The Most Popular Foods Are More Popular Than Ever

TikTok is the new Yelp, spawning lines and drumming up business, and the app’s hottest dining genre is something we call emoji food. Emoji food is handheld, immediately recognizable, and comforting in an escapist sort of way that might not be great for our emotional development, but does taste good.

We’re talking bagels, sandwiches, pizza, burgers, and sushi. Those foods have always been hits, but, in the era of the infinite scroll, familiarity lends itself to exponential growth. (Think: Hollywood, IP, and the Minecraft movie.) With viral videos clogging our feeds, emoji food is giving us more of the same, providing infinite variations on the same basic formulas that can be summed up in a matter of pixels. Let’s see how this is playing out across the country.

THE EMOJI FOOD

Apollo Bagelsphoto credit: Will Hartman

Bronx Bagel Buggyphoto credit: Sarah Newman

David Doughie’s Bagelryphoto credit: Richard Casteel

Popup Bagelsphoto credit: Carina Finn

Courage Bagelsphoto credit: Jakob Layman

🥯 Bagels

You’d think bagels were a recent invention, given the incredulous voiceovers blanketing TikTok. It’s not just New York City where the bagel is causing a fuss—notably at Apollo Bagels and the swiftly multiplying Popup Bagels, which is almost definitely coming to a cul-de-sac near you. There’s also Bronx Bagel Buggy in Atlanta, Seattle's Hey Bagel, David Doughie’s in Austin, and El Bagel in Miami. (The first two lines of our recent review: Miami was not a bagel city. Then Miami was a bagel city.) Of course, there’s also Courage Bagels in LA, which fed an ongoing bi-coastal feud. But even if it still has weekend lines, that place is old news. Los Angeles now has NYC import H&H Bagels, a location of Bay Area-based Boichick Bagels, and Mustard’s Bagels, which often sells out by 1pm. 

Danny & Coop'sphoto credit: Kate Previte

Brown Bag Sandwich Co.photo credit: Kate Previte

Buccan Sandwich Shopphoto credit: In House Creative

Turkey And The Wolf Icehousephoto credit: Turkey And The Wolf Icehouse

Bread Headphoto credit: Jessie Clapp

🥪 Sandwiches

Bradley Cooper’s oeuvre now includes a sandwich place. Between directorial outings, the Pennsylvania native helped open a cheesesteak shop in New York’s East Village. The lines are extensive, eclipsing those outside the city’s previous hype sandwich spot, Brown Bag Sandwich Co. Back in Philadelphia, something took off: Liberty Kitchen’s kale caesar cutlet, a hoagie variation on the now-ubiquitous wrap. In West Palm Beach, Buccan Sandwich Shop has developed a following of its own, and a new outpost of iconic New Orleans sandwich joint Turkey & The Wolf is already a smash in Nashville. Also, you may have heard of 2024’s Vanderpump Rules sandwich spinoff in LA. Don’t go. Santa Monica’s Bread Head is better.

Pizz'Amiciphoto credit: Alex Hupp

Not No Barphoto credit: Jessie Clapp

Chrissy's Pizzaphoto credit: Kate Previte

Charphoto credit: NICOLE GUGLIELMO

My Friend Derek'sphoto credit: Nate Watters

🍕 Pizza

You know deep-dish pizza, but what about tavern-style? Thin, crunchy, and cut into squares, it’s the hottest genre in Chicago right now. Get yours at Pizz’Amici, or, if you need a carbonara pie, Zarella. Over in LA, a new Neapolitan-style spot opens every two months. We’re partial to Not No Bar, partly for the Euro disco, partly for the white pie drizzled in pesto. At Char in Philadelphia, a self-taught pizzaiolo is making waves with a style that’s more Neapolitan-esque style. The former pop-up has an origin story similar to Chrissy’s Pizza in Brooklyn, which previously operated out of an apartment. (We waited an hour and a half for a takeout pie at their new location last year.) Another pop-up that secured a lease, My Friend Derek’s is causing sidewalk traffic jams in Seattle with its Detroit-style pizza.

7th Street Burgerphoto credit: Emily Schindler

Cowy Burgerphoto credit: CLEVELAND JENNINGS / @EATTHECANVASLLC

ViceVersaphoto credit: ViceVersa

Familyfriendphoto credit: Nate Watters

Hamburger America

🍔 Burgers

On TikTok, the burger was always going to be the star. The part was written for it. Portable, cheapish, and deeply familiar, there’s a reason why burgers are all over your feed—and city. In Miami, where the nationwide smashburger wave has left a wake of razor-thin patties, former pop-up Cowy Burger draws crowds with its signature bacon jam. But the city’s cool kid burger is the Monday special at ViceVersa. On the chain front, Austin’s NADC Burger is now in three states, and New York City’s 7th Street Burger has over 20 locations. (Hamburger America, with its Happy Days aesthetic, is the trendier NYC pick.) Even Marathon Clothing, co-founded by the late Nipsey Hussle, has entered the conversation with a new spot in West Hollywood. And if you haven’t tried the kewpie burger at Familyfriend, one of Seattle’s Best New Restaurants Of 2024, get on that.

Nami Nori Miamiphoto credit: Sebastian Lucrecio

photo credit: Noz Market

Handroll Projectphoto credit: Melissa Zink

Saru Handroll Barphoto credit: Carly Hackbarth

photo credit: Richard Casteel

🍣 Sushi

In the second quarter of the 21st century, the market for sushi is still very bullish. New York City now has a 2D sushi spot with hand-drawn floorboards as well an AYCE omakase so successful it immediately spawned a second location. On the more casual side, handrolls have been hot for a while now, at NYC spots like Noz Market, Temakase, and Kazunori, the LA import that refuses to loosen its grip on either coast. New York City’s own homegrown handroll chain, Nami Nori, recently arrived in Miami (although we’re partial to local mini-chain Omakai), and San Francisco has its own go-tos, like Handroll Project and Saru Handroll Bar. It’s not just a coastal thing. One of the hottest restaurants in Kansas City? A handroll bar. In Austin, get your handrolls at Top Roe, where you'll find over 20 varieties.