Yelp, a digital guide to discover and review local places, just released a 2025 list “25 best new restaurants in the US“
Based on Yelp’s data and community reviews, the list offers a visit to the country’s most exciting restaurants, from Bangkok street food in Los Angeles to a comfortable neighborhood in New York. This year’s choices also reflect today’s cuisine trends, with chefs including open cooking, signature menu, and filtered to take global comfort food.
Sign in at No. 1 is Dōgon In Washington, DC, where the winner of James Beard award Chef Kwame Onwuachi The afro-caribbean root channel is an unforgettable dinner experience. Located inside Salamander DCThis sky-themed restaurant was inspired by 18th-century astronomers and surveyor Benjamin Banneker, who helped Washington charts, the original border of DC and detected his ancestors to the Dōgon people in West Africa, known for their deep knowledge of the stars.
After eating there with my family, I was really able to see why this restaurant was ahead of the chart. From the moment you enter, the restaurant kite immediately attracts you with neat geometric lines and metal chain accents that nod to Benjamin Banneker’s mapping instrument. The space shines with gloomy lighting, moonlight dome, and blue mirror glass, creating an atmosphere that feels like eating under the night sky. Soft and purple colors extend the theme of the sky into the futuristic design of the dining room.
The restaurant menu is a combination of Nigeria, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole Onwuachi, while honoring the great Asian and Ethiopia population in Washington, DC.
Each meal transports us in the African diaspora. We enjoyed a hoe crab with a plantain hoe cake, a grilled chicken with jollof rice, branzino curry with zucchini and crunchy callaloo, and barbecue vegetables with cipollini and beef. We also tried two of the three dessert deals, including rum cakes with vanilla whip and fruits and cherries & creams, which my daughter is described as unique and delicious.
The list of beverages, designed by a Mixologist who won the Derek Brown award, features black-proof choices, zero-proof choices, and inventive cocktails, such as astronomers, made with African gin, home-made, lemon, lemon, orgeat, aquafaba, and lavender.
Rounded up the top five Yelp restaurants Celeste In Narragansett, Rhode Island; Theodora In New York City; The line of the commission In Indianapolis; and Sgrizzi by Chef Marc In Las Vegas.
To see a complete list of restaurants and learn more about reports, visit yelp.com.