As fans of cronuts and cake pops can attest, 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 to uncover which eateries have been getting outsized attention 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 riding a trend, right now.
Gadabout
Open since October, this venues and event space and cocktail bar, which offers seafood and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Seafood" on Yelp.
Citywide, seafood spots saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Gadabout saw a massive 300% increase, maintaining a solid 4.5-star rating throughout.
It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: SPICY FINGERS Seafood Kitchen has seen a 50% increase in reviews, and Flight Club Darts Chicago has seen an 8.9% bump.
Located at 5212 N. Clark St. (between United States Highway 41 and Farragut avenues) in Andersonville, Gadabout offers skewers, monkfish and pork belly.
Gadabout is open from 5–11 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 5 p.m.–2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and 5–10 p.m. on Sunday.
Hexe Coffee Co.
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Lakeview's Hexe Coffee Co., the bar, which offers coffee and tea and more, is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Bars" on Yelp saw a median 1.4% increase in new reviews over the past month, Hexe Coffee Co. bagged a striking 115.4% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a sound 4.5-star rating.
Open at 2000 W. Diversey Parkway since September, Hexe Coffee Co. offers lattes, cookies and bundt cake.
Hexe Coffee Co. is open from 6 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 6 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, 7 a.m.–11 p.m. on Saturday and 7 a.m.–10 p.m. on Sunday.
Barbaro
Humboldt Park's Barbaro is also making waves. Open since September at 2525 W. North Ave. (between Campbell and Maplewood avenues), the cocktail bar and Mexican spot has seen a 90.9% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.1% for all businesses tagged "Cocktail Bars" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Barbaro's review count increased by more than 170%.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Chicago's cocktail bar category: Old Pueblo Cantina has seen a 42.9% increase in reviews, and Amaru has seen a 26.5% bump.
Barbaro offers tacos, tortas and guacamole. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating tick down from five stars to 4.5 stars.
Barbaro is open from 4–11 p.m. on Tuesday-Thursday, 4 p.m.–midnight on Friday, 11 a.m.–midnight on Saturday and 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on Monday.)
The Capital Grille
Streeterville's The Capital Grille is the city's buzziest steakhouse by the numbers.
The popular wine bar and steakhouse, which offers seafood and more and opened at 633 N. St. Clair St. in October 2005, increased its new review count by 1.4% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 0.8% for the Yelp category "Steakhouses." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 5.5 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
The Capital Grille offers dry-aged steaks, lobster and calamari.
The Capital Grille is open from 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday, 5–11 p.m. on Saturday and 5–9 p.m. on Sunday.
The Smith
River North's popular The Smith is currently on the upswing in the New American category on Yelp.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1.5% increase in new reviews over the past month, this New American spot increased its new reviews by 8% — and kept its rating consistent at four stars.
There's more abuzz in the world of Chicago New American: The Hampton Social - Streeterville has seen a 6.6% increase in reviews.
Open for business at 400 N. Clark St. since May, The Smith offers gnocchi, fried chicken and oysters.
The Smith is open from 8 a.m.–11 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday, 8 a.m.–midnight on Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.–midnight on Saturday and 10 a.m.–11 p.m. on Sunday.
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.
