Wondering where Dallas' 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 analyze which restaurants have been in the limelight this month.
To find out who made the list, we first 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. Then we analyzed foot traffic data from SafeGraph to validate the trends.
Read on to see which spots are riding a trend, right now.
Tejas
Open since Aug. 18, this Mexican spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Mexican" on Yelp.
Citywide, Mexican spots saw a median 2.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Tejas saw a substantial 233.3% increase, maintaining a convincing four-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Mexican category: Emilio's Mexican Kitchen has seen a 150% increase in reviews, and Mi Cocina and Miriam Cocina Latina have seen 10.9% and 13.5% increases, respectively.
Located at 250 N. Bishop Ave. in the Bishop Arts District, Tejas offers what it describes as Texan comfort food. Menu options include avocado and bacon breakfast tacos, brisket and roasted pork lunch tacos, burgers, fries, tortillas and various Mexican beverages.
Tejas is open from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. daily.
Billy Can Can
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Victory Park's Billy Can Can, the steakhouse and cocktail bar is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp saw a median 2.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, Billy Can Can bagged a 5.6% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a convincing 4.5-star rating. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, visits to Billy Can Can increased by more than 50% in the past month.
Open at 2386 Victory Park Lane since 2018, Billy Can Can's signature cocktails include a gimlet with gin and saloon-made lime cordial and a julep with bourbon and mint rose syrup, as well as classics such as a Singapore Sling and a pisco sour. Dinner entrees include mole-crusted short rib, roasted snapper and wagyu flatiron steak.
Billy Can Can is open from 5–10 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 5–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., and on Saturdays and Fridays.
Cowboy Chicken
Cowboy Chicken in Northeast Dallas is also making waves. The restaurant reopened in August after a kitchen fire in June at 5315 Greenville Ave., Suite 125. The traditional American and Southern spot has seen a 1.6% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses tagged "American (Traditional)" on Yelp — but it's seen a 19% increase in visits over the same time frame, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.
Cowboy Chicken features wood-fired rotisserie chicken, whole or in sections. Chicken enchiladas, barbecued chicken sandwiches and chicken salad are also on offer. Over the past month, it's maintained a mixed 3.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Cowboy Chicken is open from 9 a.m.–10 p.m. daily. According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest at noon, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and on Wednesdays and Mondays, so go on Thursdays if you want to avoid the rush.
San Martín
Uptown's San Martín is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The popular bakery and breakfast and brunch spot, which opened at 3120 McKinney Ave. in 2018, increased its new review count by 7.9% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.9% for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch."
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Snooze an A.M. Eatery has seen a 7.7% increase in reviews.
San Martín is a Guatemalan-based bakery and restaurant, and Dallas is its first U.S. location. Signature bakery items are pan de morto, cheesecake, pie de queso and torta Chilena, as well as breads. The restaurant features corn tortillas with cheese, eggs and ranchera sauce for breakfast and Guatemalan black bean soup, beef carpaccio, pizzas and burgers for later in the day.
It is open from 7 a.m.–8 p.m. on Sunday-Thursday and 7 a.m.–9 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.
