• I worked at Disney World, and I've been visiting and eating at the parks my whole life. 
• I love dining with characters at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom and Garden Grill in Epcot. 
• Although they're pricey, California Grill, Be Our Guest, and Ohana are great for special occasions.

I've been going to Disney World my whole life and even worked there for two years, so I love trying all the amazing dining experiences across the property. 

After spending way too much money on my food adventures, I've compiled a list of my favorite restaurants at Disney World.

Crystal Palace makes me feel like a kid again

Crystal Palace is located right off Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, and it has large windows that provide beautiful views of Cinderella Castle.

The food is an all-you-can-eat buffet. I've gone for both breakfast and dinner and enjoyed it each time. 

During the meal, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet go table to table to meet diners.

It's so pure seeing everyone meet their favorite childhood characters. They even invite the kids to prance around the restaurant in a parade.

Whispering Canyon Cafe is so much fun for a steal of a price

Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge serves affordable comfort food like skillets, burgers, pulled pork, loaded nachos, and so much more.

On top of the amazing food, the servers are absolutely hilarious and will have you cackling the entire time. I don't want to give away too much, but if you decide to go, you should definitely ask for the ketchup for a surprise.

The experience has been different every time I've gone, which always makes me want to go back.

Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' is by far my favorite restaurant at Disney Springs

The food and drinks at Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' are out of this world — especially if you're looking for classic Southern-style cooking.

The eatery serves biscuits and gravy, chicken and dumplings, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and so many variations of the best fried chicken I've ever had (I'm not exaggerating).

There are also several different flavors of moonshine on the menu. 

California Grill is expensive, but it's worth the splurge at least once

I had the best dining experience of my life at California Grill.

I've only gone once because it's very expensive — but the service, cuisine, and experience are incredible. 

The restaurant is on the top floor of the Contemporary Resort and has floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the Seven Seas Lagoon and Magic Kingdom.

If you go to dinner around the time of the Magic Kingdom fireworks show, you can watch it while you enjoy your meal. You can also go out on the balcony for a better view.

I think every Disney fan should experience a meal here at least once.

I have dreams about the food at Ohana

I always have a craving for the food at Ohana, especially the noodles. It's one of the more expensive restaurants on this list, but I'm confident it's worth the price. 

The restaurant is located in the Polynesian Resort and serves all-you-can-eat, family-style fare for breakfast and dinner.

There are three courses at dinner, starting with an appetizer of mixed-green salad and bread. The main course includes chicken wings, pork dumplings, and a noodle skillet with beef and shrimp. For dessert, enjoy the restaurant's famous bread pudding à la mode. 

The Polynesian is my favorite Disney resort, so I love the environment of Ohana. There are live singers walking around playing the ukulele and floor-to-ceiling windows that offer gorgeous views of Magic Kingdom.

Sci-Fi Dine-in transports you to a 1950s drive-in theater 

Sci-Fi Dine-in at Hollywood Studios is unlike anything I've ever experienced.

Diners sit in a car facing a huge screen showing scenes from different black-and-white sci-fi movies.

The food isn't top-of-the-line, but it's a good moderately priced meal, with menu items like onion rings, chicken fingers, burgers, and pasta. There are also a wide variety of specialty milkshakes. 

I've dined at Grand Floridian Cafe many times, and every meal has been delicious

I've been to the Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner, and every time I've loved my food.

I recommend the French onion soup, lobster burger, omelet, and brioche French toast. And I love the free biscuits with orange butter that come with every meal. 

It's also a great bang for your buck. The restaurant is located inside the Grand Floridian Resort, one of the deluxe resorts on the property.

I'd say the restaurant's prices are fairly affordable considering the expensive environment. 

Be Our Guest transports me into my favorite Disney movie

Growing up, I was always the biggest "Beauty and the Beast" fan, so naturally, Disney's Be Our Guest, is one of my favorite restaurants.

It's another pricey spot, so it's best to save for special occasions, but it's worth it for me.

The restaurant transports you right into the movie. The main dining area is modeled after the ballroom at the Beast's castle. There's also a West Wing room with the iconic red rose.

At dinner, you also have the opportunity to meet the Beast, which is fun since the character doesn't appear often otherwise.

Dinner is a three-course, prix-fixe menu with a selection of appetizers, entrées, and desserts. It even serves "the gray stuff" from the movie for dessert, which is definitely delicious. 

Ale and Compass serves my favorite breakfast at Disney World

Ale and Compass is located in the Yacht Club Resort, and every time I've eaten there, I've been blown away by how great the food is. 

The salted-caramel-apple French toast is by far my favorite breakfast dish on Disney property. For dinner, I love the shrimp pasta, half chicken, and Angus strip steak.

Each meal leaves me wanting to come back to try more. I know that I'll never be disappointed by a dish served here. 

I love meeting characters while dining at Garden Grill

Garden Grill at Epcot provides views of the ride Living With the Land ride and character dining with Mickey, Chip, and Dale. It's always fun because you never know what to expect from those chipmunks. 

The food is served family-style and is all-you-can-eat. It's similar to a Thanksgiving feast, with turkey, gravy, beef, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mac and cheese, salad, and a berry shortcake.

I love the food, and it will get you stuffed at a decent price. 

You can watch your food being cooked at Teppen Edo

Teppen Edo, located in the Japan Pavilion at Epcot, serves mouth-wateringly good food.

The chefs prepare the Japanese-inspired cuisine right in front of you. 

You can choose between steak, chicken, seafood, and vegan options served with noodles or rice. There are also different sides, including sushi and an array of vegetables.

The food is out-of-this-world good, and the chefs keep you entertained the whole time. 

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue is my all-time favorite restaurant at Disney World

I saved the best for last. Hoop-Dee-Doo is my all-time favorite dining experience at Disney World because of its food, show, energy, and location. 

The dinner theater is located at Fort Wilderness campgrounds and serves an all-you-can-eat, family-style meal with three different courses. My favorite parts of the meal are the fried chicken, mac and cheese, strawberry shortcake, and endless sweet tea and sangria.

While you eat, there's a musical show happening all around you that involves heavy crowd participation. It's super entertaining, and I'm always left laughing until my stomach hurts. 

This story was originally published on June 1, 2022, and most recently updated on April 7, 2025.

The midtown Manhattan building where Jackie Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Truman Capote once dined, then the legendary French restaurant La Grenouille, is now a nondescript renovation site with wood, metal, and industrial-size garbage bins strewn about. The 60-year home of La Grenouille will soon be turned into the new American home of Quanjude, the most famous Peking duck restaurant brand in China. Quanjude, a publicly listed company controlled by a state-owned entity, bought the 6,800-square-foot building on 52nd Street for $14.3 million in October in an attempt to bring Chinese fine dining to America.

The 161-year-old brand's first branch in the US is going all out. The wallpaper will replicate a 12th-century Chinese handscroll painting. The private dining room will be decorated with traditional fans and chopsticks. But it is the quality of the food that Yan Zhang, the head of Quanjude America, wants diners to obsess about. "Chinese cuisine is exquisite and profound. But in this part of the world, people think it's just spring rolls and chow mein," Zhang said. "We want to revamp their cognition."

Quanjude is one of at least 10 major Chinese food and beverage brands planning to hit US shores this year. Driven by an oversaturated market, a troubled economy back home, and the potential to be listed on the US stock market, companies serving everything from high-end dinners to dumplings and milk tea — several of them with thousands of locations in China — are now poised to break into the US food market. And dozens more are planning to study the landscape to possibly jump in themselves.

But with the relationship between the US and China at one of its rockiest points since the two countries resumed their diplomatic relationship in 1979, the Chinese newcomers' path to success is extremely precarious. Sure, they aren't working on critical technology or launching major social media platforms, but Chinese restaurants have still faced backlash in the past few years, with some Americans blaming the country for the COVID pandemic or because of a general antipathy toward the Chinese Communist Party. Is America really ready for what some local Chinese restaurant insiders are calling a Chinese food "tsunami"?

Since the first Chinese restaurant in the US opened in 1849 in San Francisco during the gold rush, generations of blue-collar immigrants have taken advantage of the relatively low-cost entry point in the restaurant industry to make ends meet. They created dishes that are nonexistent in China, such as chop suey or General Tso's chicken, to cater to Western palettes, forming an expectation among Americans that Chinese cuisine is convenient and cheap. Chinese immigrants, meanwhile, have had to watch their cuisine sink to the bottom of their adopted country's food chain.

When Zhang started traveling around North America for his import and export business 18 years ago, he couldn't bear the Chinese food he came across. "Nothing is authentic other than the beef noodle," he said. A foodie himself, Zhang vowed to make a difference. In 2017, he reached out to Quanjude, proposing to bring the iconic restaurant to North America. He opened the first branch in Vancouver, Canada, in early 2020, right before the pandemic ravaged indoor dining. In 2022, it won a Michelin star, which it has held onto since — and Zhang expects the New York branch to get even greater plaudits.

