Curious where the insiders of Dallas 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 deduce which eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes 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 outlets have the momentum heading into the end of the year.
Mixt
This outpost of the notable New American restaurant chain, known for salads and more, is trending in comparison to other businesses categorized as "American (New)" on Yelp.
Citywide, New American restaurants saw a median 1.5% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Mixt saw a 50% increase, with a slight upward trend from a 3.5-star rating a month ago to four stars today. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis, Mixt's review count increased by more than 1,500%.
In the words of the business' Yelp page, "From sprout to plate, we're all about offering smart, healthy, on-the-go people smart, healthy, on-the-go food."
This location of the chain is not the only trending outlier in the New American category: SkinnyFATS has seen an 8% increase in reviews.
Settled at 2355 Olive St. in Uptown, Mixt features a menu brimming with health-conscious meal options, including various salads, sandwiches, grain bowls and build-your-own plates.
Mixt is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on Friday. (It's closed on weekends.)
Shayna's Place
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Eagle Ford's Shayna's Place, the cafe, which serves sandwiches, pastries, breakfast, brunch and more, is a hot topic, according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month, Shayna's Place bagged a 30.2% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a sound four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 6.5 times more reviews than expected, based on its past performance.
Open at 1868 Sylvan Ave., D150, since 2018, Shayna's Place offers a sizable menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner fare, along with a list of coffee drinks, smoothies and other beverages.
Shayna's Place is open from 7 a.m.–8 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m.–8 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.–8 p.m. on Sunday.
Whistle Britches
North Dallas's Whistle Britches is also making waves. Open since 2016 at 6110 Frankford Road, the well-established beer bar and traditional American gastropub has seen a 2.1% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.6% for all businesses tagged "American (Traditional)" on Yelp. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, visits to Whistle Britches increased by more than 50% over the past month.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Dallas' traditional American category: Cowboy Chicken has seen a 0.7% increase in reviews, and Maple Landing has seen an 8.1% bump.
Whistle Britches specializes in chicken sandwiches, beer, seasonal cocktails, house-made biscuits and frozen custards. Over the past month, it's maintained a solid four-star rating among Yelpers.
Whistle Britches is open from 11 a.m.–9 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.–3 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, it usually gets busy at 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m., and on Sundays and Saturdays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to stop by during its slower periods on Tuesdays.
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.
