Dinner as theatre, dinner as laboratory, dinner as pop culture commentary: The only constant at this country’s foremost modernist restaurant is its relentless drive to evolve and surprise. Read more.
Baronial chophouses are a cornerstone of America’s restaurant culture, but Bern’s, which opened in 1956, exists in its own west Florida dimension of eccentricity and excellence. Read more.
Looking to Korea and to China for inspiration, Lee’s progression of courses might start with a brilliant dish like winter melon soup with caviar and gold leaf, and spin off into another realm. Read more.
Participatory and educational, the dining experience emphasizes connection with not just the land, but with the staff and with the tactile nature of the food itself. Read more.
In the last dozen years, Colby and Megan Garrelts’s restaurant has matured into a fully realized vision of Midwestern tasting-menu dining Read more.
The upstairs café at Chez Panisse channels the spirit of California dining even more ecstatically than its more formal downstairs sibling. Read more.
Spend a few hours among Clancy’s cultured, effervescent clientele, and you’ll know what dining in the city of Sazeracs and shrimp rémoulade is all about. Read more.
The brick- and wood-lined dining room is animated without being frantic, the cooking defines the modern California-Italian ethos, and Michael Tusk is nothing less than a pasta savant. Read more.
With exceptional poise, Estela demonstrates how a restaurant in the world's most closely observed dining scene can evolve from a flavor-of-the-month to a haven for its community. Read more.
This always-packed oyster bar, which sits along one of Portland’s most progressive restaurant rows, combines foods from Maine and "from away" in dazzling mash-ups. Read more.
FIG — which helped fuel Charleston’s restaurant boom when it opened in 2003 — distinguishes itself year after year with remarkable, soulful cooking. Read more.
The hours-long line that forms every morning alongside Aaron Franklin’s turquoise-trimmed pilgrimage site may be more famous than the food itself, but let’s be clear: your wait is rewarded. Read more.
Why call out this Italian fine dining restaurant above scores of other contenders across the country? Simply put, Frasca offers the best service experience in America. Read more.
A meal from Wes Avila’s midnight-blue truck, which he parks in front of marquee coffeehouses across the metro area, eliminates the problem of finding a taco that stands out above others in LA. Read more.
Kevin Gillespie’s flagship isn’t a place for quiet conversation: it’s loud, it’s bright, it’s participatory, and it’s arguably the most creatively energized restaurant in the Southeast. Read more.
Most of the food at Heartland and its adjacent market-cafe comes from within a 300-mile radius. In the true spirit of Midwestern welcome, the menu aims to please myriad appetites and predilections. Read more.
Like New Orleans itself, the kitchen (under daily direction from chef de cuisine Rebecca Wilcomb) borrows from a grab bag of cultures and somehow arrives at an elegant crossroad. Read more.
Between the Husk in Charleston and the Nashville location that opened three years later, Tennessee takes the edge for pushing the extremes between classical and modern Southern cooking ever further. Read more.
If ever there were a moment for Russian cuisine to ascend to the American mainstream, it’s now. The curing and pickling crazes have primed our palates for northern Eurasian flavors. Read more.
Mastering the moonscape playground that is Las Vegas means finding balance between fantasy and reality, excess and moderation, and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon nails that tightrope act. Read more.
To experience the current pinnacle of California cuisine, head 55 miles south of San Francisco and sit down for David Kinch’s revelatory tasting menu. Read more.
The phenomenon David Chang created 12 years ago changed the dining worldwide (and spawned a global empire), striking a crack in upscale formality that spread until the genre shattered. Read more.
Kris Yenbamroong is going for the jugular with recipes that throw heat and spice and stink in your face. The room and the crowd, both psychedelic, match the cooking’s intensity. Read more.
The kitchen’s unequaled savvy with intricate spicing makes it a national standard-bearer. Come here to savor differences in regional spice blends and how they interact with foods. Read more.
Justin Yu’s tasting-menu odes to flora, with another option incorporating a bit of fauna if you so desire. The laid back space eases you into the artistry of the food. Read more.
Husband and wife team Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark waded into the next-gen fusion fray with their mid-priced destination spot, which takes its cues from Kim’s Korean heritage. Read more.
Exceptional pizza can be found across the country now, but Bianco’s masterworks still merit a journey. Read more.
Made with cheddar, Jarlsberg, and Grano Padano and broiled to a crusty, bubbly bronze, its a mingling of French and Southern sensibilities, and there may be no better version of mac n cheese anywhere. Read more.
Choose from among mild, medium, hot, and extra hot — my nose tingles and my scalp prickles, but the taste is so narcotic that I clean my plate every time. Read more.
The Publican — the crowning achievement of Paul Kahan’s One Off Hospitality Group — is one affirming interpretation of the percolating cuisine of late. Read more.
Calling it a pizzeria doesn’t accurately express Roberta’s virtuosity; under the direction of chef Carlo Mirarchi, the restaurant has defied easy categorization since opening in 2008. Read more.
Once you’re inside the converted two-story townhouse, the warm staff speeds out drinks and an array of sumptuous breads. Read more.
To best understand the full measure of Sakurai’s mastery, call ahead and request the seven-course omakase that often includes A5 wagyu beef and ultra-seasonal fish. Read more.
Plainly stated, Vedge is the best meat-free restaurant in America — and a fantastic restaurant, period. Read more.
The lofty space shines in all of Seattle’s seasons, cozy enough to stand up to the misty months, airy enough to be flooded with light when the sun finally appears. Read more.
The smells of focaccia baking in the wood-burning oven will hurry you through the door; the sweet hospitality and killer cooking will have you daydreaming of returning. Read more.
Bring a group for the breathtaking smoked lamb shoulder braised in pomegranate juice. No place else in America serves such a sensuous, transporting, and finely wrought feast. Read more.