"Chinese immigrants are better educated and wealthier now. We crave for a better presentation of our own culture," said Zhang. "It is the best time for food brands in China to expand overseas."

While there are some Chinese fine-dining restaurants in the US run by Chinese Americans, the new wave brings some of the best-known restaurant brands in China.

The timing is made more urgent by China's recent economic troubles. The Chinese government says the revenue of the food and beverage industry in the country increased just 5.3% in 2024, a nosedive from the 20.4% increase in 2023, and the smallest growth in a decade excluding the pandemic years. An industry report on 22 publicly listed Chinese food and beverage companies found that 68% saw their profits decline in the first half of last year. Close to 3 million restaurants and cafés in China shut down for good last year.

Chinese food brands' moves to open overseas — which had been increasing modestly since the 1980s — have rapidly accelerated. Hongcan Industry Research Institute, a Chinese group that studies the restaurant industry, released a report in September that found more than 100 Chinese food and beverage brands have moved into more than 180 countries, now running 700,000 locations outside China — a 200,000 increase since 2016. The Chinese government has spurred on the expansion, issuing two directives last year for Chinese food and beverage brands to "go overseas" to help "improve the international influence of Chinese cuisine culture."

"Almost all the major food and beverage brands you see in China are considering coming to the US," said Beichen Hu, a restaurant investor and the director of the North America Asian Food Industry Association. "A popular catchphrase circulating broadly in the food industry in China is 'to go overseas or to die.'"

The US market certainly looks appealing. The food service industry reached over $1 trillion in sales last year, with $1.5 trillion projected in 2025. A survey by the National Restaurant Association found that 80% of restaurant operators in the US expect their sales this year to be the same or higher than last year's. An analysis by IBISWorld predicted a promising market for Chinese restaurants in the US through 2030 as the demand for Chinese food among households with annual income above $100,000 is expected to increase.

For as much of a setback as it was, the pandemic also offered a rare opportunity. "Many prime locations in coveted places like Manhattan are vacant after the pandemic, and that opens the market for brands from China," said Tom Chen, the founder of Kepler Mission Design Group, a design and branding company that's helped food and beverage chains from China open in the US. Leading Chinese brands have snatched up space in competitive areas like Fifth Avenue and Times Square in New York and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles.

"These brands don't want to be just another Chinese restaurant in the US; they want the esteem," said Chao Wang, the owner of the rice-noodle shop Hunan Slurp in New York's East Village. He's helping restaurants from Hunan province, where he's from, to open in the US. "To have a store in Manhattan is like erecting a flag on the moon. It's worth it even if you don't make money."

Still, the cuisine push from China may seem counterintuitive. The tension between the US and China, especially Washington's restrictions on Chinese tech companies in recent years, has created a palpable chilling effect. Figures on foreign investment from China vary significantly, but they all show a steep drop in Chinese investment into the US in the last several years. The most recent annual survey by the China General Chamber of Commerce — USA found that in 2023, more than 60% of Chinese companies in the US complained about the deteriorating business environment and 22% had reduced investment here.

But geopolitical risks are not top of mind for most eateries. "The US is still a pro-business country. And we sell consumer products, not computer chips," said Amanda Wang, the owner of Ningji, the leading Chinese chain of lemon-based teas, with more than 3,000 stores in China. Its first overseas outlet is opening in mid-April in Los Angeles with a product line customized for American consumers called bobobaba. And the company is already looking for more locations.

Wang said the biggest cultural shock for her is the time it takes to open a store in the US. Ningji decided to take over the fully functioning venue of a shuttered beverage store in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale last November, but as of early February, Wang was still waiting for the license to be approved to start the renovation. "I am speechless," said Wang. "We open a new store on average in 20 days in China."

Wang was also confused by a recent street encounter. Two days before the new year, on her way to the supermarket, a stranger yelled at her to "go back to China," and blamed her for stealing jobs in the US. "I don't understand why he thought I stole his job," said Wang. "We are here to create jobs."

This kind of hostility isn't exactly rare. A Pew Research Center survey from May found that eight in 10 Americans have negative views about China, and a study by researchers from Boston College, the University of Michigan, and Microsoft found that Asian restaurants in the US lost $7.4 billion in revenue in 2020 because of anti-Chinese sentiment, which President Donald Trump helped stoke by calling COVID-19 the "China virus."

"Trump likes to stir racial antagonism," Chao Wang of Hunan Slurp said. The window of a noodle shop Wang owned in Long Island City, New York, was smashed during the pandemic, and he attributed it to anti-Asian hate.

Yong Zhao, the cofounder and chief executive of the American food chains Junzi Kitchen and Nice Day, had a disturbing moment a few months ago with a customer at his store in Long Island. "I told him we are going to bring organic mushrooms from a local farm into our recipes, and he said, 'Oh, is the farm owned by the CCP?'" said Zhao. The customer was referring to the rising concern that the Chinese Communist Party is spying on the US from farmlands purchased by Chinese entities. "If I were white, I don't think he'd have asked."

Before the pandemic, Zhao, a Yale-educated environmental scientist turned restaurateur, had formed a network of young Chinese restaurant operators in the US with a mission to "tell the stories of Chinese cuisine." But he said since the trade war began in 2018, American media has much less coverage of Chinese culture and lifestyle, and Americans seem less interested in Chinese culture. "Say, you want to highlight the history of a traditional dish from Chengdu, but many people here don't know where Chengdu is," said Zhao, referring to the southwestern Chinese city that is known for mapo tofu and kung pao chicken.

To some industry people I spoke with, Chinese food companies are less likely to be caught up in geopolitical wrangling than, say, the tech industry, but their biggest risk factor may be their own growth. "This is an industry that is safe until Chinese companies start to win, and then they're not safe," said Chris Pereira, the founder and CEO of iMpact, a New York-based consulting firm that has helped hundreds of Chinese enterprises enter the US.

Before he founded iMpact in 2020, Pereira worked as an executive at Huawei, the Chinese tech conglomerate that was driven out of the US market over national security concerns. Having watched that play out, Pereira suggests big Chinese food chains find ways to share profits with American partners as a form of self-protection. For instance, he said, if Luckin Coffee, the Chinese coffeehouse behemoth with more than 22,000 locations in China that plans to come to the US this year, starts to steal market share from Starbucks, "you can bet the US government will find a way to talk about national security for coffee."

In a crowded back office at Quanjude's Manhattan site, Zhang has a more urgent challenge. The visa applications for the five chefs he plans to bring in from China are still pending. Since US-China relations started deteriorating, it's been harder to obtain visas for Chinese nationals, but Zhang says the Chinese-trained chefs are essential for the restaurant. "We won't allow the quality of the food to suffer under untrained hands," he said. If nothing else works out, he plans to bring Quanjude chefs from Canada.

Zhang thinks his ducks could serve an important mission. "I believe food is the best bridge for divisions and it may help pull the US and China closer again," he said.

After a pause, he continued. "Except if there is a hot war," he said, "everything Chinese in the US would be doomed."

Rong Xiaoqing is a New York-based award-winning journalist who has been writing about the Chinese community in the US since 2002.

• I tried BLT sandwiches from Cousins Subs, Jimmy John's, and Subway.
• I wasn't a fan of Subway's BLT and thought the bread tasted a bit sugary.
• I loved Jimmy John's applewood smoked bacon, but Cousins Subs made my overall favorite BLT.

BLT sandwiches are my go-to lunch staple. Filled with crispy bacon, fresh lettuce, juicy tomato, and a touch of mayo, they're simple but delicious.

Although BLTs are easy to prepare at home, I was curious to see which major sandwich chain makes the best one. So, I headed to Indiana-based Subway, Jimmy John's, and Cousins Subs locations to compare their offerings.

Here's how it went.

Prices may vary by location.

I started my quest for the best BLT at Cousins Subs.

Cousins Subs began serving sandwiches in 1972. As its name suggests, the brand was started by two cousins who wanted to bring their favorite handhelds from the East Coast to Milwaukee.

Although the vast majority of the brand's 100+ locations are located in Wisconsin, I was able to visit one of the chain's Indianapolis storefronts.

My 7.5-inch sub cost $9.

I thought Cousins Subs had the best bread.

The bread on this sandwich tasted fresh and reminded me of the kind I'd get at Pret a Manger in London; it wasn't chewy at all and went down easily.

The bacon was long and crispy, filling the sandwich and complementing the bread's fluffiness. The tomato slices were also a good size, and the lettuce was neatly chopped.

The mayo seemed to have a slight seasoning that gave it a great flavor, too.

This sandwich had the best overall flavor of the three, so even though the brand is harder to find in my area, it was worth the trip. If I lived closer to a Cousins Subs, I'd 100% order this BLT again.

Next, I visited Jimmy John's.

Unlike the more localized Cousins Subs, Jimmy John's has more than 2,600 locations across the US. However, it has roots in the Midwest — its first store opened in Illinois in 1983.

I visited a restaurant in Carmel, Indiana, and paid $8 for a 8-inch sandwich.

