Taco Del Mar-New Orleans, Metairie

Before opening Taco Del Mar's startup location in Seattle in 1992, its founders spent years surfing California's coastline and devouring fish tacos and stuffed burritos. During this time, they developed a bottomless appetite for the local specialty—a taco with fried fish, shredded cabbage, lime juice, salsa, and a mystery white sauce—and decided to make it their signature menu item. Since then, the chain has opened locations in more than 20 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces.

The restaurant gives visitors a taste of the California-surfer cuisine Taco Del Mar's founders fell in love with in the form of fresh fish tacos stuffed with fried Alaskan cod. It also introduces people to Mission-style burritos, giant burritos that were created in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early '80s to feed Paul Bunyan when he was there on vacation.