Want the inside word on Washington's most happening local spots?
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 in the limelight this month.
To find out who made the list, we first looked at Washington 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 have the momentum heading into springtime.
Reveler’s Hour
Open since December 2019, this restaurant is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Italian" on Yelp.
Citywide, Italian spots saw a median 1.6% increase in new reviews over the past month. Reveler’s Hour only recently appeared on Yelp, but while many new businesses struggle to gain reviews, it has seen strong initial popularity with a four-star rating.
It's not the only trending outlier in the Italian category: Bacio Pizzeria has seen a 0.7% increase in reviews, and Rose's Luxury has seen a 0.4% bump.
Located at 1775 Columbia Road NW in Adams Morgan, Reveler’s Hour features blue hubbard squash ravioli with Italian hazelnuts and fried sage, spicy pork belly ragu on lumache and grilled and marinated escarole with creamy anchovy dressing.
Reveler's Hour is open from 5:30-10 p.m. on Tuesday-Thursday, from 5-10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 5-10 p.m. on Sunday. (It's closed on Monday.)
Matchbox
Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Matchbox in Penn Quarter, the New American and breakfast and brunch chain is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.
While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.3% increase in new reviews over the past month, Matchbox in Penn Quarter bagged a 41.1% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a convincing four-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 1.8 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.
Here's more about the business from its Yelp page: "We're known for wood-fired pizzas, mini burgers, fresh salads and chef-inspired entrées, like pan-seared sea bass and oven-roasted filet mignon. It's American bistro fare, crafted from high quality ingredients with a chef at the helm in every kitchen."
There's more that's trending on Washington's breakfast and brunch scene: The Smith has seen a 6.9% increase in reviews.
Open at 750 E St. NW since 2003, Matchbox offers brunch options such as biscuits and gravy, shrimp and grits and lemon pound cake French toast.
Matchbox - Penn Quarter is open from 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. on Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.–1 a.m. on Friday, 10 a.m.–1 a.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.–10:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The Imperial
Adams Morgan's The Imperial is also making waves. Open since November 2019 at 2001 18th St. NW, the bar and New American spot has seen a 40% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.3% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.
There's more than one hot spot trending in Washington's New American category: Shilling Canning Company has seen a 14.3% increase in reviews, and Black Coffee and The Berliner have seen 4.9% and 4.8% increases, respectively.
Rare spirits and handcrafted cocktails are featured, as well as French-inspired Southern entrees that include braised rabbit with bacon lardon, fried poulet rouge and steelhead vol-au-vent. Over the past month, it's seen its Yelp rating improve from three stars to 3.5 stars.
The Imperial is open from 5 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday and 5 p.m.–11 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday.)
Queen's English
Columbia Heights' Queen's English is the city's buzziest cocktail bar by the numbers.
The well-established Hong Kong-style restaurant and cocktail bar, which opened at 3410 11th St. NW in April 2019, increased its new review count by 15.2% over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 2.1% for the Yelp category "Cocktail Bars." It outperformed the previous month by gaining 3.0 times more reviews than expected based on past performance.
It's not the only trending outlier in the cocktail bar category: Coconut Club has seen a 1.8% increase in reviews.
A lengthy craft cocktail list includes Spruce Gin, pecan washed vermouth and dry Curaçao, and a Scotch duo with salted lemon and turmeric soda. Queen's English also offers dishes such as golden chicken poached with ginger and scallions and steamed egg custard.
Queen's English is open from 5:30 p.m.–10 p.m. on Tuesday-Thursday and 5:30 p.m.–11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. (It's closed on Sunday and 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.