Jimmy John's BLT had the best bacon.

The bacon on this sandwich was very savory, and I could taste the applewood smoke, which added a zestiness to the fluffy French bread.

It had a lot of lettuce — much more than the version from Cousins Subs — which I liked because it felt like I was making up for all the carbs I was eating. The tomatoes were also cut thicker.

Together, this made the sandwich feel like a salad between bread slices, but there was still a lot of bacon to render this handheld a true BLT.

I concluded my BLT journey at Subway.

Subway has nearly 37,000 locations across more than 100 countries. Even though it's not my go-to fast-food spot, I know that when I travel, I can find a location almost anywhere I go. This time, I visited a location in Carmel, Indiana.

I originally ordered a 6-inch sub, but the cashier upgraded me to a foot-long version since the store was running a deal when I visited. I ended up paying $7.90 and cut the sandwich in half to enjoy.

Subway's BLT was my least favorite.

When I took a bite, I thought the bread tasted sugary and chewy, which made me wish I'd gotten a wrap or whole wheat bread instead.

The bacon wasn't much better, either, as I thought it was greasy and a bit flimsy.

Although the veggie portions didn't necessarily taste fresh, I wish I'd asked for more to maybe make up for some of the grease.

I won't be returning to Subway anytime soon, but I enjoyed the BLTs from Cousins Subs and Jimmy John's.

Overall, I thought Cousins Subs and Jimmy John's made the best BLTs. If I had to choose one winner, I'd rank Cousins Subs slightly higher because of the bread and seasonings, even though I preferred Jimmy John's bacon.

However, I thought the BLT from Subway was a bit chewy and seemed like it lacked fresh-tasting vegetables. I also wasn't a fan of the bacon, and likely won't be returning to the chain anytime soon.

• I tried all four of IHOP's $7 House Faves meals, each of which comes with a protein and a starch.
• The French-toast breakfast was entirely worth $7, and I'd recommend it and order it again myself.
• The other three meals disappointed me, but I'd be open to giving two of them another chance.

As many chain restaurants raise prices, some are adding value meals and special deals to draw consumers in. Enter: IHOP and its entire House Faves menu dedicated to $7 dishes (at some locations, they're only $6).

Paying that price for a full meal sounds like a great deal any way you cut it, especially since $7 won't even get you a burger and fries at some fast-food chains right now.

However, if the meal you get for that great price isn't very good, you're not actually coming out on top.

Curious to see how good of a value the chain's value dishes really are, I took my kids to an IHOP in Long Island, New York.

The $7 menu had four options when I visited.

IHOP's House Faves meals are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. During my visit, I found four meals on offer.

The first is the Breakfast Faves combo, which consists of two eggs any way you want them, two strips of bacon or sausage links, and two pancakes.

Next, the French-toast breakfast, which comes with a thick slice of French toast, eggs any way, and your choice of bacon or sausage.

Then, there's the house scramble, which comes with scrambled eggs with chopped bacon and jack and cheddar cheese, plus hash browns.

Finally, there's a ham and cheese omelet served with pancakes.

I liked the pancakes in the Breakfast Faves combo, but the eggs let me down.

Simply put, the IHOP pancakes were good. They were fluffy, yet dense (maybe substantial is a better word?) with a rich buttermilk flavor.

I wouldn't say they're great — the lump of butter heaped onto their top makes the center too mushy if left to sit too long — but they're definitely worth ordering.

The bacon was pretty tasty, too. It was crisp in some bits but not dried out and still had that pleasant chewiness in the thicker parts.

However, I wish the sunny-side-up eggs had been cooked longer. They felt watery and didn't look or taste great.

As my daughter happily chowed down on pancakes, my son, who is quite the foodie, took one look at the spread out before us and decided he'd wait to eat until we got home.

Cautiously optimistic, I carried on.

The house scramble was OK.

IHOP's house scramble was decent, but it didn't seem to be cooked consistently throughout. It contained a decent amount of bacon, but some bites were wetter than others.

The hash browns it came with didn't taste like much of anything to me and were pretty dry — the potato shreds fell apart as soon as I stabbed them with my fork.

I didn't care for the omelet.

The omelet's ingredients felt poorly distributed, with too much ham scattered atop it and very little mixed in.

It was slathered in what the IHOP menu calls a "white cheese sauce" that was a bit too gelatinous for my liking. I thought the eggs had a somewhat watery consistency and artificial taste that I didn't love.

I would not order it again.

The French-toast breakfast was our only true winner.

OK, now for some good news: the French-toast breakfast was tasty and well worth its price — and then some.

The slab of French toast itself was thick and spongy, flavored with cinnamon and syrup, and topped with powdered sugar. It was sweet but not cloyingly so, and it was hefty enough to satisfy even a hungry stomach.

The scrambled eggs served with the French toast were the best eggs of the meals we tried. They seemed cooked evenly and not overdone. Again, the bacon it came with was tasty.

I'd gladly shell out $7 again for the French-toast breakfast and would recommend you do the same.

With better eggs, the Breakfast Faves combo would've been fine, so I'd be open to trying it again. There's also a chance I just got a bad batch of hash browns — so I wouldn't rule the scramble out, either.

However, I won't be giving that omelet any second chances.

• Heena Patel is the James Beard-nominated chef of Besharam in San Francisco.
• Patel shared the underrated Indian dishes she believes everyone should order.
• Khichdi is a classic comfort dish, while khandvi is a popular savory snack.

While undoubtedly delicious, there's so much more to Indian cuisine than naan and butter chicken.

That's what James Beard-nominated chef Heena Patel wants to prove with Besharam, her regional Gujarati restaurant in San Francisco.

"Just as my guests step outside their comfort zones, I do the same with them, trusting they'll embrace my menu with an open mind," Patel told Business Insider. "That's how I hope to put Gujarati food on the map."

Patel believes the biggest mistake people make at Indian restaurants is playing it too safe and ordering the same thing every time. So, if you're looking for a little inspiration, here are three underrated dishes Patel thinks you should order the next time you're craving Indian food.

Khichdi is a classic comfort dish

Patel said khichdi is typically made with rice and lentils, adding that "one bowl is never enough."

She recommends pairing khichdi with a "swirl of warm ghee and a drizzle of sour pickle" on top of a crunchy papadam.

"Indian food isn't just about individual dishes; it's about building each bite with different flavors," Patel told BI. "A curry or dal on its own is just one part of the experience. The real magic happens when you layer flavors by adding chutneys, pickles, rotis, and rice."

Bhindi masala 'allows okra to shine'

One of Patel's favorite okra dishes is bhindi masala, which typically features okra cooked with tomatoes, onions, and herbs.

"This dish is very special because it allows okra to shine with its crisp texture," Patel said.

When Patel sees okra and bitter melon on the menu at an Indian restaurant, she knows she's found an authentic spot.

"Produce like okra, bitter melon, and opo squash are common in Indian cooking," Patel said. "So if you see these ingredients on a menu, you're in for a treat."

Khandvi is a popular Gujarati savory snack

"Khandvi are spiced and seasoned tight rolls served with yogurt," Patel said. "It's a simple yet elegant dish, full of technique that truly showcases a chef's skill."

If you want to explore more Gujarati-specific dishes, Patel also recommends…

• Dhokla: A savory sponge cake. Patel makes it with lentils and a cranberry chili glaze at Besharam.
• Kadhi: A spiced yogurt-based dish similar to curry that can be used as a sauce with rice or fritters.
• Ladoo: A sweet treat in the shape of a ball. There are many versions, but the classic variety is made with chickpea flour fried in ghee with cardamom and sugar.

No matter what you decide to order at an Indian restaurant, Patel advises that you don't just stick to one dish.

"Mix and match textures, spice levels, and accompaniments," she said. "You'll walk away with a meal that's not just delicious but full of depth and surprises."

• Every state has a famous restaurant that everyone knows about. 
• Some are fine dining establishments like the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
• Others are beloved barbecue spots like Gates Bar-B-Q in Missouri and Prohibition Pig in Vermont.

From fine dining restaurants to local barbecue joints, every state has at least one legendary restaurant that everyone knows about.

The types of eateries vary from the oldest restaurants to buzzy hot spots, but each has ultimately made a name for itself. 

Business Insider went state by state to find the most famous restaurant. Reasons for making the list included historic value, culinary awards, local or national acclaim, TV and movie appearances, celebrity sightings, and noteworthy menu items or locations, among others.

While some restaurants are sure to set diners back a pretty penny, others are small side-of-the-road spots that are surprisingly affordable. 

Keep reading to learn what eatery is the most famous in your state. 

ALABAMA: Dreamland Bar-B-Que in Tuscaloosa

Famous for its ribs, Dreamland Bar-B-Que has been satisfying folks in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, since 1958.

Celebrities even come to the restaurant to enjoy the food, including comedians Sean and Penn Teller, actor and singer Reba McEntire, and former president George W. Bush, who ordered some of the restaurant's famous ribs to-go to eat aboard Air Force One, The Tuscaloosa News reported. 

