Where I ate in 2025
My 19 best bites and my 5 best meals of the year, from around the world
Before the year was even over, the 2025 “Best Restaurant” winners had been crowned in New York City. For NY Mag, it was Le Veau d’Or. For The Infatuation, Smithereens. At the Times, they included Kabawa, Smithereens, Ha’s Snack Bar, and Borgo on their list of 2025’s best restaurants in America.
My 2025 year in dining wasn’t so focused on the now. My most popular feature of the year saw me dining in a 45 year old Russian bath house in Gravesend, Brooklyn. I spent weeks in London and opted to only highlight immigrant-owned restaurants that have become staples in their communities, leading me to eat delicious Nigerian suya in Peckham, and Turkish tantuni in Enfield. In Chicagoland’s Little Palestine, I ate mansaf with my hands at one of its most iconic, time-tested establishments. In Queens’ Little Bangladesh, I ate microwaved brain with a plastic spoon from a local street vendor. In Poughkeepsie’s Little Oaxaca, I wanted to cry after eating a memelita made by the owner’s mom, who ran a restaurant in Oaxaca decades ago.
“It’s impossible to keep pace with the state of the world—this is why it’s best to focus on the things that never go out of style.” - Paul Thomas Anderson, discussing One Battle After Another with Esquire
But I’m not some fussy artist in a bubble of my own making. Just last week I had a matcha at 12 Chairs (wonderful). At some point I ate one of Kwame’s Patty Palace patties (awful). I got a banh mi from Bánh Anh Em (I took it to-go; not ideal). In London, I ate at Jonathan Nunn’s #1 restaurant, Planque (sensational). In Tokyo, I did a Michelin-star Omakase (miserable). In New Orleans, I rubbed elbows with a Rolex-wearing Houstonite and ate gumbo that was black as night in a packed dining room where they sell $1.50 martinis. They gifted me a green lanyard with a bell on it to wear around my neck like a fucking cow.
I tried my best to be current and on-trend. But in the end, many of the best meals I’ve had in 2025 weren’t from restaurants that opened in 2025.
Weighing all of this—Let’s get started on my list of not only best meals, but best individual bites. A lot of this will be in New York City and London, but there’ll be appearances from New Jersey, Chicago, Kyoto, South Korea, San Francisco, New Orleans, Italy, and the Hudson Valley as well.
Where I ate the most in New York City in 2025:
While it’s important to reward those who push the restaurant industry forward in terms of technique and hospitality, I do want to start by just telling you where I ate most often this year. These are the places that kept me going.
Mama Yoshi Mini Mart, Ridgewood Queens - Everything here is good, plain and simple. Once upon a time I featured the spam breakfast burrito, but I go just as often for the beef gyudon bowl, with a massive piece of katsu on the side to eat while I walk home.
Wayne & Sons, East Village Manhattan - Crunchy tacos. Margaritas. Sneaky-good salsas. Sadly the original location has closed down, after the city forced them to close their streatery—cutting their seating by more than half. I’m looking forward to their Williamsburg location opening in January, 2025.
Dolores, Bed-Stuy Brooklyn - Their cochinita pibil tacos are the best I’ve had in the city. But everything I’ve tried on the menu—from the tiny potato-stuffed fried tortillas called papadillas to the chile relleno taco to the exceptional gorditas with chicharrón prensado—has been impressive and thoughtful. And crucially, they make very good salsas.
Nhà Mình, Ridgewood Queens - I went here for banh mi and pho for quite a while and never felt really satisfied. Now I stop in for the lemongrass chicken bún. The rice noodles are stacked with deeply-charred chicken and pickled veg, and it’s the perfect vehicle to try all of Fred’s fresh and creative sauces (like the crab peanut one I had recently that was wild, or the coffee hoisin that’s been a staple for years).
Carnitas Ramirez, East Village Manhattan - Even though I may take Taqueria el Chato’s al Pastor as my #1 taco, Carnitas Ramirez may be #1 taqueria. I find all of the lard-soaked confit’d pig parts satisfying, and their salsa bar with pickled onions is a perfect compliment. I want to eat here all the time. Every time I see one of the owners, Gio, I apologize for not having found the time to feature this place properly.
HOT DOGS OF THE YEAR
This year saw me acting as a hot dog sherpa for Adam Richman and Brad Leone, so it’s only right I crown some winners.
Holydog, Middletown New York - My fascination with Holydog has continued long after my feature there. The Mexico City dog, with house-made jalapeños, is a new favorite. Read more here: Food is personal, papito.
Art’s Drive-In, Chicago Illinois - Their char dog is simple and perfect. It was an early choice in our Chicago Sausage episode.
Pierogi Boys, Ridgewood Queens - Their “Polish Boy” has a kabanosa sausage with slaw, barbecue sauce, spicy mustard and potato sticks. It’s a hefty and delicious snack.
Potato of the Year
I tried to leave the premises of Bake Street, in London, multiple times before owner Feroz Gajia could shove a jacket potato into my hands. I’d seen the videos of tuna mayo being heaped on split-open baked potatoes, and nothing appeals to me less. But Bake Street doesn’t make bullshit for social media, and Feroz is one of the most critical people I know when it comes to food. So I relented.
His potato is twice-baked, its insides mixed with saffron creamed corn that had been leftover from his collab with 2-Michelin Star Ikoyi. Named the “Hermanos Corn Special” on the menu, it’s sprinkled on top with cotija cheese and served with chipotle mayo. It’s Feroz’s take on elotes, in jacket potato form.
Like many of the other great dishes I’ve had at Bake Street—their Bajan-inspired fish cutter sandwich, Feroz’s seasonal take on the In-N-Out Burger, or their viral creme brulee cookies—this jacket potato seems to have emerged from the ether with no other goal than to be the most delicious thing it can be. It silenced the voice in my brain and left me smiling and shaking my head.
Creamed corn. Jacket potato. Elotes. Of course - that makes total sense.
Behind the paywall: The Most Interesting Restaurant of the Year, 19 Top Bites of 2025, and my top 5 Meals of 2025.
