get these nets
Veteran
A great new restaurant can be a fun experience. A best new restaurant announces itself as part of the national dining conversation. Each restaurant on this list does more than offer an exceptional meal, it also reflects something larger about the way we eat. It might set one trend in motion, or subvert another. It might bring attention to a previously unheralded cuisine or neighborhood, or revisit familiar genres in unexpected ways. But most of all, each is an original.
A reimagined New England diner with a decidedly quirky sensibility reflects and refracts our current infatuation with nostalgia. A playfully elegant French bistro shows us what a more quiet luxury would look like in the wake of the recent maximalist wave. A tasting menu that started as a pop-up, a barbecue joint you can only visit on Saturdays, a sophisticated restaurant tucked into a brewery, a daytime cafe that is also a marketplace — these thrilling newcomers also reflect lingering traces of nimble “pandemic pivots.”
Now more than ever, experimenting with menus, formats, hours, and business models is a vital part of operating and succeeding in the restaurant industry. As diners, we get to reap the delicious benefits of that creativity and exploration. If any city has embraced that spirit of culinary experimentation this year, it’s Philadelphia; you’ll notice that there are two Philly spots on our list. (It’s worth saying that even narrowing down the options to two involved much discussion and deliberation.) Philadelphia’s restaurant scene has what any diner wants: a tapestry of restaurants created by chefs and operators creating experiences so singular that they could only exist right there.
Together, Eater’s 12 Best New Restaurants represent the highest highs of the year in dining — loosely defined as October 2022 through September 2023 — as well as the promise of what’s to come next. Add each one of them to your must-try list, and keep a close eye on what they’re up to as they continue to set a new benchmark for dining in America
Dakar NOLA
New Orleans, Louisianna
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
3814 MAGAZINE STREET
The mingling of French, Italian, African, German, Native American, and other regions’ flavors defines New Orleans food culture. With his pop-up-turned-restaurant, Dakar NOLA, Serigne Mbaye is part of this long tradition of culinary collision, establishing a new pathway between Senegambia and the Crescent City with one of the city’s finest tasting menus. Consider his soupa konja, a deeply savory Senegalese soup made with okra, rice, and seafood, reminiscent of a gumbo. Mbaye notes that the akara, crispy black-eyed pea fritters he makes with shrimp, are often eaten stuffed inside baguettes in Senegal, which made po’ boys feel familiar to him, while the jollof is red and fragrant like jambalaya. Pass the bright green rof for a cool offset to the spicy red snapper yassa, or double down with a tiny spoonful of Dakar’s red pepper sauce and see which of your tablemates can handle the biggest taste. Because getting to know your fellow diners is essential to Mbaye’s cuisine.
Every element of the experience at Dakar NOLA fosters community. With only two nightly seatings, each table moves through the same meal at the same pace. Servers provide tableside handwashing, preparing guests to use their hands to eat and to pass dishes to their neighbors. Mbaye acts as emcee, making unpretentious course introductions that facilitate conversation at the tables as diners recognize ingredients or similarities to New Orleans staples. His vision of fine dining is cooperative, the forging of a shared experience that enhances his food and the diner’s memory of it long after the meal ends. — Clair Lorell
Photography by Josh Brasted
Chef Serigne Mbaye, far right.
Soupa konja.
Tableside handwashing service
Mbaye finishes red snapper Yassa
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