ALASKA: Snow City Cafe in Anchorage

Located in Anchorage, Alaska, Snow City Cafe is known around town as a popular brunch restaurant specializing in egg sandwiches and pancakes.

The establishment made a name for itself in 2015 when President Barack Obama came in to buy all of the cinnamon rolls for his staffers and even reporters following the president, NBC reported at the time.

ARIZONA: Durant's Steakhouse in Phoenix

Durant's Steakhouse is a fine-dining restaurant in Phoenix. The establishment is well-known for its steaks, red booths, and martinis.

The food has attracted notable diners through the years, including John Wayne, Joe DiMaggio, and Clark Gable, Visit Arizona reported. The steakhouse is also a popular eatery among Arizona's politicians. 

ARKANSAS: Petit and Keet in Little Rock

Located in Little Rock, Arkansas, Petit and Keet is an award-winning restaurant and bar. Locals have rated it the top restaurant in the state several times in Arkansas Times' readers choice issue. 

CALIFORNIA: Craig's in Los Angeles

Craig's opened in 2011 in Los Angeles, and it specializes in Italian and American fare, including dishes like pizza, pasta, honey truffle chicken, and steak.

However, the restaurant is mostly known for its celebrity clientele. Kim Kardashian and "Vanderpump Rules" star Lala Kent have both been photographed at the restaurant, and Eater reported that Lizzo, Olivia Jade, and Nicky Hilton all dined there in 2022.

COLORADO: Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs in Denver

Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs started as a hot dog truck, but now it's one of the most famous restaurants in Denver. The eatery offers hot dogs made of beef, elk, ostrich, wild boar, and even a combination of rabbit and rattlesnake. Cream cheese and caramelized onions are also popular toppings at this restaurant.

Biker Jim's unique offerings caught Anthony Bourdain's attention and were featured on his show "No Reservations."

Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs also appeared on the Travel Channel's "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" and the Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate."

CONNECTICUT: Mystic Pizza in Mystic

Mystic Pizza opened in 1973 in Mystic, Connecticut, but it wasn't until the late '80s that the pizzeria became famous worldwide after screenwriter Amy Jones visited the eatery and decided to set her movie in Mystic Pizza.

The movie, which starred Julia Roberts and was shot on location at the pizzeria, was released in 1988. "Mystic Pizza" became a national phenomenon, causing many tourists to flock to the pizza eatery to try "A Slice of Heaven."

DELAWARE: Stoney's Pub in Wilmington

Stoney's Pub in Wilmington, Delaware, is best known for its British pub fare like "Mum's poached or boiled fish," shrimp and chips, and roast beef dinner.

However, the eatery was put on the map when it appeared on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."

During the show, host Guy Fieri said, "You're going to have to pry this out of my hands," when he took a bite of the restaurant's gravy-covered roast beef, the Food Network reported.

FLORIDA: Seaspice Brasserie & Lounge in Miami

Seaspice sits on the Miami River offering customers sweeping views of the city.

The restaurant specializes in "gastro-classic dining" serving dishes like wagyu steak tartare, crab tempura, and sushi.

Seaspice often has over a two-hour wait and is a favorite among celebrities like Marc Anthony, the Miami Herald reported after he arrived by yacht to dine at the restaurant in 2016. 

GEORGIA: STK in Atlanta

In addition to a hearty lineup of steaks, STK specializes in seafood dishes like oysters, shrimp cocktail, and salmon, as well as other dishes like roasted rack of lamb and short ribs.

The restaurant has drawn celebrities over the years, including Selena Gomez and Denzel Washington.

Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans were also spotted eating at STK while "Captain America 3" was being shot in Atlanta, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

HAWAII: Manago Hotel Restaurant in Captain Cook

The Manago Hotel and Restaurant dates back to 1917, years before Hawaii officially became a state, and is popularly known as the oldest restaurant in Hawaii. 

Among the restaurant's most famous offerings are its family-style pork chops, which attract tourists from across the country. 

IDAHO: White Horse Saloon in Spirit Lake

White Horse Saloon, which opened in 1908 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, is located in Spirit Lake, Idaho.

The restaurant is known as the oldest operating saloon in the state. While the restaurant is temporarily closed, the bar remains open.

ILLINOIS: Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen in Chicago

Named by Time Out as "the most prominent Jewish deli in Chicago," Manny's Cafeteria and Delicatessen has been owned by four generations of the same family for 80 years, according to the restaurant's website. 

The restaurant serves classic deli fare like Reuben sandwiches and corned beef hash as well as unique dishes like tongue and mushrooms.

INDIANA: St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis

St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis is well known for its shrimp cocktails, steak, chicken, and seafood.

However, the eatery became known by many more people when it appeared on a 2013 episode of NBC's "Parks and Recreation," which is set in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. 

Indianapolis Monthly reported that in the episode, Rob Lowe, Aziz Ansari, Adam Scott, and Nick Offerman go out for steaks at the establishment. 

IOWA: Northwestern Steakhouse in Mason City

Northwestern Steakhouse in Mason City, Iowa, opened over 100 years ago in 1920.

Today, the restaurant is still operating, serving steaks covered in olive oil, butter, and Greek seasoning. In 2017, Thrillist named Northwestern Steakhouse the "most iconic restaurant" in Iowa. 

KANSAS: Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que in Kansas City

Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que may be a former gas station, but it's now famous nationwide for its burnt-ends sandwich and ribs.

Founded by Jeff and Joy Stehney in 1990 after the couple attended a local barbecue contest, Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que now has three restaurants across the state, a private tasting room, and an event space. 

KENTUCKY: Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum in North Corbin

Located in North Corbin, Kentucky, the Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum is a popular tourist attraction for KFC enthusiasts and history lovers alike.

Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, operated the restaurant from 1940 to 1956. During this time, he developed his signature recipe for fried chicken, which is still used by the fast-food chain.

Visitors to the museum can examine historic memorabilia and exhibits related to KFC's history and snack on fried chicken. 

LOUISIANA: Commander's Palace in New Orleans

Situated inside a bright blue-and-white Victorian-style building in New Orleans' Garden District, Commander's Palace opened in 1893 and has been serving locals ever since.

Explore Louisiana reported that celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse worked as the iconic restaurant's head chef after a stint of restaurant jobs in France, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

He worked at Commander's Palace for eight years, during which time he perfected his signature Creole-influenced cooking style.

MAINE: The Lobster Shack at Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth

Open since the 1920s, The Lobster Shack at Two Lights is located on the shores of Cape Elizabeth. It serves lobster rolls and fried seafood by the basket all summer long.

The restaurant became even more well known when, Food Network reported, celebrity chef and TV personality Bobby Flay visited the eatery on his show "FoodNation," bringing the Lobster Shack into the national spotlight. 

MARYLAND: Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore

Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore is known for its American cuisine and farm-to-table philosophy.

In 2016, Michelle and Malia Obama were spotted dining in the restaurant. It is said to have many celebrity guests but the establishment has a policy that bars employees from disclosing any information, though the owners did reflect on serving Michelle Obama on the restaurant's 10th anniversary in 2017.

"She gives the best hugs," former server Amy Sherald, who also was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint a portrait of Michelle Obama, told Baltimore Magazine. "She walked in and I was thinking she would shake my hand, but she hugged me and the kids."

MASSACHUSETTS: Cheers in Boston

Many know Cheers in Boston as the setting for the hit '80s NBC sitcom of the same name. However, the restaurant was popular long before the show premiered.

According to the restaurant's website, Cheers was originally named the Bull and Finch Pub and opened in 1969 as a neighborhood spot for classic American grub and beers.

Today, it's a landmark in Boston, attracting tourists from all over to grab a pint in the place where everybody knows your name. 

MICHIGAN: Hack-Ma-Tack Inn and Restaurant in Cheboygan

Hack-Ma-Tack Inn was founded in 1894 as a private hunting and fishing lodge and was named the most iconic restaurant in Michigan by local news outlet MLive in 2019.

MINNESOTA: Matt's Bar in Minneapolis

Matt's Bar in Minneapolis opened in 1954 and made a name for itself after creating the famous Jucy Lucy, the most famous local sandwich in the state. 

Staying true to its name, the Jucy Lucy is a burger filled with oozing, melted cheese.

The burger is so famous that it was even featured on the Travel Channel, appearing on shows like "Man Vs Food" and "Food Wars."

MISSISSIPPI: Mayflower Café in Jackson

The Mayflower Cafe is a staple in Jackson, Mississippi, and has been open since 1935. The restaurant has been featured on the Food Network, as well as in the films "Ghosts of Mississippi" and "The Help."

After opening as a humble hamburger stand, the Mayflower Café has occupied the same street corner for over 80 years, the Clarion Ledger reported.

MISSOURI: Gates BBQ in Kansas City

Gates BBQ in Kansas City, Missouri, opened in 1946 and specializes in pork ribs, barbecue sandwiches, and sides.

The joint's tomato-based secret sauce also helped make the restaurant an institution in Kansas City.

