The Best Rice Dishes In America, According To Reviews

Rice sometimes gets a bad rap. It's often a side dish and can be seen as boring, and diners looking to eat healthy usually give it a pass. It can also cause major headaches, especially for those who haven't discovered the ideal water-to-rice ratio. But there's a reason that every country has its take on rice — it's delicious and versatile. In fact, multiple types of rice exist, each best suited to different cuisines. In the United States, restaurants bring those international rice dishes to the masses, elevating rice from a boring bowl to an inspired entrée.

We scoured the country, seeking out the best rice dishes American eateries offer. We hunted for those with the most interesting takes on international eats, earned the best reviews from news organizations, and garnered the most stars from customers. Some offer delectable twists on classic recipes, while others incorporate ingredients you would have never thought to add to rice.

New Orleans, Louisiana, is a foodie city, but unlike other restaurant destinations, you don't need a white tablecloth to enjoy it. That's true at Coop's Place, a brick-lined bar with wooden bar stools that's so unassuming you might not even be able to find it. A simple alligator sign marks the entrance of this classic New Orleans spot that dates back to 1983. But if you can track it down — and score a table, as it's often packed and raucous – you'll be rewarded with cheap yet delicious Louisiana cuisine, including its flagship rabbit and sausage jambalaya.

The Creole dish is made with tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, a blend of Cajun seasonings, boneless rabbit, chicken, smoked pork sausage, and rice. It's one of the restaurant's house specialties, and if you read the reviews, it's easy to see why. "Every restaurant in French Quarter offers jambalaya, but Coop's is the best of the best!" one customer said on Tripadvisor, on which the restaurant has 4 stars. "Their Jambalaya is more juicy and has more ingredients then any other places." Plus, if you want to try the jambalaya but don't want to miss out on other dishes, you can order Coop's tasting plate, which includes the jambalaya and additional fare.

Coop's Place

(504) 525-9053

1109 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116

You can't judge a book by its cover, and that's truer perhaps nowhere more than Krua Thai, a Thai restaurant with a cultlike following nestled inside strip malls in both of its California locations. But don't let the parking lot or touristy photos of Thailand fool you — this spot is the real deal, as evidenced by the menu's iconic pineapple fried rice with egg, pineapple, cashew nuts, and curry powder, which you can accentuate with a choice of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or seafood for just $13.50-$14.50.

The pineapple fried rice is especially ideal for diners with a sweet tooth since it has a perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors to make it tread the line between dinner and dessert. Just ask the dish's many fans on Tripadvisor, which gave the restaurant 4.5 stars. "I ordered the pineapple fried rice and it was very tasty!" wrote one Yelp reviewer. "Not to mention huge." Plus, you can enjoy a heaping bowl of this steaming rice practically whenever you want, as the restaurant stays open until 3:30 a.m., perfect for the late-night crowd visiting the North Hollywood location.

Krua Thai

(818) 759-7998 and (626) 480-0116

13130 Sherman Way, Valley Glen, CA 91605, and 935 S Glendora Ave, West Covina, CA 91790

New York City is more than a hop, skip, and jump from Spain, but you might not guess that if you visit Socarrat Paella Bar, which serves Spanish paella at its three locations in Chelsea, Nolita, and Midtown East. Once inside, you might as well go all-in with the restaurant's signature arroz negro, which includes shrimp, calamari, white fish, scallops, piquillo peppers, fava beans, and squid ink sofrito in a pot for $33 per person. Although your mouth will take on the color of that squid ink once you've finished scraping the socarrat from the bottom of the pan, it's worth it for a taste of this dish.

"... The paella negra was fantastic," said one customer on Tripadvisor, on which the restaurant earned 4 stars. "Very happy with the quality of the food and the attentive service. It was like breaking bread with a Spaniard in his home in Spain." Socarrat Paella Bar has served up arroz negro paella and its other staple paellas since 2008, when owner Lolo Manso opened the first location in New York City. Inside that building and the two that followed, guests dine communally – just as they would in Spain – surrounded by a cozy interior with modern nods.

Socarrat Paella Bar

Multiple locations in New York City

You may not have heard of West African jollof rice, but since many Southern dishes draw inspiration from West African fare, it's not as exotic as you might think. Like Creole jambalaya, jollof rice is cooked in tomato broth with other additions, such as seafood and vegetables. And one of the best places to try it outside of West Africa is none other than a strip mall in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Inside Café Songhai, diners can sample jollof rice, made with either jasmine or parboiled rice, cooked in tomato sauce and served with fried plantains, tomato stew, and choice of protein such as goat, snapper, tilapia, cow foot, or the less ambitious beef or chicken.

