Want the intel on Chicago's buzziest local spots?
We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp to deduce which restaurants have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.
To find out who made the list, we looked at Chicago 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 extra hot this autumn.
Il Culaccino
Open since August, this venues and event space and Italian spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Italian" on Yelp.
Citywide, Italian spots saw a median 1.2% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Il Culaccino saw a 50% increase, maintaining a strong 4.5-star rating throughout.
Located at 2134 S. Indiana Ave. (between 21st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue), Il Culaccino offers pasta, sandwiches and salads.
Il Culaccino is open from 11 a.m.–11 p.m. daily.
Dunkin'
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Streeterville's Dunkin', the popular spot to score coffee and tea and doughnuts is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Coffee & Tea" on Yelp saw a median 3.7% increase in new reviews over the past month, Dunkin' bagged a 69.7% increase in new reviews within that time frame, with a slight downward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to its current three stars. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 3.8 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Chicago's coffee and tea scene: Philz Coffee has seen a 118.2% increase in reviews, and Dunkin' and Dip and Sip Donuts have seen 56.5 and 63.2% increases, respectively.
Open at 200 E. Ohio St. (between St. Clair Street and Fairbanks Court) since March 2008, Dunkin' offers doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches.
Dunkin' is open 24 hours a day.
Hangry's
Cragin's Hangry's is the city's buzziest traditional American spot by the numbers.
The chicken shop and traditional American spot, which offers salads and more and opened at 5000 W. Fullerton (between Lavergne and Leclaire avenues) in October 2018, increased its new review count by 35.3% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.2% for the Yelp category "American (Traditional)." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.0 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
Hangry's offers chicken tortilla soup, fried shrimp and chicken Alfredo.
Hangry's is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Sunday.
Kaliflower
The Loop's well-established Kaliflower is currently on the upswing in the salad category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "Salad" on Yelp saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, this vegetarian and gluten-free spot, which offers salads and more, increased its new reviews by 33.3% — and kept its rating consistent at five stars. Review counts increased by more than 210% on a month-to-month basis.
Open for business at 333 N. Michigan Ave. (between Wacker Place and MacChesneyer Drive) since June, Kaliflower offers cauliflower rice bowls, lentils and salads.
Kaliflower is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on weekdays and 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. on weekends.
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.