MONTANA: Lucca's in Helena

Lucca's in Helena, Montana, is a fine-dining restaurant that focuses on Italian cuisine.

The eatery serves Italian mainstays like baked ziti, spaghetti, risotto, and chicken. TripAdvisor has ranked it among the best eateries in the state, and Business Insider previously named Lucca's the best restaurant in Montana. 

"Lucca's cozy dining room — which holds a mere 15 tables — creates an intimate environment for guests to enjoy Chef Hyyppa's carefully crafted dishes," wrote Business Insider reporter Mary Hanbury. 

NEBRASKA: Big Mama's Kitchen in Omaha

Big Mama's Kitchen in Omaha, Nebraska, specializes in comfort food, serving fried chicken and catfish.

Food Network considers the restaurant one of its "Top Places to Eat," and on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives," host Guy Fieri said his favorite was the pig-ear sandwich.

NEVADA: Mr. Chow in Las Vegas

Mr Chow is a luxury restaurant inside Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and it's popular among celebrities.

Britney Spears had dinner there on New Year's Eve to ring in 2016, Eater reported, and Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez even held a party at the establishment before their split, Access reported.

The restaurant itself serves Asian cuisine and offers a performance with a champagne trolley.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Moxy in Portsmouth

Moxy in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is known for its tapas menu, which offers guests pork belly bites, short rib crostini, and mussels.

Chef and owner Matt Louis helped put the eatery on the map after he became a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award, a top honor in the culinary world, for four years straight in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

He has also been named as a nominee for Food and Wine's best new chef three times. 

NEW JERSEY: Tops Diner in East Newark

Tops Diner in East Newark, New Jersey, opened in 1942 and has been serving its famous burgers, meatloaf, and lobster mac and cheese for decades.

In 2017, Time Out named Tops the best diner in the country, and back in 2015, Thrillist called the diner the "most iconic" restaurant in New Jersey.

NEW MEXICO: El Pinto in Albuquerque

El Pinto in Albuquerque, New Mexico, serves up huevos rancheros, enchiladas, and burritos.

USA Today named El Pinto one of the best restaurants and called it "a local favorite." It's also among Food Network's top places to eat.

NEW YORK: Katz's Delicatessen in New York City

Katz's Delicatessen in New York City is known for two things.

First, the pastrami sandwich is considered one of the best in the country. Second, it was also the setting for an iconic scene in the 1989 movie "When Harry Met Sally," starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal.

Today, the restaurant is a popular tourist attraction where people come to reenact the famous scene and chow down on some of the deli's classic offerings, from Reubens to matzah ball soup. 

NORTH CAROLINA: Skylight Inn in Ayden

Skylight Inn in Ayden, North Carolina, specializes in southern barbecue.

Food Network named the eatery one of its "Top 5" barbecue restaurants in the US, and says one of the best menu items is the chopped pork sandwich.

NORTH DAKOTA: Red Pepper in Grand Forks

Red Pepper has been open for more than 50 years, with students at the University of North Dakota among its many clientele.

The most popular dish served is the everything grinder, which has salami, turkey, ham, and cheese on a roll. The taco burger is also popular at Red Pepper.

The Daily Meal has described the establishment as a "local landmark" and a "local legend," and Esquire named Red Pepper as one of the best late-night food spots in the country in 2012.

OHIO: Red Steakhouse in Cleveland

Red Steakhouse in Cleveland is well-known for its steak, pasta, and seafood.

The eatery even has the Kardashian stamp of approval. In an episode of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," Kim and Kourtney dined at Red Steakhouse, Refinery 29 reported.

OKLAHOMA: Rock Cafe in Stroud

Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma, sits on the famous Route 66 and has been serving up sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, and chili since 1939. "Betsy," the restaurant's grill, has been used continuously for over 75 years.

The grill has "seared more than 5 million burgers, chicken fried steaks, and much more" over the years, according to the restaurant's website. 

Food Network reported that Guy Fieri said he loved Rock Cafe's buffalo and alligator burgers while visiting the establishment on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Drives."

However, Rock Cafe has another major claim to fame. The restaurant claims that researchers from Pixar Animation Studios visited it in 2001 and then used it as inspiration for the movie "Cars." Today, there are homages to the movie throughout the restaurant. 

OREGON: Lilia Comedor in Portland

Recently opened in October 2022, Lilia Comedor in Portland was featured in the New York Times' list of the 50 best restaurants in the United States in 2023 and one of Oregon Live's best new restaurants in 2022.

Headed by chef Juan Gomez, Lilia Comedor's menu changes every day but features dishes like pork collar confit, diver scallops, and braised short-rib enmolada.

PENNSYLVANIA: Victor Cafe in Philadelphia

Established in 1918, Victor Cafe in Philadelphia specializes in Italian food, offering customers ravioli, risotto, and steak.

However, the restaurant isn't known just for its food. Victor Cafe's claim to fame is its appearances in the "Rocky" franchise, when the restaurant appeared in "Rocky Balboa" in 2006, according to the restaurant's website, and in its spinoff, "Creed." In the movies, the restaurant is called Adrian's.

RHODE ISLAND: Crazy Burger Cafe & Juice Bar in Narragansett

Located in Narragansett, Rhode Island, Crazy Burger is famous for its hamburgers. Some notable burgers include the Mahi Mahi Taco Burger, the Poco Loco Vegan Burger, and the Luna-Sea Fish Burger.

Crazy Burger got national attention when Food Network's Guy Fieri visited the restaurant on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives," eating something called the "Whassupy Burger," which comes with sesame, wasabi, and fennel rub on a beef burger, topped with Brie cheese and onion rings on an ancient grain bun.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Henry's On The Market in Charleston

Henry's On The Market is the oldest restaurant in the state. According to its website, Henry's On The Market was one of the most popular restaurants to eat at from 1932 to 1960.

The restaurant has undergone various transformations over the years, but it remains a popular spot for live music and features a rooftop bar and dance lounge.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Wall Drug Store in Wall

In South Dakota, you can famously see signs along the road for Wall Drug Store more than 1,000 miles before you're even near it. The road signs are a genius marketing strategy thought up by Dorothy Hustead in the 1930s to entice drivers along Route 16 to come to her drugstore, according to the store's website.

Today, the road signs still stand and Wall Drug Store includes a restaurant where tourists come from all over to try the donuts, ice cream, and famous beef sandwiches. 

TENNESSEE: Bluebird Cafe in Nashville

Bluebird Cafe in Nashville is a restaurant and famous music venue. It opened in 1982 and serves minimal comfort foods, including chicken fingers and turkey club sandwiches.

However, the real draw is the music performances and the famous guests, which have included Johnny Cash, Taylor Swift, Jon Bon Jovi, Melissa Etheridge, and Garth Brooks. The ABC show "Nashville" was also filmed there in 2012. 

TEXAS: Franklin Barbecue in Austin

Established in 2009, Franklin Barbecue has been a staple in the Texas and Austin barbecue scenes for years and has even gained a reputation worldwide for its mouthwatering brisket and barbecue sides. 

Eater reported that Anthony Bourdain visited the spot for an episode of "No Reservations" in 2012, where he waited in line for over an hour. The barbecue was apparently well worth the wait since he called the brisket "earth-shatteringly good."

In 2011, Bon Appetit called Franklin the "best barbecue in the country," and Texas Monthly ranked the restaurant first on its list of "The Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas."

Franklin Barbecue owner Aaron Franklin is also one of the top names in barbecue. In 2015, he became the first chef specializing in barbecue to be awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for best chef in the Southwest.

UTAH: Ruth's Diner in Salt Lake City

Ruth's Diner in Salt Lake City allows guests to dine in railroad cars that were operating during the early 1900s. The restaurant focuses on brunch foods, serving cinnamon roll French toast, huevos rancheros, and deep-fried mac and cheese.

When "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" host Guy Fieri visited the restaurant, he said he couldn't get enough of the fluffy biscuits. 

VERMONT: Prohibition Pig in Waterbury

Located in Waterbury, Vermont, Prohibition Pig specializes in smoked meats and beer, but the Food Network says the real star on the menu is the mac and cheese.

VIRGINIA: Beach Pub in Virginia Beach

Located in Virginia Beach, Beach Pub serves up seafood classics like crab cakes, shrimp, and fish-n-chips.

Their popular seafood dishes attracted Food Network host Guy Fieri in 2011. While there, he ate the oyster Rockefeller, baked rockfish, and fish hash, giving the pub national attention and fame. 

WASHINGTON: Canlis in Seattle

Before Canlis opened in the 1950s, founder Peter Canlis wanted to build the restaurant in downtown Seattle, but he couldn't afford it. Instead, he built his eatery outside the city and on the edge of a cliff.

The second-choice location seemed to pay off, because Canlis has been nominated for 21 James Beard Awards in its history.

WEST VIRGINIA: Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs

The Greenbrier Resort's main dining room has been serving customers for over 100 years and has become a landmark in the state.

