9201 Best Restaurants in USA

In the heart of Historic Kailua Village, the open-air Hawaii location of the popular Monterey, California restaurant offers an expansive menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a vintage building with a bayfront view. Inventive fresh-fish specials as well as simple fish-and-chips are among the local favorites. The lunch menu is tantalizing, especially the seafood entrées. There's also a comprehensive wine list, plus a happy hour menu chock full of great choices and prices.

Restaurants not on the water have to produce the highest-quality food to survive in the Keys. Try fish Matecumbe style—baked with tomatoes, capers, olive oil, and lemon juice—or the buttery pan-sautéed preparation. The side dishes can be bland: boiled red potatoes, a hunk of corn on the cob, or black beans and rice.

Come one, come all, come hungry, and come at 11 am to witness the calm before the lunch storm. The wide-ranging menu of fish dishes is the bait, and each can be served in a variety of ways—ginger-crusted, grilled, blackened, pecan-crusted, or Pacific-grilled, which puts any dish over the top. Sushi also is on the menu, and be sure to save room for their selection of homemade desserts.

In 1976, a fisherman and captain teamed up to deliver fresh, quality seafood at a decent price. Today, they run two restaurants including this North County branch that lacks an ocean view but makes up for it with perfectly cooked fish and simple preparations from a menu that changes daily. You can't go wrong with their famous crab cioppino or their garlic prawn linguine. The baked oysters and clam chowder are perfect on those rare June gloom days. The scene is lively, crowded, and noisy—it's a great place to bring the kids.

This long-running microbrewery and tavern in a slightly industrial section of downtown has a bustling, open dining room with mounted fish on the walls. It's a funky and fun standby for big portions of pub standards—nachos, smoked wild salmon platters, black-bean burgers, fish-and-chips, and a much beloved Mudshark Porter dark-chocolate cheesecake. The ales are well crafted—try the Winterfish Organic Seasonal Ale during the cooler months, or cool off with a light Organic Blonde Ale on a hot summer night.

When the children need a break from the standard boardwalk fare, take 'em to this incredibly family-friendly restaurant, where children are part of the action. Youngsters can play on an awesome pirate ship or on the soft beach with the Frisbee that comes with their meals. The food is as easygoing as the atmosphere, from a fried chicken and barbecued ribs combo to skewered surf and turf. There's also a slew of economical offerings "From the Dock" and "From the Farm," as well as an extensive menu for "L'il Skippers," like pizza and mac and cheese. At night, a bit of a rowdy (yet civilized) older bar crowd likes to congregate on the waterfront benches.

This no-frills, roadside eatery has a loyal local following, an unfussy ambience, a couple of outside picnic tables, and friendly service. Signature dishes include snapper on grilled rye with coleslaw and melted Muenster cheese, a fried-fish burrito, George's crab cake, and tomato-based conch chowder. Landlubbers can choose everything from burgers and dogs to meat loaf and Cuban pork. Plan to dine early; it's only open until 6:30, but the hours depend on the season.

This authentic New Orleans–style restaurant in the heart of Greektown is loud, brash, funky, and fun. The spicy creole fare on the seasonal menu includes gator, gumbo, crawfish, and gulf oysters on the half shell. The whiskey ribs are tops year-round. If you're staying in the suburbs, check out the branches in St. Clair Shores and Southfield.

Brave the lines at this seafood shack that doubles as a bait-and-tackle store to feast on crab sandwiches on sourdough, lobster rolls, catch-of-the-day fish tacos, and fresh Tomales Bay oysters raw or barbecued. The family owners place a premium on quality and sustainably produced ingredients.

Even though Landry's has taken over this harborside institution, locals keep coming here for the reliably fresh seafood and reasonable prices. Dine indoors or watch the boat traffic (and waiting cruise ships) from the patio. Start with a cold combo, like boiled shrimp and grilled rare tuna. For entrées, the fried fish, shrimp, and oysters are hard to beat.

Owned by two commercial fishermen (who happen to be brothers), this casually upscale seafood spot (attached to a seafood market) offers indoor and outdoor waterside dining at Cape Cod Canal. The menu offers a nice break from the usual fried seafood baskets, so diners opt for fresh oysters, sushi, and steamed lobster and crab buckets.

Nestled in a quieter, less-touristy section of Pacific Beach, The Fishery is a local favorite for high-end, sustainable seafood. With a fish market incorporated into the restaurant's design, the freshness of their ingredients is proudly on display, and the extensive menu offers poke, sushi rolls, and other raw bar favorites alongside excellently cooked preparations of spot prawns, crusted halibut, lobster, and seasonal whole fish. The grand seafood tower is sure to make an impression. An engaging wine list and cocktail selection round out the exceptional offerings.

Fresh fish with a Latin accent makes this a favorite of locals for lunch or a casual dinner. Standard dishes include the sea garden salads—topped with your choice of fish—and the fried seafood plates.