This begs the question – should you go with the jasmine or parboiled rice? According to a reviewer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, you're better off with the jasmine rice since Ghanian-born Matthew Owusu runs the kitchen at Café Songhai, and jasmine rice is more traditional to Ghanian jollof. No matter your choice, the spicy rice can be made vegan and sells for $23. Customers who have given Café Songhai 4.2 stars on Yelp can't get enough of it. "Jollof rice was absolutely delicious! Very spicy!" said one diner. "We had the chicken Jollof & it was pretty satisfying. This was my first time having Jollof so I'd consider this to be a great introduction."

Café Songhai

(470) 359-2969

3380 Holcomb Bridge Rd, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092

Throw a fork at an Italian restaurant, and you'll land on a risotto. But what about a risotto featuring saffron carnaroli rice, roasted bone marrow, and roasting jus at a Los Angeles, California restaurant so acclaimed that it was named one of the 50 best Italian restaurants on the planet? That's what diners will find at Brera, named after Brera in Milan, Italy, which serves a house-made risotto Milanese. It even garnered the attention of a Los Angeles Times dining critic who said, "There are some other good risottos in town, but none of them really comes up to what Angelo is doing ... The risotto alla Milanese is as creamy and subtle as it might be at a trattoria in the Navigli, touched with but not overwhelmed by saffron and cheese."

At Brera, previously called Officine Brera, Chef Angelo Auriana brings the Northern Italian dishes he was raised on the West Coast, but with modern touches and local ingredients. The $36 risotto Milanese is one of the restaurant's most-ordered dishes and has helped Brera earn 4.5 stars on Tripadvisor and become one of the top 200 restaurants in Los Angeles. "The risotto Milanese is, texture-wise, so incredibly perfect you just want to cry," gushed one customer. "... I don't understand what technique makes it possible for them to produce what no one else can."

Brera

(213) 553-8006

1331 E 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021

If you crave biryani, you may struggle to choose just one — India has nearly 30 regional renditions of the dish. However, at least you know you're in for a good experience at Hyderabadi Zaiqa, which focuses on biryanis from Hyderabad, a city in southern India. The restaurant has earned acclaim for its 15 biryanis, including Hellgate saying it has "some of the best biryani you'll ever eat" and Eater New York proudly stating that it's the best way to spend $20 in the city. The jury's unanimous when it comes to the variety you should order too — that honor belongs to the $18 goat dum biryani, made with slow-cooked goat chunks, basmati rice, and aromatic spices, including saffron, and can serve two people.

Hyderabadi Zaiqa serves the goat dum biryani in a basement space only marked by a yellow sign flapping in the wind, where red stools line a bar and wood tables. Diners seated on those red stools can delight in the goat dum biryani offered up in metal serveware with filigree details, with other offerings nestled upon bone china. It's a fitting presentation for a meal so delicious. The restaurant has 4.7 stars on Yelp, with customers making statements like, "The best place to get biryani in Manhattan! Tried the chicken 65 biryani and Hyderabadi goat dum biryani and both were delicious."

Hyderabadi Zaiqa

(646) 952-0066

366 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019

Bibimbap (meaning roughly "mixed rice") is a traditional Korean dish served with warm white rice, vegetables, soy sauce, sliced beef, chili pepper paste, soy sauce, and a fried egg. But at Chan, a Seattle, Washington restaurant with a name that translates to "food" in Korean, bibimbap gets a modern kick, as does everything else on the menu. At the only contemporary Korean eatery in the city, the $39 bibimbap is served with ingredients like smoked duck, king oyster, and truffle; hanger steak, scallions, and cured yolk; or Alaskan king salmon and asparagus for an upscale, Western kick. No matter which variety you go for, it's all presented in a cast-iron pan that is so hot that it cooks the rice and egg while you're digging in. According to Seattle Refined, it's one of the best bibimbaps in the city, and customers think so, too.

Chan has accumulated 4.3 stars on Yelp from over 1,000 rave reviews and has garnered customer praise, such as, "While here we had the rice cake, bulgogi sliders, wings and the skillet bibimbap. All were excellent but bibimbap did it for me. I inhaled it." Owner and chef Heong Soon Park, who was born in South Korea but developed his international cooking techniques by traveling the world before opening Chan, cooks the bibimbap. The restaurant is now located inside the Paramount Hotel after moving from its original spot at the Pike Place Market.

Chan

(206) 687-3176

724 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101

Galleria Umberto doesn't take reservations or credit cards; it serves the food on paper plates. You're bound to wait in a long line, and you better hope you're in before it closes at 3 p.m. But it's all worth it for Sicilian arancini as big as a baseball at this restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts, where the fried arborio rice ball is stuffed with beef, peas, and mozzarella before being coated in cornmeal for a satisfying crunch. It's fittingly served in the North End Italian neighborhood of the city, where diners can crack the arancini with a plastic fork after unwrapping the culinary gift from its tin foil casing. It's made by counter-serve restaurant owners and Italian immigrants Paul and Ralph Deuterio, who make 100-200 fried rice balls by hand daily.