The fine-dining restaurant serves dishes like tuna crudo, beef tenderloin tartare, and curried carrot spaghetti.

WISCONSIN: Mader's Restaurant in Milwaukee

Located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mader's Restaurant has been open for over 100 years. It serves mostly German foods like wiener schnitzel, German potato salad, and Hungarian-style beef goulash.

However, throughout its long history, Mader's has served nearly 100 famous guests, including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Frank Sinatra, according to the restaurant's website.

WYOMING: Miners and Stockmen's in Hartville

Since its opening in 1862, Miners and Stockmen's has been a local favorite and is regarded as the oldest restaurant in the state.

The rustic appeal and history of this restaurant aren't the only draw, however. It also serves up classic favorites like steaks, salads, and decadent desserts.

• Nathan Huixiang Zhang, now 52, got an alarm clock as a seven-year work-anniversary gift in Canada.
• It prompted him to reevaluate his life, and make three major changes.
• He quit his job, moved back to China, and opened two popular restaurants in Beijing.

A work-anniversary gift was the wake-up call that pushed Nathan Huixiang Zhang to quit his job.

After seven years at a Canadian telecom company, where he worked in data entry and project management, his employer gifted him an alarm clock to mark the milestone. The gesture made him realize it was time to move back home to China.

"I felt like a dead person," he told Business Insider about his job, adding that he was finding no challenges in the workplace.

Zhang had moved from China to Edmonton, Canada, with his then-wife in 1999. Their plan was to build a new life. But that day, sitting in his office, he realized this was not where he wanted to be.

He wanted to build a new life back in China — not in his hometown, but in Beijing, a city full of authors and artists who had inspired him since he was a kid.

When he got home from work that day, he talked to his wife, and she agreed to the move. They arrived in China's capital with their two kids — then 3 and 5 — three months after he handed in his resignation.

His wife went on to complete a Ph.D., and his kids attended a local elementary school in Beijing. In 2013, the couple decided to separate. She moved back to Canada with the kids the following year.

Career pivot

In Beijing, Zhang finally felt at home. Over the next few years, he formed strong social connections that helped him discover and build a new career path.

For the first few years, Zhang worked at a TV station and on social projects across the city.

In 2015, Zhang took a leap and opened a restaurant.

The original White Tiger Village, a barbecue restaurant, was 40 square meters and had an open kitchen, three small tables, and one long bar.

Zhang kept the initial costs low, around 200,000 yuan, by exchanging favors and relying on the friends he'd met over the years.

A graphic designer he knew helped him out with the logo and menus. Another friend designed the restaurant's interiors.

The restaurant closed in 2017 due to building restrictions, but Zhang went on to open a second iteration of White Tiger Village in 2021.

It was sleeker and located in a cosmopolitan area of east Beijing.

Chinese flavors with a Western vibe

The time Zhang spent in Canada influenced his restaurants.

"White Tiger Village was the first restaurant in Beijing to serve Chinese food in a Western way," Fiona Wu, a sales professional working in Beijing's lifestyle industry, told BI. "It popularized the bistro-style style of dining, pairing small plates with wine," Wu said.

The space has also served as a creative hub, hosting events such as film screenings, art talks, and musical performances. Zhang's vision was for it to serve as a platform for artistic exploration.

When BI visited the restaurant on a Friday evening in March, it was busy. Couples out on dates and small groups of fashionably dressed 30-somethings were seated at the wooden tables.

Popular dishes included two twists on Yunnan classics. The first was fermented tofu mashed with a local herb, shaped into balls, and then fried. The other was rushan, cow's milk curds stretched into thin sheets, stuffed and rolled into cigars, then fried.

Zhang attributes their popularity to the affordable price, between 42 and 78 yuan.

Still, Zhang, like others in the restaurant business, has felt the winds of China's economic downturn.

He said that fewer people were ordering alcohol, which restaurant profits rely on. Zhang said the latest White Tiger Village cost 2 million yuan to launch, all funded by an investor. He said the restaurant has not yet made back the initial investment.

In Beijing, he has a purpose

In winter 2022, Zhang opened a second restaurant. Called In-Between, it's located in a small alley near Beijing's shopping district of Sanlitun.

In-Between is a more casual dining spot than White Tiger Village, the kind where you can pop in for some comfort food, like a bowl of noodles, or for some skewers and a glass of wine.

In March, when BI met Zhang at In-Between, he was dressed in a floral button-down, a smartly cut navy blue coat with white trimmings, and a white Ami Paris beanie. He said that since an employee had taken leave that day, he had been waiting tables.

As he brewed coffee and served guests bowls of rice noodles topped with chicken, mushrooms, and pea sprouts, the tattoos on his hands — his children's names — were clearly visible.

Zhang said that despite the amount of responsibility that comes with running restaurants, he now has the opportunity to be creative. "When working in an office, I felt useless," he said.

"In Beijing, I feel useful."

• Box Chicken opened its ghost kitchen, serving Japanese soul food, in Los Angeles in 2024.
• Chef Noah Clark sees the ghost kitchen as a launchpad to a brick-and-mortar space.
• This article is part of "Made to Order," a series highlighting the business strategies driving today's food industry.

Noah Clark grew up eating California rolls, collard greens, and chicken katsu — a multiethnic cuisine that his Japanese American mother, Reiko Clark, and aunt, Maggie Antoine, developed in their hometown of Los Angeles.

"We both ended up marrying Black guys — and raising these Blackanese babies," Reiko told Business Insider. "They are literally Japanese and African American, so they were raised on what we call Japanese soul food."

The sisters brought their home-cooked food to the South in the late 1990s when they moved to Atlanta and opened their first restaurant. Clark was 8 at the time and earned an allowance — "$20 every two weeks," he recalled — helping around the kitchen.

When he was old enough to take on more responsibility, his aunt Maggie, who developed the recipes — including the heart of the menu, the Japanese chicken tender — assumed the role of "yoda" in the kitchen, he said. "She called me Luke all the time."

The restaurant expanded to multiple locations throughout Atlanta, but after a messy split with their business partner and main investor, the family brought their fast-casual concept back to Los Angeles in 2024 when they launched Box Chicken out of a small space in CloudKitchens.

They operate as a ghost kitchen, which Clark likens to an apartment complex: "People have to move out because they couldn't pay the rent and I have neighbors. But instead of individuals paying rent, restaurants occupy the units."

I spoke to Reiko and Noah from their 200-square-foot kitchen space on a Wednesday afternoon in February. Reiko and I sat on stools while Noah fulfilled lunch orders — mostly their signature box meal featuring their take on chicken katsu and sides such as Japanese rice, potato salad, and green beans with a shoyu dip — that trickled in over the course of our 75-minute conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about the decision to relocate from Atlanta and open shop in Los Angeles.

Noah Clark: We were thinking about doing a completely different concept because I was ready to move on.

Reiko Clark: We were burned. We were really hurt.

Noah: I was probably the most scarred from it out of all my siblings because when I graduated, it was my life. I dedicated everything to it, I was working 80 hours a week, so I did not want to reopen. I was ready to move on from it.

What changed your mind?

Noah: We were having these weekly family meetings about what we wanted to do and my sister was like, "I feel like this is stupid. Why are we talking about opening another concept?" I said, "If you guys want to [do chicken], that's cool, but I'm out.'" I was very stern.

After everyone left the meeting, one of my other aunts was like, "Noah, can I talk to you?" And she just said, "You'd be a fool not taking advantage of this chicken tender. It's a gift from God. I've seen how people react to it. It's something that you should not pass up on."

Reiko: That's all he had to hear: "It's a gift from God."

Why did you choose to start as a ghost kitchen?

Noah: When we were case-studying places we saw Main Chick. We looked up their story and they started as a ghost kitchen, and they have like eight locations now.

We knew we didn't want to have crazy up-front costs. We knew once people catch wind of what we have, it's just a matter of time. But I did realize, probably two weeks into being open, that we need a brick-and-mortar because customer service is such an important part of the business, and just being able to sit down and eat it fresh is also important.

Did you design your space or did the ghost kitchen come outfitted?

Noah: The only things this place came with were the sinks you see right there and that one silver shelf.

Reiko: And the hood. They provide the hood, and that's a big-ticket item.

Noah: Everything else we had to bring in, which is great for us because we can do anything and customize it completely. Opening up multiple in Atlanta, we got really good at efficiency and laying out kitchens.

I imagine operating out of a ghost kitchen helps lower costs.

Noah: It's a one-man kitchen. I don't have labor.

Reiko: And that's what keeps the costs down. For catering, we bring in extra help.

Noah: The rent's not crazy. We were looking at a brick-and-mortar on Sawtelle and the rent was like 16 grand or something, maybe even higher. It's like, how are these places surviving? And they're not. They're always closing. So, it is definitely cheaper.

Reiko: And they include your internet, your electricity, water, gas — all utilities are included, so that helped.

Tell me more about what you miss about the brick-and-mortar.

Reiko: We're used to being in the front of house — talking to people, chatting them up, and really sales pitching every day.

