9204 Best Restaurants in USA

Crab sandwiches, superb New England or Manhattan clam chowder, and weekend-afternoon crab cakes with roasted red-pepper sauce star on this stand's brief menu. Stand in line, place your order, and enjoy your meal to go or at a marina-view picnic table.

Owned by a local roaster, Square One serves exceptionally good brewed coffee and espresso that you can pair with a selection of local pastries and grab-and-go breakfast and lunch fare. It's a favorite among regulars who wander in for their first cup of the day and linger to check their email and do some reading.

Chef-owned and globally inspired, this approachable mainstay serves creative regional entrées like local trout with grits and lobster sauce alongside rabbit-and-crawfish gumbo and chicken curry. Sit on the covered patio fronting a quiet alley or inside the soaring brick-walled dining room.

Adherents flock to this downtown spot for breakfast to sample dozens of omelets, several variations on eggs Benedict, banana-walnut pancakes, and French toast oozing with cream cheese. At lunch, they savor homemade soups and sandwiches.

Pop into this locally loved, tiny café for a pick-me-up. Choose from excellent espresso drinks, brewed coffee and tea, and pastries. Sit inside or outside overlooking the harbor.

One of Seattle's top Thai restaurants (in a crowded field), Srivilai quietly proffers an excellent slate of standards. Friendly, accommodating service in a spare but elegant space combined with a moderately heavy hand with flavors and spices make it a local favorite. Though it serves a fairly simple menu, look for a few of the specials that allow the kitchen to show off, like roasted duck salad and wild salmon curry. A good list of beer, wine, and cocktails also helps this place stand out.

Grilled meats are the specialty of this neighborhood Union Market tavern, with creative dishes including lamb leg steak and bone-in skate wing, along with the more traditional butcher’s steak. Don’t bypass the sides, including potato salad and broccoli—grilled, of course.

Everything at St. Elias is homemade: the beer, the Neapolitan-style stone-fired rustic pizza, the sandwiches, and even the desserts. The calzones are to die for, and the Mt. Redoubt chocolate cake with a molten center is simply divine. This is a good place to check out the locals; the patrons are just as friendly as the staff, and in summer local live music is a big draw.

It says "Famous since 1902," and it truly is. In 2012, this storied steak house was named a James Beard Award-winner in the category of America's Classics. It's clear why: The ornately carved wood trim, tin ceiling, bow-tied servers, and walls covered with photos of famous diners throughout the decades hint at its history. Expertly done filets, prime rib, ribeye and porterhouse confirm its continuing appeal. An impressive 2,000-square-foot wine cellar boasts nearly 12,000 bottles or, for a sip with a kick, order the signature Elmo Cola (Maker's Mark bourbon infused with Luxardo cherries from Italy, served with an ice-cold bottle of cola on the side).

Named for the patron saint of bakers, this French bakery on a quiet corner in Slabtown serves light meals and pastries. Start the day off with a plain or chocolate croissant, or café au lait, but return for lunch (or dinner) and the delicious quiche, sandwiches, salads, savory puff pastries, and tarts. St. Honoré has outposts Downtown, on S.E. Division Street, and in Lake Oswego.

This always-crowded Slabtown restaurant takes its inspiration from the bouchons, or rustic cafés, of Lyon, the culinary capital of France. The menu changes weekly, with recurring favorites including such flavorful plates as beef tripe in a bouillabaisse of clams or pig's head with a confit of jowl and date puree, and there's an exceptional selection of French and Pacific Northwest wines.

In the kitchen here, four-time nominee for Best Chef in the Southeast, Daniel Lindley, choreographs his culinary pas de deux with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and refined technical skill to present an elegantly balanced menu that is unquestionably en pointe with his loyal dining audience. Pad your wallet and prepare your palate for upscale Southern preludes like smoked trout hush puppies with Benton's bacon remoulade. Seafood dishes, by the way, are fresh as a ballerina's bouquet. And muscular entrées like Wagyu beef zabuton steak are outfitted with colorful accompaniments such as potato gratin, Brussels sprouts, and king trumpet mushrooms. Vegetarian selections are thoughtfully orchestrated too.

This revamped food hall offers visitors a chance to sample from a wide array of flavors. Expect a mosaic of local food artisans dishing both local favorites as well as global cuisine, ranging from Malaysian and Burmese to Mexican and Italian. There's also a chic oyster bar, bottles of wine, and a generous happy hour.

The creative deli sandwiches here have even more creative, often political, names. Try the Capitol Complex (loaded with different deli meats and cheese) or the Nuke (ham, turkey, roast beef, and three cheeses). The "clubfoot" sandwiches are stuffed, tubelike structures of specialty breads shaped like a can of beans. Zany decor ranges from old records dangling from the ceiling to various artists' paintings.

