Two Philadelphia restaurants led by James Beard Award-recognized chefs earned spots on Bon App\u00e9tit\u2019s 2026 list of the best new restaurants in the country, released Monday.<\/p>\n
Honeysuckle, an Afro-centric concept at 631 N. Broad St. in Poplar, and Sao, a Southeast Asian oyster bar in South Philly, were among the 19 eateries named to this year\u2019s edition. Philadelphia joined San Francisco and New York City as the only cities with more than one entry on the list.<\/p>\n
Honeysuckle\u2019s \u2018showstopping\u2019 take on Black foodways<\/p>\n
Honeysuckle is owned by husband-wife duo Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate, who opened the restaurant in April 2025 as an expansion of Tate\u2019s West Philly cafe and market, Honeysuckle Provisions. Both were nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef in the mid-Atlantic in March.<\/p>\n
Bon App\u00e9tit characterized the restaurant as an \u201cinnovative third space\u201d that \u201cweaves history and pop culture into modern American cuisine.\u201d Among its most celebrated dishes are the \u201cMcDonald\u2019s Money\u201d smash burger and \u201cGumbo not Gombo,\u201d which reinvents the classic dish using a crab shell bowl, okra and cured mackerel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we opened Honeysuckle, our hope was to build a community space rooted in storytelling and the preservation and celebration of Black foodways. It\u2019s incredibly meaningful to see that vision resonate with our guests, and we hope to continue fostering a space where people feel connected, curious, and welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jamila Robinson, editor in chief of Bon App\u00e9tit, wrote that the couple \u201cdeliver a showstopping walk through nostalgia, pop culture, Philadelphia and Black American history through dishes that spark new reflection and conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sao\u2019s raw bar \u2018hits like uppercuts\u2019<\/p>\n
Sao is the latest opening from James Beard Award-winning Phila and Rachel Lorn. The restaurant bills itself as a Southeast Asian oyster bar, but Bon App\u00e9tit writer Chris Morocco described its approach as closer to hand-to-hand combat, praising the raw bar\u2019s ability to deliver unexpected flavors in seemingly mainstream dishes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSao\u2019s underrated presence belies a tendency to serve dishes that hit like uppercuts. \u2026 Enjoy letting your tastebuds get knocked around when you least expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lorns acknowledged the honor in an Instagram post Monday, writing that the idea behind Sao came from the desire to \u201cdo so damn much.\u201d The restaurant\u2019s team is currently on a temporary break.<\/p>\n
Four more Philly nods from the magazine<\/p>\n
The two restaurants weren\u2019t the only local spots to draw attention from the publication. Bon App\u00e9tit also released a list of the 13 best individual dishes its writers ate across the country. Three Philadelphia plates made the cut: the Two Can Play That Game quail and leeks entree from Honeysuckle, the Grilled Berkshire Pork Collar from Banshee on South Street and the Swordfish Taco from Am\u00e1 in North Philadelphia. La Jefa Cafe in Rittenhouse was also included in a roundup of the best daytime dining destinations nationally.<\/p>\n
Robinson left no doubt about her personal favorite restaurant city. \u201cThat honor still goes to Philadelphia,\u201d she said in an Instagram story Monday. \u201cI\u2019m hands down, ten toes down, Philadelphia \u2026 has some of the best restaurants on the planet. Fight with me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Philadelphia restaurants led by James Beard Award-recognized chefs earned spots on Bon App\u00e9tit\u2019s 2026 list of the best new restaurants in the country, released Monday. Honeysuckle, an Afro-centric concept at 631 N. Broad St. in Poplar, and Sao, a Southeast Asian oyster bar in South Philly, were among the 19 eateries named to this<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[33,34],"class_list":["post-16450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-best-restaurants","tag-best-restaurant","tag-best-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117164346230591387","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}