Not a grill in name only, this restaurant has an open-grill kitchen in the dining room. It can be noisy on the bar side when live bands play in the evening. Locals get comfortable in padded chairs and booths as they relax with happy-hour specials nightly or order from the extensive wine vault. The California-inspired fusion menu offers a variety of price ranges, with excellent homemade pizza from wood-burning ovens, sandwiches, pasta, chicken, steaks, and seafood, followed by sinful desserts such as homemade bourbon chocolate-chip pecan pie. Try the yellowfin tostada rare, with black-bean-and-corn salsa, guacamole, and goat cheese, a manager's favorite.

Located inside The Factory, this dreamy bakery seems to glow with soft pink light. They specialize in donuts, but not just any old donuts—these are 100-layer croissant-donut hybrids, cream-filled and glazed in flavors like chocolate–sea salt and maple-bacon (they also have a wide selection of paleo and vegan donuts). There are locations in East Nashville and 12South. 

A donut wonderland right in the middle of bustling East Nashville, Five Daughters Bakery is known for its Hundred Layer Donut, a doughnut/croissant hybrid stuffed with various flavors and creams. Popular donuts sell out quickly so go early in the day. Classic offerings include vanilla cream and maple glaze, while flavors like blueberry lavender and pumpkin spice latte are available seasonally. Vegan, paleo, and gluten-free treats are available.

These heralded sweet treats are made from scratch daily, which will be of no surprise when you taste their savory signature croissant-donut hybrid, dubbed a Hundred Layer Donut. Five Daughters Bakery is as authentic as its name—owned and operated by a local family with five girls.

One of the rare eateries that offers quick, wholesome, fresh food for meat eaters and vegans alike. A local favorite, especially for lunch, Five on Black serves Brazilian-inspired bowls of rice, meats, and/or vegetables, in addition to delectable toppings.

Whopping pizza slices, determined by the day of the week, are cut from 20-inch pies and baked in retro gas-fired deck ovens at this laid-back neighborhood favorite. If you want a whole pie, those are available in 14- or 18-inch sizes with the same made-from-scratch dough and fresh pizza toppings as the slices, which all complement the extensive offering of craft beers. There's another location in East Nashville. 

A standout amid the strip of mostly unmemorable fast-food restaurants along Paseo del Pueblo on the south side of town, this airy, high-ceiling contemporary space—part of a regional chain with locations in Albuquerque as well—serves stellar burgers using hormone-free Angus beef from respected Harris Ranch; turkey, veggie, Colorado lamb, bison, and salmon burgers are also available. You can also choose from an assortment of novel toppings, including fried eggs, wild mushrooms, grilled onions, and crispy jalapeños. Beer and wine are also served.

Super fresh tacos, burritos, and other Mexican favorites are served in to-go containers, but you can still eat inside.

This quick-service eatery is one of the park's relatively undiscovered gems; there's nothing fancy here, but you can dig into ribs, chicken, and pulled-pork sandwiches. Tables beneath intricately carved wood pavilions make great spots for a picnic, and they're not usually crowded.

Started as a fish market in 1983 by a young couple with a baby on the way, Flanders has grown into a popular restaurant and bar with awards for its seafood—especially the lobster roll—and appearances in local media and national TV. The Market's 40-year history landed it a spot in the Connecticut Restaurant Association "Hospitality Hall Of Fame," and locals come for the raw bar, seafood platter and sandwiches, brunch, and "Cappy Hour" specials.

Families, students, and bohemian types gather at this popular New England chain flatbread-pizza place where two massive wood-fire ovens are the heart of the soaring, warehouselike space. Waits can be long on weekends and in summer, but you can call a half-hour ahead to put your name on the list, or grab a drink from the bar and wait outside with a view of the harbor. The menu has eight signature pizzas made with fresh, local ingredients, plus weekly veggie and meat specials; everything is homemade, organic, and nitrate-free, and there are delicious local microbrews on tap.

Not only is this popular restaurant, an outpost of a Vermont-based operation, a great place to take the kids, but it's also a valued member of the community, giving to local nonprofits with proceeds from benefits held each Tuesday night and sourcing local, organic, and sustainable ingredients, including 100% organically grown wheat for the made-fresh-daily dough. Although it only accepts reservations for large groups, it offers "call-ahead seating," so you can put your name on the wait list before you arrive.

Choose from a host of house-brewed beers and a typical pub menu upstairs in the Pubhouse and deep-dish pizza downstairs in the cellar. This is a popular place in both summer and winter, with nice views of the lake from open-air decks.

Ask where to have breakfast, lunch, or a coffee, and nearly every Main Street shop owner will direct you to this tiny eatery at the fork in the road. The menu includes egg dishes, healthful salads and sandwiches, gluten-free pastries, and many coffee drinks.

This casually stylish restaurant offers excellent views of the flats at the mouth of the Kenai River as well as the surrounding mountains. The menu emphasizes produce and seafood sourced locally as well as house-smoked meats—try the confit and roasted half organic chicken, or grilled rockfish with garlic butter, romesco sauce, and butternut-squash risotto.