Just ask Yelp what a gift the arancini is — Galleria Umberto has 4.5 stars and nearly 800 reviews on the site, with visitors leaving comments like, "The arancini was still steaming hot when we cut into it. The whole thing was so savory and delicious." The restaurant and its dishes are so good that they even attracted acclaim from the James Beard Foundation. Galleria Umberto received its America's Classics award, which honors restaurants "cherished for quality food that reflects the character of their community" (via Boston Magazine).

Galleria Umberto

(617) 227-5709

289 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113

In Japan, onigiri — a Japanese rice ball wrapped in nori and filled with anything from salted salmon to pickled plum — is a snack ideal for eating while on your feet. But at Sugar Pine in Austin, Texas, patrons can enjoy this Japanese comfort food surrounded by pops of greenery, natural light, and metal yellow chairs. There, choose from $5.75 onigiri filled with chicken, pickles, spicy tofu, kimchi pork, avocado, and more for a fusion snack that is cooked, gluten-free, and can be vegetarian.

With 4.4 stars and nearly 400 reviews on Yelp, customers have raved about the onigiri, saying things like, "Having visited Japan twice this year, I can confidently say that this place stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the onigiri spots in the Land of the Rising Sun. Every onigiri is a culinary masterpiece, from the traditional pickled veggies and salmon to the bold and flavorful kimchi pork and spicy tuna." The Austin Chronicle thought so, too when it said that the café earned a 5 out of 5 in its books.

Sugar Pine

(512) 520-9046

8578 Research Blvd, Austin, TX 78758

Louisiana dirty rice is a statewide staple, and whether you're sitting at a bayou table or eating at a fine dining restaurant, you're bound to get the chef's version of it. But the most beloved Louisiana dirty rice is served at Herbsaint, which has been named as one of the best restaurants in the country by Eater, one of the best restaurants in New Orleans by the Times-Picayune, and has garnered a James Beard Award — to name just a few of its accolades.

Chef Donald Link serves his $43 dirty rice with seared Muscovy duck confit and citrus gastrique, just as he's done since 2001. "Duck with dirty rice was also amazing. Dirty rice was just subtle enough with the ground meat while still having tons of flavor," said one customer who visited the restaurant, which has 4.1 stars on Yelp and over 1,000 reviews. If you want to make a copycat version of Bojangles dirty rice at home, get these seasonings. 

Herbsaint

(504) 524-4114

701 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Even if your weekend tradition is to order Thai takeout, we bet you haven't tasted everything that Jitlada in Los Angeles, California, has to offer. That's because it has 400 items on its menu, including dishes from the owners' hometown of Pak Phanang in Thailand. After the current owners bought the Thai staple in 2006, it grew into the epicurean force that it is today, offering authentic dishes made from family recipes. One such offering is Thai fried rice, which can be served with chicken, beef, pork, or tofu. Or, you can mix it up by ordering one of the many dishes that include turmeric-spiced rice, like the turmeric chicken wings.

Jitlada has earned 4 stars on Tripadvisor and is ranked as one of the top 400 restaurants in the entire city. With such high marks, scoring a table to enjoy Thai fried rice can be difficult, especially since the Michelin-starred restaurant doesn't accept reservations. However, it does a pretty good job packaging its authentic Thai fare to-go so you can enjoy it in the comfort of your living or dining room, too. Want to stay home and cook instead? You can turn your frozen vegetables into delicious fried rice.

Jitlada

(323) 667-9809

5233 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027

There's a reason that kabuli pulao, a rice dish featuring carrots, brown basmati rice, raisins, seasoned lamb chunks, almonds, and pistachios, is the national dish of Afghanistan. It's so delicious that it's always placed in the middle of the table. But in the United States, you don't have to be invited to an Afghani gathering to taste it for yourself — you can get it at Ariana Afghan Kabob in New York City. This family-owned eatery has been serving authentic Afghan food since 1986. There, kabuli pulao (also called palow) is listed as a special dish.

With 4.2 stars on Tripadvisor, Ariana Afghan Kabob is one of the city's best places for Afghani food and one of the country's best for this flagship rice dish enjoyed by Afghanis all over the world. A customer who tried the kabuli pulao said, "Everything was delicious and my husband said the food made him so nostalgic for home and was reminiscent of his mother's cooking, which I think is the ultimate compliment."

Ariana Afghan Kabob

(212) 262-2323

787 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019

It wasn't easy narrowing down which restaurants in the United States serve the best rice dishes, given that nearly every eatery offers this staple on their menus. To determine where you could go to enjoy every last spoonful, we researched which restaurants had the most accolades and the highest reviews from customers — all the options that made the list have over 4 stars on sites like Tripadvisor and Yelp. We also looked to see which restaurants presented authentic yet adventurous takes on international rice dishes, bringing their own creativity to every plate while remaining true to their origins.