouVino, the well-established tapas bar, wine bar and breakfast and brunch spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 2.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, LouVino bagged an 18.1% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight downward trend from a 4.5-star rating a month ago to its current four stars. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.7 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 530 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 140 since February, LouVino offers beef sliders, biscuits and chicken wings.
LouVino is open from 5–10 p.m. on Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. and 5–10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. and 4:30–9 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on Monday.)
Fire by the Monon
Broad Ripple's Fire by the Monon is also making waves. Open since April 2011 at 6523 Ferguson St., the popular traditional American spot has seen a 2.9% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses tagged "American (Traditional)" on Yelp — but visits to Fire by the Monon increased by more than 50% over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Indianapolis's traditional American category: Steak ’n Shake has seen a 3.4% increase in reviews.
Fire by the Monon offers flatbreads, salads and burgers. Over the past month, it's maintained a sound four-star rating among Yelpers.
Fire by the Monon is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, noon–11 p.m. on Saturday and noon–10 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at noon, 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Saturdays and Fridays, 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.
