Latin American fare, oysters and more: What's trending on Miami's food scene?

Wondering where Miami'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 to analyze which eateries have been seeing especially high review volumes this month.

To find out who made the list, we looked at Miami 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 increase their volume of reviews to identify statistically significant outliers compared to past performance.

Read on to see which spots poised to start summer off strong.

Palmas Café

Open since 2014, this Latin American spot is trending compared to other businesses categorized as "Latin American" on Yelp.

Citywide, Latin American spots saw a median 4.6 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, but Palmas Café saw a 20.8 percent increase, maintaining a convincing four-star rating throughout. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Palmas Café's review count increased by more than 250 percent.

It's not the only trending outlier in the Latin American category: Latin Cafe 2000 has seen a 17.5 percent increase in reviews.

Located at 919 Brickell Ave. in Brickell, Palmas Café offers Latin American staples like guava pastries, arepas and empanadas as well as lunch combos such as the slow roasted pork shoulder with two sides and the popular Peruvian lomo saltado bowl. (View the menu.)

Jaguar Sun

Whether or not you've been hearing buzz about downtown Miami's Jaguar Sun, the cocktail bar and Italian spot is a hot topic according to Yelp review data.

While businesses categorized as "Italian" on Yelp saw a median 3.8 percent increase in new reviews over the past month, Jaguar Sun bagged a 23.9 percent increase in new reviews within that timeframe, maintaining a sterling five-star rating. It significantly outperformed the previous month by gaining 2.8 times more reviews than expected based on its past performance.

Open at 230 N.E. Fourth St. since 2018, Jaguar Sun offers small bites like honeydew soup with melon salad and Shigoku oysters with cucumbers, plus pasta dishes and beef short ribs.

Ella's Oyster Bar

Little Havana's Ella's Oyster Bar is also making waves. Open since 2018 at 1615 S.W. Eighth St., the well-established wine bar and cocktail bar, which offers seafood and more, has seen a 6.3 percent bump in new reviews over the last month, compared to a median review increase of 2.6 percent for all businesses tagged "Seafood" on Yelp. Moreover, on a month-to-month basis Ella's Oyster Bar's review count increased by more than 300 percent.

Ella's Oyster Bar's menu features starters like lollipop wings and conch fritters; seafood options include tuna taquitos, clams, ceviche and an oyster po'boy on Cuban bread with spicy mayo and other toppings. Over the past month, it's maintained a solid 4.5-star rating among Yelpers.

American Social Miami

Brickell's American Social Miami is the city's buzziest New American spot by the numbers.

The well-established sports bar and New American spot, which opened at 690 S.W. First Court in 2014, increased its new review count by 2.6 percent over the past month, an outlier when compared to the median new review count of 1.8 percent for the Yelp category "American (New)." It outperformed the previous month by gaining four times more reviews than expected based on past performance.

It's not the only trending outlier in the New American category: World Famous House of Mac has seen a 5.2 percent increase in reviews.

American Social Miami offers cocktails, small bites, sandwiches and brunch fare. Popular menu items include strawberry French toast, chicken and waffles, pork belly empanadas and ropa vieja tacos.

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.