Nation’s Best Chefs Secretly Competed in Octopus Tostada Wrestling Tournament

KEY POINTS

•Eater editors celebrated local flavors across the U.S., highlighting octopus tostadas in Austin and Bengali wedding chicken in Raleigh.
•Los Angeles’ Betsy restaurant survived January’s wildfires, continuing to serve fried-to-order churros as proof of resilience.
•Chicago introduced a tavern-style pizzeria sparking new conversations about slice quality and sandwich diplomacy.
•Seattle’s focaccia specialist and a Bay Area bartender spotlighted the rising sober celebratory culture matched with creative sandwiches.

In 2025, America’s taste buds went on a wild world tour without leaving their zip codes. Eater editors worshipped everything from Austin's octopus tostada, described with enough reverence to make seafood blush, to LA’s fried-to-order churros, harvested fresh from unforgiving fire-ravaged ovens. Raleigh’s Bengali wedding chicken brought spicy family politics to the table, while Chicago launched a 'blockbuster tavern-style pizzeria' so serious about its slices it probably holds pizza peace talks. Seattle’s focaccia sandwich purveyor is now the unofficial sandwich ambassador, and the Bay Area’s sober bartender diplomatically introduced celebratory coffee culture, likely causing sleepless nights for everyone. Amid wildfires and relocations, these food warriors turned every menu into a peace treaty for hungry Americans.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

America’s top chefs showed 2025 is actually about octopus tacos, fiery churro wars, and wedding chicken diplomacy. Try explaining that at family dinners.

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