When you order on DoorDash, you can see the most popular dishes at each restaurant. But have you ever wondered what the absolute most popular dish in your city is? We mined the data to find the tip-top dishes on DoorDash in our biggest cities: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Find out if your go-to order made the cut.
BOSTON: Spicy Roll at Douzo Modern Japanese Restaurant & Lounge
The owner of Douzo, Jack Huang, is a native of Japan. While they serve an array of inventive rolls at this Back Bay spot — the salmon jalapeño roll includes fried peppers, snow crab, and pineapple — the humble-yet-amazing Spicy Roll rules them all. Bostonians can tailor it with their protein of choice: salmon, scallop, tuna, or yellowtail (all are excellent). Continuing with the customizable theme, it can be made as a hand roll or with brown rice instead of white. If all these choices start to feel overwhelming, have no fear. You truly can’t go wrong. Order now.
CHICAGO: Signature Double Cheeseburger at Small Cheval
People are going big while staying home and ordering the double cheeseburger from Small Cheval in Wicker Park. Chef Brendan Sodikoff’s burger helped put sister restaurant Au Cheval on the map and garnered him legions of fans, so he spun that concept into a true burger joint that serves a stripped-down menu of essentials dressed with Sir Kensington condiments. Their winning double cheeseburger comes topped with tangy dijonnaise, pickles, and onions, but feel free to add bacon or an extra patty for triple the fun. Order now.
LOS ANGELES: Dan Dan Noodles at Joy
At Dan Dan Noodles in Highland Park, the team behind Joy (who also runs the fast-casual Taiwanese Silver Lake spot Pine & Crane) serves cuisine inspired by Taiwan’s street food culture. Talk about street cred: They have come up with the most popular dish in LA, which just happens to be vegan. Their coveted dan dan noodles are served with sesame peanut sauce, cucumbers, and cilantro — a seemingly simple combo that is absolutely addictive. Non-vegetarians can add rarified Jidori chicken breast (the Kobe of chicken, really) for just a few bucks more. Order now.
NEW YORK: Two Chip Chocolate Chip Cookie at Levain Bakery - NoHo
Surprised that the most popular dish in New York City isn’t even a dish, but a cookie? We aren’t. While training for a triathlon 25 years ago, Levain founders Pam Weekes and Connie McDonald created a gigantic chocolate chip walnut cookie with their signature half-baked texture. They’ve since expanded their cookie repertoire to include oatmeal raisin, dark chocolate peanut butter, and the Two Chip — their decadent take on a classic, no-nut chocolate chip cookie. Perfectly crispy on the outside with their classic thick and gooey center, this cookie is absolutely stuffed with semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips for a rich depth of flavor. It’s the ideal fuel for busy New Yorkers, triathloners or otherwise. Order now.
MIAMI: Chopped Salad at Joe's Stone Crab Take Away
Joseph Weiss — the "Joe" of Joe's Stone Crab — and his wife, Jennie, were the first to put stone crab on the menu in Miami, and stone crabs remain the bedrock of the legendary fancy-occasion restaurant’s offerings, now more than a century later. The sleeper hit at their takeaway spot is the healthful, multi-textured chopped salad. With diced vegetables, honey roasted peanuts, cucumbers, black olives, feta, tomatoes, carrots, beets, and a hard-boiled egg, this perfect salad packs its own protein punch. You can choose from a variety of dressings, but Joe’s signature vinaigrette, made with pimentos and capers, complements it perfectly. Order now.
PHILADELPHIA: Dan Dan Noodles at DanDan Rittenhouse
DanDan is the brainchild of esteemed restaurateurs Catherina and Kevin Huang, who hail from the Han Dynasty's University City location. Opening its doors in 2015, DanDan serves up authentic dishes native to mainland China and Taiwan. It’s befitting that their eponymous dan dan noodles are the #1 dish in Philadelphia on DoorDash. Believe the hype: The dish is deceptively simple and deeply flavorful with a nice level of heat. It’s served with minced pork, but you can make it vegetarian or go with a gluten-free option. Order now.
PORTLAND: Chicken and Rice (Khao Man Gai) at Nong's Khao Man Gai
If you ever visit Bangkok, you’ll find khao man gai (which literally translates to chicken and rice) on every corner, and you’ll find it at this PDX gem. Only here it’s served with chef Nong Poonsukwattana’s signature sauce made with ginger, Thai chiles, fermented soybeans, pickled garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce. We suspect her creation has helped propel this understated dish to the top spot in Portland’s best dishes on DoorDash. It’s savory and well-balanced. Order now.
SAN FRANCISCO: Chicken Salad at Souvla
You can order the chicken in sandwich form from this Greek spot in The Mission, founded by restaurateur Charles Bililies, but once you try it in a salad you’ll understand why it’s the most-ordered dish in the city. The salad has layers of flavors and textures thanks to fennel, navel orange, pickled red onion, pea shoots, and Mizithra cheese. The star is the pasture-raised chicken from Mary’s Free-Range Chicken, marinated in feta brine until juicy. The kicker is the “Granch” dressing — a lemony, Greek-yogurt-based spin on ranch. Order now.
SEATTLE: Build-Your-Own - Regular at FOB Poke Bar
The Seattle health nuts couldn’t just choose a burger or a cookie, could they? The Build-Your-Own bowl from Belltown’s FOB (fresh off the boat) starts with an array of bases like kale, spinach, quinoa, and couscous, or FOB’s signature rice infused with coconut and green tea and arugula. From there you can stuff your bowl full of healthful ingredients: You get five mix-ins (including jalapeno and cucumbers), up to four sauces (one of which should always be the FOB poke sauce), two proteins (including Beyond Beef crumbles and seared ahi tuna), and up to 20 extra toppings, including jicama, edamame, and pickled watermelon radish. You could probably order this bowl every night for a year and come up with a different iteration each time; judging by its overwhelming popularity, we imagine some people have tried. Order now.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Burger Américain at Le Diplomate
It’s hard to beat a great burger, and this burger beats them all — along with every other dish offered on DoorDash in the nation’s capital. This Logan Circle/14th Street power lunch (and dinner) spot from restaurateur Stephen Starr is known for its French bistro fare (steak frites, French onion soup), but it’s the Burger Américain that outdoes itself. Two Pat LaFrieda-blend patties are layered with American cheese, pickles, and red onions slathered in Le Dip’s special sauce (made with mayonnaise, dill pickles, chili sauce, and onion powder), and sandwiched in a housemade sesame seed brioche bun. Perfection. Order now.
