94 Best Restaurants in USA

James Beard Award winner Suzanne Goin prepares innovative Mediterranean-inspired starters, shared plates, and entrées that pair nicely with her partner (and fellow James Beard Award winner) Caroline Styne's perfectly curated wine pairings. Try the Spanish fried chicken; wood-oven brioche with prosciutto, Gruyère cheese, and an egg; or arroz negro (black rice) with squid.

Head to this Euro-style wine bar when you're feeling gregarious; the warm, intimate space has seating for only 55 people, and the results are loud and lively, with shareable fare—a mix of small and large Mediterranean plates—that's reasonably priced.

With a colorful, modern interior and an oasis of a patio out back, this Upper West Side gem is the pan-Mediterranean restaurant vision of owner Tuvia Feldman and executive chef Eli Buli. Bustan, which means "garden" or "orchard" in Hebrew and Arabic, churns out dishes that draw inspiration from three continents. Make sure to start with the mezes "for the table" and lather your house-made taboon (a flatbread) with warm hummus and spicy feta spreads. Main courses range from lamb kebabs to branzino a la plancha (grilled on a metal plate) served with za'atar labneh (seasoned Greek yogurt) to Moroccan-style vegetable couscous. Save room for the "nemesis" dessert, a baked chocolate mousse with salted caramel pearls and vanilla ice cream.

This charming Euro-like café does a wide range of sandwiches, salads, and breakfast dishes, but it’s best known for its shakshuka, the soulful tomato-and-egg stew made here in the Tunisian style. This cozy, bright corner spot is popular with locals and offers outdoor seating on the sidewalk during warmer months.

When Callie arrived in San Diego in 2021, it helped begin the transformation of a once-sleepy city known for fish tacos and craft beer into an internationally renowned dining destination. Callie's chef and owner Travis Swikard worked under chef Daniel Boulud for ten years before returning to his hometown, where he now oversees one of the most in-demand restaurants in the region. Mixing contemporary California technique with Mediterranean flavors, the menu soars from impossibly creamy roasted garlic hummus to their famous uni toast, crispy patatas bravas, pappardelle with duck and kurobuta sausage ragù, and mains like mouthwatering Aleppo chicken and Mediterranean octopus. All the plates come in small portions meant for sharing, so order several per person.  Street parking is extremely limited, so save yourself time and stress by using the parking garage on 11th Avenue between J Street and Island Avenue. Validation at the restaurant provides three hours free---plenty of time for dinner, drinks, and dessert.

For those looking for a quick Mediterranean-inspired bite, Cava is a great option. Start with a base of grains, salads, or pita and top with a selection of proteins and savory dips and spreads such as hummus, tzatziki, spicy feta, and harissa. Don't be intimated by the long line—it moves pretty fast.

At the far eastern end of the city, Chickadee is a restaurant you'd wish to stumble over. Make the trek on the Silver Line or simply walk to sample the curated seasonal menus that have been James Beard award nominated multiple times. Order a selection of smaller, Mediterranean-inspired plates and share amongst the table. As for cocktails, they're intentional, well-crafted, and laced with unique ingredients. 

This spacious, high-ceilinged space with a big outdoor garden patio strung with pretty lights adjoins the Cascadia Art Museum and serves seasonally focused Mediterranean food with plenty of Northwestern influences. It's very easy to make a meal here of several tantalizing small plates, like sautéed brussels sprouts with bacon, but the entrées—fettuccine with a Kobe beef Bolognese sauce, roast duck with butternut squash polenta—are well worth considering.

The rare Greek restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip certainly doesn't disappoint, although you'll pay exceedingly well for the experience. Chef Costas Spiliadis flies in fresh fish from the Mediterranean; you pick out the piece of fish at market price and select how you'd like it prepared. Starters such as Greek bottarga are a nice complement to the main courses. Also worth sampling: the Milos Special, lightly fried zucchini with eggplant, tzatziki, and saganaki cheese. And the aesthetic experience matches the cuisine, the architecture echoing ancient Greece with stone, wood, and marble. The Greek gods would approve.

