1438 Best Restaurants in California, USA

You can build a meal at Tarla by combining traditional Mediterranean mezes (small plates)—stuffed grape leaves with fresh tzatziki, perhaps, and spanakopita—with contemporary creations such as a barley and kale salad with seasonal fruit. Entrées include updates of moussaka and other Turkish and Greek standards, along with modern items like beef short ribs braised with a pomegranate-wine sauce.

With items like Shanghai dumplings and Taiwanese sausage fried rice, this pan-Asian restaurant decorated with contemporary flair tilts heavily Chinese—the chef's from the mainland, the owner Taiwan—but Japan and the rest of Southeast Asia are amply represented. Some dishes seem tweaked to broaden their appeal, but they're generally well executed, and even on busy nights the staffers remain pleasant and efficient.

Fun, dressed-up American favorites—a little something for everyone—are served in this renovated early-1900s stone farmhouse several miles east of town. The kitchen cranks out everything from Cajun-spiced prawns to meat loaf with marsala-mushroom gravy to grilled ribs and steaks.

Dine any time of day at this French-inspired café a block from San Diego Bay, as breakfast commences at 7 am with homemade granola, quiche, and just-baked coffee cakes and croissants. Sandwiches, salads, and soups round out the daytime menu, while dinner highlights include the catch of the day. Just be sure to save room for the Paris-pretty desserts.

Sonoma dining—or nibbling, given the portion sizes—received a boost when Azores-born chef Manuel Azevedo opened this retro-contempo tavern dedicated to small Portuguese bites. Dividing his menu into five parts—Cheese, Garden, Sea, Land, Sweet—Azevedo, who also owns the nearby restaurant LaSalette, serves everything from hearty caldo verde stew, pork sliders, smoked duck breast, and salted codfish cakes to São Jorge cheese topped with marmalade.

At this storefront a block north of Healdsburg Plaza, Japanese-style prints and furniture offset the mildly industrial feel of this combination tea shop and café whose light comfort cuisine includes ramen and mini rice bowls. The chef’s-special miso ramen contains barbecue pork, shoyu-marinated egg, fish cake, bamboo shoots, tofu, sprouts, and nori; gyoza and salmon top two spicier variations.

Taverna Tony, nestled in the heart of Malibu's Country Mart, is a beloved Greek restaurant that has been serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine to generations of residents and visitors for more than three decades. The restaurant's rustic decor, complete with white-washed walls and blue accents, transports guests to a traditional Greek taverna. The menu features a wide array of classic Greek dishes, from fresh seafood and grilled meats to traditional appetizers like dolmades and saganaki. Try the combination platter to get a morsel of everything, or one of the happy hour bargains. Their signature dish, a whole grilled branzino fish, is as fresh as the crisp decor. Bread is made onsite daily and served with Tony's famous dip. On weekends, the restaurant comes alive with live Greek music, belly dancing, and occasional plate-breaking, adding to the festive atmosphere. Opa!

Grab some noodles, sushi, or Japanese tea and treats at this pavilion located in the center of the park. The large outdoor patio is a great place to rest and recharge before seeking tranquility in the adjacent Japanese Friendship Garden.

Plenty of locals come to this tidy space known for remarkably friendly service and the dry chicken wings fried in garlic and roasted red peppers, as well as for thinly sliced Mongolian beef and dan dan noodles. Run by two former Hong Kong restaurant owners, it specializes in mostly southern Chinese fare, like Cantonese cuisine, and has a few Sichuan specialties, too.

With coffee, sandwiches, and salads by day, and superb drinks at night, this spot right by the California Street cable car terminus is a charming place to visit. Its sunlight-filled atmosphere is refreshingly low-key for FiDi—the rare downtown establishment that feels like a true neighborhood gathering place.

This family-owned restaurant is the best place in the city to sample hard-to-find Muslim Chinese cuisine from northwest China and to carb-load. Order classics like wide biang biang hand-pulled noodles with cumin lamb or liangpi cold noodles, and accompany them with pita bread soaked in flavorful lamb soup. The restaurant has a modest, warm interior with posters of Shaanxi specialties hanging on its walls.

