The Republic recently released a list of 100 essential restaurants for 2025. These 27 essentials offer tacos, burgers and sushi for less than $20.

The Chef Favorite comes with doro wat (spicy chicken stew), gomen (collard greens with onions and garlic) and ayeb (crumbly cheese ... Noodle bowls like golden curry and cheesy broccoli cheddar ...

There are also a couple of new appetizers and shareable dishes, such as the buffalo dip with buffalo chicken, Maytag blue cheese ... to fried rice and yakisoba (fried noodles).