Want the intel on Atlanta's most talked-about local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp and SafeGraph, a data set of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to discover which restaurants have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Atlanta 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 worth exploring this autumn.
Redbird
This cocktail bar and New American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American spots saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Redbird saw an 83.3% increase, maintaining a strong four-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: The hive buckhead has seen an 8.8% increase in reviews, and Howell's Kitchen and Bar and Red Martini have seen 6.2 and 2.6% increases, respectively.
Located at 1198 Howell Mill Road, Redbird offers slow-roasted chicken legs, halibut and more on the menu.
El Tesoro
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Edgewood's El Tesoro, the Mexican and breakfast and brunch spot, which offers coffee and tea and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, El Tesoro bagged a 13.7% increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a solid 4.5-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.5 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Open at 1374 Arkwright Place SE since 2019, El Tesoro offers burritos, breakfast tacos and more.
a mano
Old Fourth Ward's a mano is also making waves. Open since 2017 at 587 Ralph McGill Blvd. NE, the popular cocktail bar, pop-up restaurant and Italian spot has seen a 4.9% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.8% for all businesses tagged "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp. As for foot traffic, visits to a mano increased by more than 50% over the past month, according to SafeGraph data.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Atlanta's cocktail bar category: Puff & Petals Lounge has seen a 6.1% increase in reviews.
a mano offers charred octopus, beef tartare and more on the menu. Over the past month, it's maintained a healthy 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
According to SafeGraph, people visit a mano most on Saturdays and Thursdays, and it attracts a quarter of its total visitors over those two days, so go on Sundays if you want to avoid the rush.
Little Alley Steak
Little Alley Steak is the city's buzziest bar by the numbers.
The popular steakhouse and bar, which opened at 3500 Lenox Road NE, Suite #100, increased its new review count by 6.1% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.3% for the Yelp category "Bars." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.9 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
With 3.5 stars on Yelp, Little Alley Steak offers Maine lobster bisque, dry-aged steaks and more on the menu.
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.
