New American and more: What's trending on Atlanta's food scene?

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Want the inside word on Atlanta's most talked-about local spots?

We took a data-driven look at the question, using Yelp and SafeGraph, a data set of commercial points of interest and their visitor patterns, to deduce which restaurants have been getting a significant increase in attention this month.

To find out who made the list, we first looked at Atlanta 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 autumn.

Sugar Factory

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photo: jo c./yelp

This candy store and traditional American spot, which offers desserts and more, is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "American (Traditional)" on Yelp.

Citywide, traditional American spots saw a median 1.8% increase in new reviews over the past month, but Sugar Factory saw a noteworthy 325% increase, with a downward trend from a four-star rating a month ago to 2.5 stars today.

Located at 1080 Peachtree St. NE in Midtown, Sugar Factory offers couture pops including green apple, strawberry and more.

Lazy Betty

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Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about Lazy Betty, the New American spot 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, Lazy Betty bagged a 14.7% increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a healthy 4.5-star rating.

There's more that's trending on Atlanta's New American scene: Howell's Kitchen and Bar has seen a 4.1% increase in reviews and Red Martini has seen a 3.9% bump.

Open at 1530 Dekalb Ave. NE since February of this year, Lazy Betty offers Georgia Shrimp Causa and more. Each dish on the menu is paired with a suitable wine selection.

Hattie B's Hot Chicken

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Hattie B's Hot Chicken is also making waves. Open since 2012 at 299 Moreland Ave. NE, the popular Southern and traditional American spot has seen a 4.7% bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 1.3% for all businesses tagged "Southern" on Yelp.

There's more than one hot spot trending in Atlanta's Southern category: Richards' Southern Fried has seen a 4.1% increase in reviews.

Hattie B's Hot Chicken offers hot chicken sandwiches and more on the menu. Over the past month, it's maintained a strong 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.

Bistro Niko

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photo: sean g./yelp

Bistro Niko is the city's buzziest breakfast and brunch spot by the numbers.

The popular bar and French and breakfast and brunch spot, located at 3344 Peachtree Road, saw a 1.4% increase in new reviews over the last month — matching that of all businesses for the Yelp business category "Breakfast & Brunch" — but experienced a 35% increase in visits over the same timeframe, according to SafeGraph's foot traffic data.

Bistro Niko offers oysters, French pizza and more on the dinner menu.

According to SafeGraph, foot traffic is heaviest on Wednesdays and Fridays, so go on Sundays if you want to avoid the rush.

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.