A fancier option along Orange Avenue, this chophouse is a more modern alternative to the vintage steak house. Stake features high-quality cuts of beef along with fresh seafood, oysters, lobster mashed potatoes, and an award-winning wine list.

The menu at this art deco–style diner, alive with bright colors and shiny chrome, runs the gamut from griddle cakes to smoked salmon Benedict at breakfast, classic sandwiches to Greek specialties at lunch, chicken in a basket to rib-eye steak at dinner—or anything you'd like at any time of day or night. If that's not enough, the diner hosts occasional musical, comedy, and kids' events.

This casual burger joint connected to a gas station is probably the best-known stop between Lake Powell and Capitol Reef. Even if you're not hungry, it's worth a visit for the incredibly thick shakes that rise out of their cups, but just be ready for some long lines on busy days.

As punk rock as fine dining gets, the Stanbury is both the funky neighborhood restaurant you wish was in your neighborhood and the casual yet "special occasions" spot people travel to for birthdays and anniversaries. While the menu may intimidate with crispy pig's head and bone marrow, the exemplary staff is happy to explain dishes and regulars are thrilled to recommend their favorites. No reservations are taken, so diners strategize by arriving early for a seat or putting their name down before enjoying a drink outside or at a nearby nightspot. The cocktail list is short but solid, plus many local beers, European wines, and surprising spirits. 

A beautiful and historic 24-room town house built in the 1840s is the setting for this unique restaurant, where dinner is served among fireplaces, oak floors, antiques, and paintings. Specialties include homemade crab bisque, grilled rack of lamb, and fried green tomatoes.

Like the facade, a cooler wall stocked with hundreds of beers from around Maine and the world—for dine-in or to-go—attests to this relaxed eatery's gas station past. Craft brews, many hard to find, accompany snazzy, farm-to-table takes on American classic and foreign-inspired comfort foods; there’s bar and table seating and an open kitchen. In the summer you can eat out back and play cornhole, and on Thursday evenings, stay for the live music (moved inside weather-depending).  

Celebs, fashion-industry insiders, and the common folk, too, all cluster at this buzzy restaurant inside The Standard, High Line hotel. The menu is Gallic-accented comfort-luxe, with dishes like the heritage pork chop with burned apple sauce and whole roasted branzino. For dessert, there's the nearly obscene "Deal Closer": a chocolate mousse, devil's food cake, and vanilla whipped cream concoction for two. In warm weather, the spacious outdoor seating area is perfect for sampling creative cocktails; there's an indoor bar, too, and two dining rooms—a casual one in front and a larger room in back, with a floor whimsically made up of thousands of glittering pennies.

This neighborhood gastropub is a Northern Liberties fixture, popular with the young professionals who populate this neighborhood, and for good reason. The frequently changing menu, presented unpretentiously on a chalkboard, is much more ambitious—and much tastier—than you'd expect from average bar food, and since you're in a bar, you can wash down the shellfish, terrines, local-veggie-forward salads, and wild game with one of the local microbrews on tap. Sunday brunch (think Bloody Marys and fresh oysters) is always busy.

When chefs across America started ditching white tablecloths and applying fine-dining flair to burgers and bar food instead, chef Scott Boswell attempted to do the same with the rich, homey comfort food of Louisiana. Though some grumble about paying a premium for what is, at heart, New Orleans neighborhood fare, this crisply decorated café sits on a coveted corner of Jackson Square—and that view is priceless. At breakfast, pancakes are covered in Louisiana cane syrup and eggs Benedict are topped with homemade Cajun boudin. At lunch, oyster po'boys get an extra zing from rémoulade dressing with a touch of heat, and the Club Stanley is topped with spicy pesto Caesar dressing.

A "Staple" at this glam Italian restaurant might mean spaghetti with clams or a grilled half chicken. But visitors looking for a special experience are best served by going "fancy"—settling in at their table in the exposed-brick dining room and choosing the chef's menu. Four courses are served family-style and change nightly—expect handmade pasta, something for the wood-fired grill, and a surprise or two.

This deli specializing in bagel sandwiches serves breakfast all day. In addition to bagels, the café offers granola, baked goods, coffee, and smoothies.

When it opened originally in 1863, Star Bakery made beer and bread for area miners. Now it's a popular bakery managed by a schoolteacher and serves croissants, Danish, pies, cakes, and other baked goods. The counter opens daily at 8 am and stays open until sold out, which often does not take long.