New Orleans

Acamaya

Mexican
Special Occasion
Group Meal
Fine Dining

Pulsing with Central and South American music, glowing with stone-veiled lights, and swirling with the scent of chiles, masa, and seafood, few restaurant debuts have hit New Orleans as powerfully as Acamaya. Ana Castro’s tribute to Mexico City — as well as the culinary influences of the country’s states including Sinaloa, Veracruz, Sonora, and Puebla — has been lauded from every corner of the restaurant world. Castro’s dedication to using precolonial, Mesoamerican ingredients on the menu of hot and cold Mexican mariscos is particularly noteworthy. Items like chapulines, chiltepin, epazote, and huitlacoche are all defined in a helpful glossary on the menu, facilitating a wider understanding of pre-Hispanic food and the roots of Mexico City cuisine. Castro’s refined, minimalist dishes are some of the most flavorful diners can experience in New Orleans today.

Acamaya shows a different aspect of Mexicanity as a whole — a restrained, timeless but also contemporary look at the culture of where I grew up. The food is all about having faith in the ingredients.

A person wearing large round glasses and a brown shirt smiling at the camera

Ana Castro

Ana's Perfect Order

A bowl of food surrounded by other dishes on a table

Denny Culbert

Aguachile Verde

The shrimp in this dish — which remain slightly translucent with pink edges when served — go from water to tomatillo-serrano broth-filled bowl in under 12 hours.

Hamachi “Al Pastor” Tostada

Hamachi is cured and smoked “al pastor,” like pork, and served with pineapple and tepache on a blue corn tostada. This is Castro’s favorite dish on the menu.

Shrimp or Crawfish Costra

The satisfying costra features griddled cheese filled with shrimp or crawfish and nestled in a flour tortilla. Creamy and decadent, it stands out among Acamaya’s mostly refreshing dishes.

Shrimp or Crawfish Costra

While some flavors change seasonally (poblanos, chanterelles, and corn among them), small masa dumplings and lumps of crab remain constants in the rich beurre blanc sauce.