15 Best Restaurants in USA

Verdant plants hang from the timber beams and high, pitched ceiling of this outstanding West African restaurant founded by chef-owner Fatou Ouattara, who grew up in Cote D'Ivoire and learned to cook using clay ovens and wood fires from her grandmother. Akadi's menu draws on traditional recipes like street-style grilled goat with a mustard sauce and plantains, and palm butter stew with shrimp, gambas, crab, fish, and spices. There's a full bar.

Boma takes Western-style ingredients and prepares them with an African twist. You walk through an African marketplace–style dining room to help yourself at counters piled high with flavor from an upscale buffet like no other. The dozen or so serving stations have entrées such as roasted pork, Durban-style chicken, spice-crusted beef, and fish served with tamarind and other robust sauces; intriguing salads; and some of the best hummus this side of the Atlantic. Don't pass up the soups and salads. The zebra dome dessert is chocolate mousse covered with white chocolate and striped with dark chocolate. For a more relaxed breakfast experience, book a table for before 9:30 am; Boma gets crowded quickly. 

At this unassuming storefront, you wouldn't be able to tell that this Nigerian restaurant has garnered high praise from many food critics, but owner-chef Ayo Balogun doesn't just prepare a meal for an intimate party of 16 guests sitting around a communal table, he takes diners on a nostalgic journey, through food and personal storytelling, to the north-central Nigeria of his childhood in the early 1980s. Classic dishes like pepper soup, asaro (yam porridge), and egusi (a creamy, nutty soup) are elevated through plating, while old Nigerian tunes play on vinyl, and art and old photos hang on the wall. There are two seatings at 6 pm and 8:30 pm each open evening, for the $97.20 prix-fixe experience.

"Jiko" means "the cooking place" in Swahili, and this restaurant is certainly that, offering a menu that is more African-inspired than purely African, as well as a large selection of African wines. The dining area surrounds two big, wood-burning ovens and a grill zone where you can watch cooks in North African–style caps prepare your meal. The menu, crafted by some of the best chefs Disney has to offer, includes authentic flavors in appetizers like flatbreads and dips. Menu items often change, but entrées might include seafood tagine, spicy Botswana-style beef short ribs, and sorghum chicken.  Though it's one of Disney's best restaurants, its distance from the parks means reservations are easier to get.

David Geffen Hall was probably the last place most New Yorkers would think to go for a chopped cheese sandwich, that is until New York City chef Kwame Onwuachi took this iconic NYC staple out of the local deli and into a shimmering space in Lincoln Center, elevating it accordingly with a steamed bun, dry-aged beef, smoked mozzarella, and shaved black truffles. Within weeks of opening, the celeb chef's first New York City restaurant was lauded and applauded by locals and media alike for bringing delicious African and Caribbean flavors and interesting twists on classic New York dishes to Lincoln Center, and specifically back to San Juan Hill, an area that once housed a vibrant community of Black and brown residents who were removed for the center's development. A couple of years in, this is one of New York City's highest-rated restaurants and one of the city's hottest reservations. The vibes are relaxed and upscale, with comfortable booths, marble tables, floor-to-ceiling gold link chains, and cloudlike light fixtures that change color—all set to a loud and lively soundtrack of classic and contemporary hip-hop. The menu is inspired by the chef's experience working in some of New York City's top kitchens; his mom's Creole cooking; and the Nigerian, Trinidadian, and Jamaican foods he grew up eating in the Bronx. Standouts include egusi (a one-pot soup) dumplings, Jamaican curried goat patties, and a flavorful pastrami sandwich, served on the bone, coated with a Nigerian-inspired suya (spice blend) with a side of warm bread. Just be sure to leave room for the Harlem Chocolate Factory white chocolate cheesecake. 

This good-value restaurant offers all-buffet dining three meals a day, and a Donald's safari-theme character crew complements the African-esque decor and menu. In addition to standard kids fare, the menu has healthful dishes like curry chicken, marinated salmon, strip loin rubbed with berbere (an African spice mix), and saffron-infused root vegetables. Kids will be happy to see corn dog nuggets and mashed potatoes on the buffet, but this is a great chance to add something unusual to their palet. This restaurant has a large vegetarian selection.

Carved into the walkway leading to the Wildlife Express train, this four-station food mart offers a selection of shrimp or chicken bowls and salads. Everyone will want their own watermelon lemonade.

Ahmed Obo, the Kenyan-born owner who regularly tops the local paper's "best chef" list, applies great skill and enthusiasm to the Afro-Caribbean food at this casual, homey eatery in a shopping center a couple of miles south of the Plaza. Flavors of coconut, peanuts, and curry influence everything from shrimp to goat stew. Vegetarian choices like the coconut lentil stew are rich and comforting. World-beat music, African art, and the friendly waiters—who will happily recommend their favorite dishes—add to the appeal. Plus, it's the only place for miles, maybe thousands of miles, you can put down a cold Tusker. You can also catch the Jambo Hapa food truck at various locations throughout northern New Mexico, sometimes as far north as Taos.

Diners enjoy sampling the unique specialties presented by this friendly eatery, one of the few Somali restaurants in the Bay Area. The go-to dish is “kay kay,” a sweet-and-savory stir-fry of chopped chapatti bread, spice-rubbed beef or chicken, African tea, onions, and bananas—and yes, you read that last one right.

The Washington, D.C., metro area is home to one of the largest Eritrean populations in the United States, and many in the community get their taste of home at this well-established restaurant. Try the shiro, an aromatic Eritrean chickpea stew served in a clay pot along with spongy injera bread. Keren is also a popular neighborhood breakfast spot, offering classic American egg sandwiches; if, however, you're up for a virtual trip, try the ful, a dish made with mashed fava beans. The restaurant is small and simple but big in flavor and history.

On your way to Kilimanjaro Safaris in the morning, stop by this coffee shop to grab a colossal cinnamon roll or pistachio honey croissant to split while waiting in line. In the afternoon, the flatbreads are a refreshing choice to share.

At Ponty Bistro, Franco-Senegalese cuisine reigns supreme. The sophisticated flavors and cooking traditions of Senegal are combined with French and Mediterranean dishes. They are served alongside house cocktails in a warm, dark-wood bistro in this oft-neglected reach of Central Harlem. Try dishes like poisson yassa (a whole branzino with white rice), three cheese gougeres (French cheese puffs), or niokolokoba (grilled sirloin steak with African spice).

Most of the flavors are from India, yet Sanaa is really a celebration of the Spice Islands—locales off the coast of Africa that, for centuries, enticed traders from the world's far corners. Exotic yet approachable lunches and dinners make it a true find on the outer edges of the Disney empire; views of zebras and giraffes on the savanna right out the picture windows are another draw. Potato-pea samosas are good starters. For the main course, try the tandoori chicken or the potjie-inspired meal, a bowl with a mix of a protein and unique base. This is the only sit-down restaurant open for lunch at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. 

Suya Suya's owner-chef Dera Nd-Ezuma was raised in Nigeria before moving to South Jersey as a teenager. His restaurant highlights Nigerian and West African dishes like its namesake suya (a spiced and grilled beef) and jollof rice (rice, tomatoes, onions, and spices) in a fast-casual environment—similar setup to a Chipotle or Sweetgreen—where guests can build their own bowls or enjoy suya and other proteins folded into tacos.