2 Atlanta Restaurants Among Best New Eateries In America: New List

GEORGIA — Two restaurants in Georgia were named among the 50 best new eateries in America this year by the men’s fashion, style and culture magazine Esquire.

The 2023 list, published Tuesday, includes restaurants from well-known food hubs such as New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as other major metro areas including Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Miami, Atlanta, Honolulu, Chicago, Louisville, New Orleans, St Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and more.

Here are the restaurants from Georgia that made the list:

• Mujo, Atlanta

At Mujo, Chef J. Trent Harris couples the meat of Hokkaido-delivered hairy crabs with tuna-infused sauce to form zensai while also working with sunset-colored akami and marigold uni. “As each morsel is plucked from the plate, it’s like an intimate exchange at the end of a very long trip,” Esquire wrote.

• GiGi’s Italian, Atlanta

With a menu compiled by Jacob Armando and Eric Brooks, GiGi’s Italian offers dishes that include pasta, a salad, a beef carpaccio, polenta with caviar, crème fraîche, trout roe and a tiramisu. “The food puts you in such good humor that you can’t help but make friends and end the evening sharing slugs of amaro passed down the bar by once and future strangers who, for tonight, are your paisans,” Esquire wrote.

Esquire noted that authenticity was a major theme this year among the restaurants. That was true for its Restaurant of the Year winner, Ilis in Brooklyn, where the chefs “prepared the fish as it would have been done centuries ago, wrapped in bark and cooked over flames.” It was also true across the country at Poltergeist in Los Angeles, where the chefs “gave us a wild, experimental take on the fish taco, which was dipped in masa and fried. Both felt genuine, and each was delicious.”

The magazine also named two eateries that earned Comeback of the Year titles and the coveted claim to Pizza Joint of the Year. Baroo in Los Angeles closed in 2018, but is now “decidedly all grown up,” Esquire wrote in naming it the comeback winner this year for the West Coast. On the East Coast, Superiority Burger in the East Village of New York City earned the comeback honor, with its tantalizing vegan burger offerings.

Meanwhile, sure to stir the pot among pizza aficionados is Nonno’s Family Pizza Tavern in Houston, which was named Pizza Joint of the Year.