What We’re Craving for Dine-In and Takeout This Week

More and more restaurants are beginning to open their patios and dining rooms for limited seating of in-house guests, but takeout options are still a great way to experience something new on your own patio, porch or deck. Here are five restaurants creating great food that travels well. Or call ahead to check on table availability, then get ready for the best of New Orleans, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Ghana and Paris (by way of Senegal).

The dining rooms and outdoor seating at both African Grill & Bar restaurants are back open, so make a reservation to let owners Sylvester and Theodora Osei-Fordwuo know you’re coming. If you’re a first-timer, the akwaaba (“welcome”) plates are a great way to experience a range of Ghanaian and other African fare, starting with crispy samosas stuffed with chicken or veggies. The akwaaba plates travel well, too, so you can take some home for the whole family.

The famous purple food truck serving New Orleans cooking settled into a permanent spot in Centennial just over a year ago, and is currently serving takeout from noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Use the Jessie’s Smokin’ NOLA online ordering to land yourself the Cajun Manning, a hefty po’boy loaded with fried shrimp, crawfish tails and Cajun sausage. And if you’re a New Orleans native, you won’t want to miss this week’s Pattons Hot Sausage sandwich special – but supplies are limited, so don’t procrastinate.

The Jamaican Grill has been a go-to spot for island cuisine for years, and is currently open for carryout orders of jerk chicken, oxtail stew and other hearty and warming plates. And this week, the owners just launched the Jamaican Mini Grille and International Jerk Market on West Colfax Avenue, so you can grab sauces and jerk spices for home cooking along with takeout fried or grilled chicken. The new location just opened on June 3, so call the original location for details.

The Edgewater Public Market is slowly reopening its food hall for takeout, including Konjo, which serves lamb, chicken and beef slowly simmered in berbere and other spices, along with stewed lentils, split peas and spinach, and injera bread to mop up every last drop. The counter-service eatery has also been offering meals for front-line health-care workers during the coronavirus pandemic, but closed temporarily on June 1 to “take a few days off for mental health.” Visit Konjo’s Facebook page to see when the food will be back, but in the meantime, you can catch up with the Ethiopian Food Truck this week to get the same great food.

Le French just reopened its dining room and patio, so you can make a reservation for classic French fare with Senegalese touches from owners Aminata and Rougui Dia. But if you’re more of a morning person, there’s nothing better than flaky house-baked croissants with a cappuccino to make you feel like you’re in Paris – even if you’re just stopping in on your way to work in the DTC.