The first bug Daniella Martin can remember crunching down on was a chapuline (a toasted, chile-spiced grasshopper) in Oaxaca, Mexico.
“It tasted like a burnt potato chip,” she recalls. “It wasn’t love at first bite, I’ll say that much.”
Fast forward eight years and Martin has downed hornet larva in Japan, launched a bug-cooking show, and authored Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects. In her spare time, she enjoys whipping up hakuna frittata, made with mushroom, egg, and moth larvae; spider rolls made of tempura-fried tarantula with cucumber and avocado; and bee-LTs, made with the usual ingredients, plus sautéed bee larvae. If you’re looking to add a few bugs to your dinner plate, here are seven places to dine on insect-based cuisine.
Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium – New Orleans
Be prepared for some creative snacks at the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium. Delicacies include chocolate-chirp cookies; crispy Cajun crickets; mango and apple chutney with wax worms; six-legged salsa; and cinnamon-bug crunch. On a busy week, the Insectarium goes through 10,000 bugs. You can place an order for a bugalicious meal any time of the year; however, if you go in November, there’s a special annual Hoppy Thanksgiving event featuring festive dishes like turkey with cornbread and mealworm stuffing, wax worm cranberry sauce, and cricket-pumpkin pie.
Linger – Denver
Linger, a trendy restaurant in Denver’s Lower Highlands neighborhood, sources its insects from the Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch, Colorado’s first and only edible insect farm. Savory options include the Asian-inspired, gluten-free Thai Sausage Mi Krop, featuring spiced pork, black ants, crickets, crispy rice noodles, turmeric, red chili, and tomato nuoc cham. For insect-based snacks to enjoy later, the Micro Ranch offers chirpy jerky and roasted crickets available for order online.
Xochi – Houston
For an extra punch of protein, order the queso del rancho at Xochi, a Houston-based restaurant celebrating the flavors of Oaxaca, Mexico. This delightful dish combines house-made queso de cincho, chicharrones, and a trio of insects: gusanos (insect larvae), chicatanas (ants), and chapulines (grasshoppers) alongside huaxmole rojo, which consists of guaje seeds, garlic, avocado, and okra. Alternatively, opt for the bistec con mole de chicatana, a grilled prime Angus ribeye served with black bean tamal and ant mole.
Playa Viva – Juluchuca, Mexico
Guests at Playa Viva, an upscale resort in Mexico, can enjoy tours throughout the 200 acres behind the resort, guided by a permaculture manager. Visitors will stroll through various ecosystems, lined with ancient tamarind trees and cacti, then venture through a bamboo forest past giant Ceiba trees. Along the way, you’ll munch on termites while learning about their vital role in the landscape and how their nests contribute to fertilizer.
Don Bugito – San Francisco
Granola bites made with cricket powder and dark-chocolate-covered crickets infused with amaranth seeds await you. For Monica Martinez, owner of San Francisco-based Don Bugito, serving up snacks made from insects seems natural. After all, people in her hometown of Mexico City have indulged in bug-based cuisine since the Aztec Empire. Her delicious snacks are available online, and she hosts a few events each year featuring items like chinicuil corn custard, made with agave worm and corn custard in a spicy tomato broth, and ahuautle tortitas made of petite emotes, lake fly egg tortitas, with a spicy poblano pepper sauce and amaranth cake topped with toffee mealworms and dark chocolate mandarin wedges.
Madre – Torrance and Culver City, California
Madre, a popular Oaxacan restaurant known for its traditional meals, features chapulines on the menu. Enjoy this tasty bug as an appetizer or as your main course within a corn tortilla, alongside costra de quesillo, fresh guacamole, chapulines, and salsa.
Salt & Straw – Portland, Oregon
Salt & Straw, a small-batch ice cream company based in Portland with 20 locations along the West Coast, offers a creepy crawly critters ice cream flavor featuring insects each October. Head ice cream maker Tyler Malek blends matcha ice cream with zesty orange, dark-chocolate-covered crickets, and coconut toffee brittle mealworms.