Noah: Talking people out of certain items when it's their first time. On our menu I have the option of doing no sauce. This one always gets on my nerves. In Atlanta, we would always be like, "No, get a sauce. The chicken tender isn't tender if you don't put sauce on it." I can't have that conversation.

Reiko: Can't convince them.

Noah: The way I try to convince them, I put next to the 'No Sauce' option: "Don't do it, trust me!" And they still don't pick a sauce, and it drives me crazy because they're not going to have the experience I want them to have for their first time.

Noah: I have regulars, but I only know them by what I see on the ticket. I can't actually talk to them. I was leaving notes for a while just to people I saw all the time, like one guy who ordered three times in two days.

How many orders do you get a day?

Noah: A slow day now for us is 15; 20 to 30 is a good day; when we have catering, sometimes it's 40 to 50. Our goal is for 30 to 40 to be normal, and we'll get there eventually.

We've seen a bump recently, but the fires really hurt us. The holidays always hurt no matter what because people are saving and not going out to eat. December is always slower.

Our slowest day of the week is Saturday. People are going out to eat. They're not really ordering in anymore.

Reiko: The thought is, because COVID is over, I'm going out. Why would I want to eat at home on the weekends? So that's why we need to be in a brick and mortar.

Noah, what does a typical day look like for you?

Noah: I get here around 9:30 to 10:30, depending on what I have to do. If we have catering sometimes we'll be here at like 6:30 or 7 in the morning, depending on how big it is.

I get here, turn the fires on, start getting through my prep list and what I need to do. I try to get the big things out of the way before the orders start coming in.

I have yet to see a serious rush, which I am looking forward to. I love it when it's like that. I miss the stressful environment. I miss seeing a line. I miss seeing all the tickets printed. It was really fun when we all were drowning because we were all suffering together.

I'm looking forward to when we get back to that — when I have a line and we're calling out and I'm hearing "heard" or "behind." That word right there. I do miss that.

What's the future of Box Chicken?

Noah: The main goal for us is to have a brick-and-mortar. I still like the concept of ghost kitchens; I just think it's made for restaurants that are already established and that want to get their food out further.

Starbucks, for example, was having trouble with Uber Eats and DoorDash because they were getting flooded with all their orders, so they pivoted, partnered with CloudKitchens, specifically, and stopped letting their locations accept Uber Eats and DoorDash. It actually increased their sales because they were able to make more coffee in-store. So, for something like that, it's perfect. The Starbucks CloudKitchens are probably killing it, but their main locations are doing better because they don't have as much on their plate and they even take care of their regulars.

I think our future is to have at least one brick-and-mortar and then little [ghost kitchen] satellites.

I would love for us to be known for one location in Los Angeles but be all over the world.

• The first McDonald's franchise restaurant opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955.
• When the first McDonald's restaurant opened, the menu only had nine items.
• A McDonald's museum was later opened to show visitors what the restaurant was like in the '50s.

The McDonald brothers, Richard and Maurice "Mac" McDonald, launched their burger restaurant in the 1940s.

It had a simple menu, which allowed the brothers to keep costs low and quality high, and self-service counters to make ordering faster.

Then, in 1954, Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine salesman, came across the small burger joint. Amazed by its efficiency, Kroc wanted in, and he became the first McDonald's franchisee agent.

The following year, he founded McDonald's System, Inc., which would later become the McDonald's Corporation, and he opened his first franchised location in Des Plaines, Illinois, on April 15, 1955, according to the company.

By 1958, McDonald's had sold 100 million burgers. There are now more than 38,000 McDonald's restaurants in more than 100 countries.

Nostalgia is one of the leading trends in fast food, with many chains reflecting on what made them successful in decades prior.

Though McDonald's has yet to tap into any '50s-themed meals or merchandise, the chain has paid homage to subsequent decades with last summer's limited-edition cups inspired by iconic Happy Meal toys and its viral Grimace-themed shake two years ago, which starred the character first introduced in the 1970s.

Here's what it was like to visit McDonald's in the 1950s.

This is what the very first McDonald's franchise restaurant looked like.

The restaurant's famous red-and-white design was designed by architect Stanley Meston.

However, after the McDonald brothers saw the design for the first time, they said that the roof looked too flat. It was then that Meston added the now-iconic golden arches to the building's roof. 

The oldest still-operating restaurant featuring the original red-and-white design is located in Downey, California.

Though the first McDonald's is no longer in operation, the site was turned into a museum to commemorate what it was like to visit the restaurant in 1955.

Called the "McDonald's No. 1 museum," the site in Des Plaines was created to replicate what it would have been like to visit the McDonald's franchise when it opened.

The museum was demolished in 2018 after repeated flooding and declining tourism, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Still, photos from the museum show how visiting the first restaurant was a very different experience from what it's like to go to McDonald's today.

Before drive-thru windows and delivery apps were commonplace at fast-food chains, McDonald's customers would drive into the parking lot and place their orders at the counter.

Instead of the drive-thru model that's popular today, this method of ordering was called "drive-up."

The Speedee Service System that made McDonald's successful was originally based on Henry Ford's automobile assembly line.

Every McDonald's worker had a specific job, and most of the food was preassembled before customers even ordered, according to History.com.

This allowed McDonald's locations to serve their food much faster than their competitors. 

The original menu only had nine items on it.

The original McDonald's menu offered hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milk, root beer, orangeade, Coca-Cola, coffee, and three kinds of milkshakes: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.

In 1949, potato chips were swapped with french fries and McDonald's began selling milkshakes.

When customers placed their orders at the counter, a server would write them down on a ticket like this one.

At the first McDonald's location, every item cost less than 25 cents, and hamburgers were only 15 cents. Burgers could also be purchased by the dozen for large parties. 

Unlike other fast-food restaurants, which made their burgers to order, McDonald's burgers were made the same way and placed under a heat vent, ready to serve.

All burgers were pre-made with ketchup, mustard, onions, and two pickles. If you wanted to order your hamburger a different way, you would have to wait just a little bit longer.

When McDonald's first opened, its fries looked and tasted pretty similar to what you'll get today.

The chain marketed its signature shoestring fries as "salty goodness," Fox News reported.

If you stopped by a McDonald's in 1955, you'd definitely want to pick up one of the chain's Triple Thick Milkshakes, made in what was called a Multimixer.

McDonald's might have looked very different had it not been for the invention of the Multimixer.

Multimixer salesman and McDonald's Corporation founder Ray Kroc first met the McDonald brothers in 1954 while attempting to sell them more Multimixers for their restaurants.

It was then that Kroc introduced the idea of franchising their business and set plans into motion to open his first location.

Back in 1955, there were no dining rooms or drive-thrus, but McDonald's thrived on its drive-up model.

Customers took their burgers on the road or chose to sit in the parking lot, gazing up at the McDonald's sign advertising its 15-cent burgers. The experience started what would eventually lead to the expansion of the No. 1 fast-food chain in the world.

Just over a decade later, there were 1,000 McDonald's locations in the US.

Today there are more than 38,000 McDonald's restaurants in more than 100 countries.

• The Cheesecake Factory is removing 13 items from its menu to make room for new offerings.
• Among the items being discontinued are the everything flatbread pizza and seared ahi tuna salad.
• New menu items include the double smash cheeseburger, grilled branzino, and steak frites.

The Cheesecake Factory, which is famous for its big portions and even bigger menu, is updating its offerings with nearly two dozen new items.

Nation's Restaurant News reported that The Cheesecake Factory updates its menu, which has over 200 items, roughly twice a year.

To make space for new dishes, the chain is also discontinuing 13 items, including its mushroom-topped burger and two items off its "SkinnyLicious" menu.

The Cheesecake Factory menu items that are being discontinued include:

• Everything flatbread pizza
• Mushroom burger
• Seared ahi tuna salad
• White chicken chili
• Spicy cashew chicken
• Bistro shrimp pasta
• Fried shrimp platter
• Petite filet
• Factory Combinations
• Loaded mashed potato omelet
• Taco Dorados and eggs
• SkinnyLicious lemon herb Parmesan chicken
• SkinnyLicious spicy shrimp pasta

The Cheesecake Factory is also adding 22 new menu items, from burgers and sandwiches to vegetable appetizers.

Many of the new menu items align with the biggest trends in fast-food and casual dining. Among the new menu items, the chain added a smashed double cheeseburger and spicy chicken and jalapeño fritters to its lineup.

Smash burgers and spicy chicken remain two of the most popular menu trends, with other chains like Chili's and Sonic Drive-In leaning into those categories in the past year.

Here are all the new menu items now available at The Cheesecake Factory.

Grilled asparagus

The grilled asparagus comes served on a bed of lemon ricotta with toasted almonds.

Honey-roasted carrots

The carrots are slow-roasted and glazed in maple brown butter.

Charred sugar snap peas

The snap peas are seared with fresh herbs and dressed in a chile-lime vinaigrette.