Muggles can feast on British pub fare and toast with butterbeer just like the boy who lived and generations of Hogwarts students at Three Broomsticks and Hog's Head, a snow-capped rustic tavern and bar found within the Wizarding World of Harry Potter section of Universal Studios. Wash down across-the-pond favorites—including shepherd's pie (there's also a vegan version), fish-and-chips, chocolate trifle, and bangers and mash—with four types of butterbeer (hot, cold, nondairy, and frozen). It's a great choice for diners with allergies as they have menus that cater to those who can't eat the top nine culinary allergens (milk, sesame, soy, tree nuts, etc.).

Baked goods, wood-fired pizzas, excellent coffee (teas and kombucha, too), and microbrews made on-site draw locals and tourists to this redbrick spot with a high, heavy-beamed open ceiling. The food's ingredients come from nearby organic sources; the beers on tap range from blond and pale ales to triple IPAs and several porters.

This might be the only gas station in the United States serving craft beers and lobster taquitos, but its appeal goes beyond novelty. Order at the counter, and grab a seat inside, or sit at one of the picnic tables on the lawn outside and take in the distant view of Mono Lake.

The owners of a local-fave tri-tip food trolley opened this comfort-food restaurant in a 90-year-old building originally a gas station and later an inn. In addition to tri-tip, the New Orleans–inspired menu consists of small bites like white-cheddar grits and larger bites that include smoke-braised short ribs, steelhead trout, fried chicken, and a grass-fed burger with cheese and tomato jam.

There are wheels in the yard and Old West artifacts on the interior walls at this restaurant in the Stovepipe Wells Village hotel. A full dinner menu with steaks and pasta is served year-round, as are box lunches and a breakfast buffet. Quench your thirst and fuel up on lunch and snacks in the full-service saloon specializing in burgers and sandwiches. 

It’s hard to top this longtime, nautical-styled Harbor Island restaurant’s views across San Diego Bay to the Downtown skyline and Coronado Bridge. An alfresco dining deck and a contemporary seafood-focused menu ensure the dining experience at this working lighthouse doesn't take a back seat to the scenery. Sample the iced shellfish platter before moving on to traditional lobster bouillabaisse and paella or grilled prawns with spicy grits. The family-owned institution also serves a popular Sunday brunch that stars crab legs, peel-and-eat shrimp, smoked salmon, and oysters along with mimosas. Prefer beer? Choose from a long list of on-tap and bottled craft brews.

Repeatedly crowned the World Champion Pizza Maker at the World Pizza Cup in Naples, Tony Gemignani is a carb-friendly legend in the city for his flavorful dough and myriad versions. The multiple gas, electric, and wood-burning ovens in his casual, modern pizzeria turn out many different styles of pies—the famed Neapolitan-style Margherita, but also Sicilian, Roman, and Detroit styles—with salads, antipasti, homemade pastas, and calzone rounding out the menu. They don't take reservations, and wait times are notoriously long, so add your name to the online wait list (very) early.

A passionate baseball fan, chef Matt Toomey designed this casual space near the Village Gondola to resemble a dugout, and decorated it with baseball memorabilia. Swing by pre–outdoor adventure for coconut mascarpone pancakes or soft bagels topped with smoked trout and chipotle cream cheese. Later in the day, fill up on buffalo meat loaf, seafood jambalaya, or a New Zealand elk rack chop. You can also get a taste of Toomey’s at home: its signature seasoning is sold online. 

This is just the kind of over-the-top theme dining situation you'd expect from its prime location on Universal CityWalk and its mouthful of a name. The extensive menu caters to everyone with comfort foods including nachos made with Tater Tots instead of chips, and the steampunk decor includes a domed ceiling with a dirigible mural, industrial cogs, and smokestacks. There's a bar, multilevel dining rooms, and a retail shop to purchase house-made chocolates. Big groups with aching feet slide into comfy booths for fanciful cocktails (one is topped with a cotton candy cloud), over-the-top milkshakes and desserts and a robust selection of soups, salads, burgers, pastas, and larger entrées like vegetarian stir-fry or meat loaf. Gimmicky but unique are the options that use chocolate in savory applications. For example, onion rings come with chocolate aioli, sliders have chocolate covered bacon and wings are flash-fried in hot chocolate sauce.

