Are these trending Washington restaurants on your radar?

Are these trending Washington restaurants on your radar?The Admiral | Photo: Yelp
Hoodline
Published on March 30, 2020

Curious where Washington's insiders 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 on the tips of diners' tongues 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 are riding a trend this spring.

The Admiral

Photo: the admiral/Yelp

Open since December 2019, this bar and traditional American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.

Citywide, traditional American spots saw a median 1% increase in new reviews over the past month, but The Admiral saw a 43.5% increase, maintaining a solid four-star rating throughout.

It's not the only trending outlier in the traditional American category: Roaming Rooster has seen a 9.6% increase in reviews, and Circa in Navy Yard has seen a 6.8% bump.

Located at 1 Dupont Circle NW, The Admiral offers pan-seared double chicken breast with sweet potato puree, black kale and rainbow Swiss chard, steak frites, burrata acorn squash salad and crab dip gratin, among other options. 

The Admiral is open from 4 p.m.–1 a.m. on Monday-Thursday, 4 p.m.–3 a.m. on Friday, 11 a.m.–3 a.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.–midnight on Sunday.

Unconventional Diner

Photo: unconventional diner/Yelp

Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Shaw's Unconventional Diner, the popular New American and breakfast and brunch spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.

While businesses categorized as "Breakfast & Brunch" on Yelp saw a median 1.1% increase in new reviews over the past month, Unconventional Diner bagged a 3.6% increase in new reviews within that time frame, maintaining a strong 4.5-star rating. According to SafeGraph foot traffic data, Unconventional Diner saw visits more than triple in the past month.

Here's more about the business from Yelp: "Chef David Deshaies and partners bring over 40 years of hospitality experience to Unconventional Diner. Officially opened in late 2017, this restaurant strives to offer modern takes on diner classics — a new version of your favorite neighborhood eatery."

What's the business known for? "Unconventional Diner serves inspired dishes that blend soulful comfort with haute technique. The menu is studded with imaginative delights that echo the restaurant's name, from french fries with 'sexy sauce' to spring rolls with 'Franch' dressing to a meatloaf 'nothing like anyone's mom's.'"

There's more that's trending on Washington's breakfast and brunch scene: Mexicue has seen a 15% increase in reviews.

Open at 1207 Ninth St. NW, Unconventional Diner features chickpea curry stew, shrimp, andouille sausage or chicken with okra, rice and Cajun sauce, miso salmon, lamb sausage and fried chicken.

Unconventional Diner is open from 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.–10 p.m. on Monday-Wednesday, 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.–10 p.m. on Thursday, 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.–10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m. on Sunday. According to SafeGraph, it's usually busiest at noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., and people visit Unconventional Diner most on Saturdays and Sundays. If you’re planning your visit, you may want to try its slower periods on Wednesdays.

Nina May

photo: max c./yelp

Logan Circle's Nina May is also making waves. Open since November 2019 at 1337 11th St. NW, the New American spot has seen a 16.7% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.2% for all businesses tagged "American (New)" on Yelp.

Want more about the business's specialties in the words of the people behind it? "Nina May is a New American neighborhood restaurant. Co-owners chef Colin McClimans and general manager Danilo Simic are serving up chef-picked and locally sources dishes with unique and inventive cocktails," the restaurant's Yelp page says.

There's more than one hot spot trending in Washington's New American category: Medium Rare has seen a 0.5% increase in reviews, and Ocean Prime and The Tombs have seen 3.3% and 1% increases, respectively.

Sweet potato pasta with braised leg of lamb, egg yolk fettuccine with house-made chorizo, lemon and thyme roasted chicken and pumpkin and herb-crusted Maryland quail are among the entrees at Nina May. Over the past month, it's maintained a sound 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.

Nina May is open from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.–8 p.m. on 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.