NEW YORK (press release) – Esquire has unveiled the year’s Best New Restaurants in America, the annual list of the most noteworthy new destinations from coast to coast. For this year’s edition, Esquire’s team of intrepid food writers – led by Food & Drinks Correspondent Jeff Gordinier with support from Amethyst Ganaway, Omar Mamoon, and Joshua David Stein – took to the highways and the friendly skies to identify the country’s 35 new culinary champions. The Best New Restaurants in America list is on Esquire.com now and in the Winter 2025 issue, available everywhere today.
At the link above is Esquire’s full Best New Restaurants in America – plus Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Comeback of the Year, Beverage Director of the Year, Pastry Chefs of the Year, Rising Star of the Year, and Bathroom of the Year – and below are the restaurants from New Orleans that topped the list.
LOUISIANA
Acamaya (New Orleans) – Acamaya is devoted to mariscos — Mexican seafood — and chef Ana Castro takes sourcing seriously. For example, she drives almost an hour each way to pick up plump blue lake crabs from Higgins Seafood in Lafitte. But Castro isn’t averse to seeking out pristine product from outside the Gulf of Mexico too — plump Kumamoto oysters from the Pacific Northwest, say, or hamachi from Japan. Castro goes the distance — whatever the distance may be.
PLUS:
BATHROOM OF THE YEAR: Hot Stuff (New Orleans) – You beeline it to the bathroom to wash the fried chicken off your fingers at Hot Stuff, the powerfully delicious meat and three from the team behind the beloved Turkey and The Wolf. You look around and one wall is covered with photos of Michael Jordan, another wall is covered with portraits of Kenny Rogers, and to your right there’s a red button with handwriting on top that says WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON. You press the button, of course.
For more information on Esquire’s Best New Restaurants, click here. And follow Esquire(@esquire) on Instagram for additional news about this year’s picks.
