Food trends come and go. So how can you tell which tastes are trending today?
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 eateries have been most discussed this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Houston 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.
Blue Bayou Cafe
Open since 2017, this Tex-Mex and Cajun spot, 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 Blue Bayou Cafe saw a 59.5% increase, maintaining a mixed three-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Blue Bayou Cafe's review count increased by more than 1,100%.
It's not the only trending outlier in the seafood category: Cajun Town Cafe has seen a 33.3% increase in reviews, and Seaside Lounge and 1751 Sea and Bar have seen 32.4% and 8.6% increases, respectively.
Located at 12008 I-10 East Freeway in Northshore, Blue Bayou Cafe offers a little bit of everything, including seafood boils, steaks, fajitas, hamburgers and "bayou specialties" like shrimp brochette and Cajun pasta. (Check out the full menu here.)
Blue Bayou Cafe is open from 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and Sunday and 11 a.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Olive & Twist
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Greenway's Olive & Twist, the New American spot and cocktail bar is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, Olive & Twist bagged a 29.5% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a convincing four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 3.2 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
There's more that's trending on Houston's New American scene: Big City Wings has seen a 22% increase in reviews, and Ember & Greens and Twin Peaks have seen 13.3% and 5.4% increases, respectively.
Open at 2712 Richmond Ave. since July, Olive & Twist offers an internationally-inspired menu that features soups, salads and pizzas, as well as entrees such as gulf shrimp and pork lakhsa, black pepper fettucine and pan roasted Mediterranean sea bass. There's also a full bar, and the dessert selections change daily.
Olive & Twist is open from 5–10 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 5 p.m.–midnight on Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.–4 p.m. on Sunday.
Penny Quarter
Hyde Park's Penny Quarter is also making waves. Open since August at 1424 Westheimer Road, the well-established wine bar and cafe, which offers coffee, tea and more, has seen a 32.5% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.5% for all businesses tagged "Coffee & Tea" on Yelp.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Houston's coffee and tea category: Minuti Coffee has seen a 1% increase in reviews, and Churroholics and CoCo Crepes, Waffles & Coffee have seen 16.1 and 1.6% increases, respectively.
Penny Quarter offers casual comfort foods, such as hamburgers, sandwiches and avocado toast for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over the past month, it's maintained a healthy 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.
Penny Quarter is open from 7 a.m.–midnight on Monday-Wednesday and Sunday and 7 a.m.–2 a.m. on Thursday-Saturday.
Mastrantos
The Heights's Mastrantos is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.
The well-established European cafe and wine bar, which opened in 2018 at 927 Studewood St., Suite 100, increased its new review count by 10.4% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.8% for the Yelp category "Breakfast & Brunch." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.5 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
It's not the only trending outlier in the breakfast and brunch category: Polanquito has seen a 14% increase in reviews, and Kenny & Ziggy's New York Delicatessen has seen a 1.7% bump.
Mastrantos offers seasonal menus that highlight modern, international dishes, like pastas, roasted chicken and braised short ribs. Catering services are also available. (Check out the full menu here.)
Mastrantos is open from 7 a.m.–2 p.m. and 5–10 p.m. on Tuesday-Friday, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. and 5–10 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m.–3 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on Monday.)
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.
