New Orleans Lands 2 Restaurants On Esquire’s Best Of List

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

When it comes to food, it’s hard to leave Louisiana off any list. Esquire recently listed the year’s Best New Restaurants in America, an annual list of the most remarkable food destinations in the United States.

New Orleans placed two eateries on the list, which is

featured in the Winter 2023 issue, available on retailer shelved by December 5.Here’s what Esquire had to say about:

Dakar Nola

“A meal at Dakar Nola comes with stories. With each course of the tasting menu, chef Serigne Mbaye comes out of the kitchen to address the room. All of this happens in the front room of a traditional shotgun house, which makes the night feel like a dinner party that is as fun as it is enlightening.”

Read our guide on Dakar Nola.

Hungry Eyes (New Orleans)

“Eating at 80s-themed Hungry Eyes feels like you’ve stepped into a music video by Duran Duran. The Patrick Nagel pop art on the walls, the pink neon glow from the mirror behind the bar—it’s lit. Literally. The team has cooked up a lively, stonery DIY dinner menu. Who are they? The same folks who brought you NOLA’s stoner darling, Turkey & the Wolf.”

Final Word

New Orleans has one of the best restaurant scenes in the Southeast, and with state of Southern cooking and an emphasis on the culinary arts at an all-time high, that’s saying something.

When New Orleans’ food is mentioned on a national level, it somehow always reverts back to gumbo, which is the best around, although the city’s eateries certainly represent those dishes well, there’s so much more.

More From NolaFi.com:

James Johnson

James Johnson is a writer originally from New York City. She has lived in the South for the last 15 years and enjoys Creole cooking and shrimp and grits.