Asian cucumber salad

The salad comes with crispy cucumbers, sesame, soy, garlic, and mild red chiles.

Ahi tuna and shrimp ceviche

The ceviche is made from sushi-grade ahi tuna and poached shrimp, per the chain. It's tossed with green onion, cilantro, and lime juice, and served with guacamole and corn tortillas.

Chicken and jalapeño fritters

The fritters are lightly battered and fried with fire-roasted chiles, cheddar cheese, and green onion.

Chicken shawarma

The chicken shawarma is served in a halved pita with grilled chicken, tomato, homemade pickles, onion, garlic, and cilantro.

It comes with french fries or a green salad on the side.

Mortadella Panino

The Mortadella Panino is made with Mortadella, melted fontina cheese, lemon ricotta, arugula, and onion garlic aioli on toasted ciabatta bread.

It comes with french fries or a green salad on the side.

Double Smash cheeseburger

The new burger comes with two patties, two slices of cheese, grilled onions, and special sauce on a toasted Brioche roll.

It comes with french fries or a green salad on the side.

Thai stir-fried noodles

It's made with Asian rice noodles, snow peas, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, green onion, egg, cilantro, and chopped peanuts.

The dish is also available with shrimp.

Seared tuna tataki salad

While one tuna salad is exiting the menu, this new salad has sushi-grade ahi tuna seared to a rare temperature, avocado, tomato, sesame, soy, and cilantro with mixed greens tossed in a shallot vinaigrette.

Grilled branzino

The new entrée is a charbroiled branzino fish fillet with lemon and fresh herbs, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

SkinnyLicious branzino

The SkinnyLicious version of the branzino is grilled with tomato, basil, shallots, and garlic. It comes with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Steak frites

The new steak frites come with a charbroiled rib-eye steak in a red wine sauce, grilled onions, and garlic-herb butter and is served with Parmesan french fries.

Spicy ginger beef tenderloin

The Asian-inspired dish comes with pieces of filet mignon sautéed with shiitake mushrooms, snap peas, peppers, and onion, with a spicy sesame-ginger sauce. It's served with a side of white rice.

Grilled steak and eggs

One of the chain's new brunch dishes is the grilled steak and eggs, which includes a grilled ribeye steak, two eggs, potatoes or tomatoes, and toast.

Yuzu Crush

The nonalcoholic drink is made with yuzu and fresh lemon.

Yuzu Drop

There's also a martini version of the drink that's made with Grey Goose vodka and elderflower liqueur and shaken with yuzu juice and kaffir lime.

Margarita Verde

The margarita is made with Código blanco tequila, chile, lime, and pineapple.

Japanese whiskey sour

The cocktail is made with Toki Japanese whiskey with yuzu and honey.

Kids' strawberry shortcake

The kid-sized dessert comes with a piece of shortcake, vanilla ice cream, and strawberries.

• I tried chicken sandwiches from Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili's, and Applebee's.
• Applebee's and Buffalo Wild Wings both delivered thick, juicy chicken sandwiches.
• However, I thought Chili's crispy chicken sandwich packed the most flavor and was the best value.

The chicken sandwich wars may be over, but the meal remains a mainstay on many fast-food and chain restaurant menus.

I compared chicken sandwiches from three casual dining chains: Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Chili's.

Buffalo Wild Wings and Chili's offered a Southern-inspired sandwich with pickles and mayonnaise, while Applebee's had a more classically American chicken sandwich topped with bacon and ranch.

Chains across the industry are leaning into chicken in an effort to capitalize on Gen Z's tastebuds.

"Fried chicken is one of the fastest-growing segments — especially with a younger consumer that prefers boneless fried chicken," Chili's chief marketing officer George Felix told Business Insider in January.

It's not only casual dining chains that are leaning into chicken.

Taco Bell's chief marketing officer, Taylor Montgomery, said it best in a recent interview with BI: "Crispy chicken's hot."

All three sandwiches I tried were tasty, but only one chain delivered the best chicken sandwich in terms of taste and value. Here they are, ranked from worst to best.

My least favorite chicken sandwich came from Applebee's, but it wasn't bad by any means.

At the Brooklyn, New York, location I visited, the bacon ranch chicken sandwich typically costs $16.99, excluding tax.

You can also order the sandwich as part of a lunchtime deal during the week. It costs $12.99 and includes a drink.

The chicken sandwich came topped with pickles, lettuce, two strips of bacon, and ranch dressing.

The bun was left plain, though a generous serving of ranch dressing was placed on top of the crispy chicken breast.

The chicken sandwich was juicy and pretty flavorful, but I didn't love the texture of the chicken breast.

The chicken's breading didn't have the crispiness I usually expect in a chicken sandwich, but the pickles and ranch dressing helped add moisture and flavor.

The chicken breast was thick and juicy, though it was the smallest of the sandwiches I tried. The bacon strips were also a bit overcooked for my taste. While some prefer extra-crispy bacon, I personally enjoy a slight chewiness.

The classic chicken sandwich from Buffalo Wild Wings landed in the middle of the pack.

The classic chicken sandwich cost $12.49, excluding tax, at the location I visited in Brooklyn, New York. I thought this was an excellent value.

The sandwich came with mayonnaise and pickles.

The chicken breast was well-fried and bigger than the bun — a promising sign for a chicken sandwich.

While the chicken breast was juicy, I wish there had been more mayonnaise on the sandwich.

The fried chicken's breading was peppery and the pickles added a nice touch of brine to the flavor profile.

The bun held everything together, though I found that as I was eating, the breading started to become a touch soggy due to the moisture of the chicken breast.

However, for the price, I thought this was a great deal. I'd definitely order it again.

My favorite chicken sandwich came from Chili's.

The crispy chicken sandwich typically costs $14.49 at my local Chili's in Brooklyn, New York.

However, you can also order the chicken sandwich as part of the chain's 3-For-Me value meal. The meal deal starts at $10.99 and includes the choice of a beverage, a starter, and a variety of entrées.

The crispy chicken sandwich came topped with a generous spread of mayonnaise and pickles on a brioche bun.

The chicken breast was fried to crunchy perfection, with crispy bits spilling out of the sandwich. I could hardly wait to take a bite.

The chicken sandwich's breading was the most flavorful out of the sandwiches I tried, and I liked the hearty amount of mayonnaise on it.

As I took a bite, a burst of salty, briny flavor hit my taste buds thanks to the pickles and flavor of the chicken breast.

The chicken sandwich had the perfect balance of crunch and crispiness while remaining moist, thanks to the juicy chicken breast that wasn't too thick, and the generous spread of mayonnaise on both buns, which added even more flavor.

• Business Insider asked an etiquette expert what people should avoid doing at high-end restaurants.
• She said diners should never disregard the waitstaff or arrive late to their reservation.
• She also recommended checking the restaurant's dress code to avoid dressing inappropriately.

Going out to a high-end restaurant can be a luxurious experience. But for patrons who are used to more casual dining experiences, eating at a fancy restaurant can be stressful.

To learn more about everything from how to dress to how to interact with the waitstaff, Business Insider asked Elaine Swann, a lifestyle and etiquette expert, to identify four common mistakes diners should avoid making at high-end restaurants. Here's what she said.

Don't disregard the waitstaff.

When dining at a high-end restaurant, patrons should expect to receive a higher level of service. Therefore, Swann said it's important to build rapport with the waitstaff.

"I've heard people say, 'Don't interact with waitstaff,' and that's incorrect, and I think that's quite snobbish," Swann said.

"Instead, you should communicate effectively with the staff; find out their name," she told BI.

She also suggested calling the server by name when making specific requests or asking questions about the menu, which can help set the tone for an enjoyable dining experience.

Be sure to dress appropriately.

Swann said another common mistake diners make is dressing inappropriately.

"You might live in an area where the attire is more casual and shorts are acceptable, but that may not be acceptable in some higher-end restaurants," she said.

To avoid this faux pas, she recommends finding out the dress code in advance to ensure you're appropriately dressed.

She told BI, "You can check the website or call ahead. And then another thing that I encourage people to do is look up photos."

Swann said looking up the restaurant's social-media pages can give diners an idea of what appropriate attire may look like. She added that it can help to look at the restaurant's hashtags to see what other people who have dined there have worn.

Show up to the reservation on time.

Swann said another mistake guests tend to make at high-end restaurants is showing up "fashionably late." She said showing up on time helps ensure the service goes as planned.

"The service at the high-end restaurant is based upon everyone being there at the same time, on time," she said.

Swann said being late can impede the flow of the service.

"It's important to respect people's time. When someone gives you a time to show up, they're expecting to start within the flow they have designed," she told BI. "And It's quite disrespectful to show up late."

Don't forget to tip.

"You should always leave a tip at every restaurant you dine at, regardless of if it's high-end or your standard mom-and-pop restaurant," Swann said.

She added that although 20% of the bill is the standard tip at a regular restaurant, the tip at a high-end restaurant should be a minimum of 20%.

This story was originally published on September 9, 2024, and most recently updated on March 19, 2025.