With its bay views from Point Loma to the Coronado Bridge, this upscale seafood house is just right for a memorable evening. The romantic teak-paneled dining room and a deck that sits over the water are popular spots for visitor splurges and locals celebrating special occasions. Starters include jumbo lump crabmeat cake or a chilled seafood platter with a half Maine lobster, Dungeness crab, clams, prawns, and oysters, shared with sips of champagne. For mains, choose from mesquite-grilled Pacific coast swordfish or specialties like the Alaskan halibut, zesty cioppino, or prime rib eyes and filets from Double R Ranch.  Do not confuse this with the tourist-oriented Fish Market downstairs, which can offer an uneven dining experience.

This elevated sit-down restaurant with a full bar offers a variety of flavorful American, Spanish, and Italian fusion dishes. They're complemented with craft cocktails, wines from around the world, and a variety of beers. With the success of their smaller restaurant NDMK Fish House at 109 Claressa, the owners took over the second floor space and outdoor terrace overlooking the Green Pleasure Pier, Harbor, and Casino.

The leather booths and chairs are in high demand at this dark and clubby boho classic from 1919, where well-heeled locals and visitors delight in food that skews to the Cal-Italian genre, meaning local catches and seasonal produce as well as Italian flair in dishes such as halibut crudo and meatballs swimming in red sauce. This is also a great place to park on a stool at the bar, linger over a craft cocktail, and soak up the old–San Francisco vibe.

This rustic trattoria along San Vicente has been a favorite celebrity haunt for decades. Expect elevated sensory offerings, from its cozy atmosphere to its mouthwatering Tuscan and Italian fare (including carpaccio and gnocchi scampi) and excellent wine list.

After paying dues at area restaurants, husband-and-wife team Oscar and Alejandra Sanchez struck out on their own in 2023, opening this tile-floored trattoria with a bar and indoor seating and a covered street-side patio. Carefully selected ingredients and a light touch with Italian sauces elevate dishes that might include shrimp scampi, cioppino, and chicken and veal piccata and marsala.

American fare with Southern flair is the headline at this power broker's pit stop where barbecue gulf shrimp, juicy fried chicken, and butterscotch-chocolate pot de crème highlight a menu with enough variety (and large enough portions) to satisfy nearly everyone. The converted-warehouse space, with dark-wood floors, exposed brick walls, and contemporary art, comfortably blends old with new. You can curl up with a cocktail (like a sterling bacon-washed old-fashioned) on the heated patio while you wait for your table. The decibel level here can wear down your vocal chords, so ask for a quieter spot.

Tucked into the Warm Sands neighborhood is the brick-and-mortar realization of a bagel dream for two dudes who started selling baked goods out of their home and at the weekend farmers' market. Using nonadditive flours and old-school methods like boiling in malted water, they create their round mounds of goodness daily in 22 rotating flavors, from the expected poppy and cinnamon raisin to the less common like the black Russian. The location is nothing to write home about, but it's clean and comfortable and has a few tables outside to enjoy your bagel toasted, slathered in spreads like red pepper hummus or chive cream cheese, or piled high with proteins or veggies. There's also fresh bread and crackers to take home. 

Crisp, thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizzas—among them the unusual Positano, with sautéed shrimp, crescenza cheese, and fried lemons—are the specialties of this family-friendly offshoot of the famous, now departed, Tra Vigne restaurant. Hand-pulled mozzarella and a few other Tra Vigne favorites are on the menu, along with salads, pizzas, and pasta dishes.

This family-owned eatery specializes in southern Italian recipes with strong California influences, including Dungeness crab agnolotti; house-baked focaccia; juicy Florentine-style steak; and a handful of fresh, lighter fish crudo and salad starters. After spending two decades in a prime spot by the ferry, the restaurant returned in 2023 to its original Ark Row home where it all started in 1977. Along with the main intimate dining room, there's a casual enoteca next door and garden patio seating.