The menu here is mostly Mediterranean and southern French, with such dishes as osso buco and paella. The decor follows suit—stone walls and country furniture lend the restaurant the earthy feel of a European farmhouse.

Local artwork lines the walls of this cozy, eclectic bistro inside a historic clapboard building a block off the main drag, near the foot of the Taylor Street staircase. The delicious seafood- and pasta-intensive menu reveals Mediterranean and Pacific Northwest influences—think cioppino with local shellfish in a tomato-saffron broth, and roasted walnut and gorgonzola penne with wild boar. There's a notable list of regional and Italian wines, and several imported ports and sherries to accompany any of the rich desserts.

Every morning at 3 am, chefs are hard at work in this scratch, stone-hearth kitchen where nearly everything is produced in-house, including the sauces, dressings, and breads baked with a sourdough starter dating back 120 years. Handcrafted sandwiches range from steak-mushroom melts with smoked blue cheese to turkey with aged Brie and balsamic compote, and the pizzas are large enough to share, though most people find themselves walking out with a to-go box—especially if they start with “Mother’s Meatballs,” made with Kobe beef, bubbling in a cast-iron skillet. If you didn’t save room for dessert, take a leisurely stroll around Old Town and come back for the bread pudding, a treat that lures people time and again.

Design lovers will fall for celebrity chef Brian Malarkey's sprawling restaurant, a former art store that has been refashioned into four luxe spaces in one—an entryway lounge, outdoor lounge, fireplace-dotted patio, and the main dining room, which is flanked by beaded chandeliers, lush banquettes, and paintings in rich jewel tones. The menu, spearheaded by chef Aidan Owens, is heavy on wood-roasted dishes, many of which are apt for sharing, like the roasted baby carrots or roasted branzino with Castelvetrano olive tapenade. There are also larger options, like an oxtail gnocchi and pizzas with toppings that range from wild mushrooms to hot honey.

This Church Street restaurant has garnered multiple James Beard Foundation nominations, launching it into a golden age under the helm of co-owners Allison Gibson and chef Cara Chigazola Tobin. High expectations are satisfied thanks to creative takes on eastern Mediterranean cuisine, including a selection of sensational mezes and harissa chicken wings that are considered the best in town. Desserts from notable pastry chef Amanda Wildermuth are worth saving room for, particularly the popular tahini ice cream sundae.

Young, energetic chef-owner Johnny Monis offers one of the city's most adventurous dining experiences in this tiny space. The multicourse, prix-fixe menu, which changes daily, showcases contemporary fare with distinct Mediterranean influences. Buzzed-about plates have included mascarpone-filled dates with sea salt and succulent spit-roasted goat with pita bread.

Reservations open 30 days in advance, with phones open from 2 pm to 4 pm Tuesday through Saturday.

Exotic Mediterranean flavors with an Afghan twist take center stage at this artsy, stylish space with soaring ceilings. In the evening, locals come to relax over wine and soft jazz at the blue-concrete bar, on the seasonal heated patio with twinkly lights, or at a communal table near the open kitchen.

A deceptively simple storefront bistro with sidewalk tables overlooking Keene's graceful town square, Luca's dazzles with epicurean creations influenced by Italy, France, Greece, Spain, and North Africa. There's always an extensive selection of small plates, such as almond-crusted fried mozzarella and roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon and pomegranate-infused honey, plus handmade pastas and complexly flavored grills and stews.

Food lovers pack into Ludvig's to sample chef-owner Colette Nelson's remarkably creative cuisine, which means there's often a wait, but rest assured that your meal will be worth it. Seafood (particularly king salmon and scallops) is the specialty, and organic ingredients are used whenever possible. The interior evokes an Italian bistro, with rich yellow walls and copper-topped tables. Ludwig's also operates a soup cart near the Sitka Sound Science Center—a good option for those who can't commit to dinner or score a reservation.

This vegetarian-friendly tribute to Mediterranean cuisine occupies a handsome former warehouse on historic 13th Avenue in the Pearl. MEC (for short) is an energy-filled, open space with a mix of communal and individual tables (the food is served family-style)—it's surprisingly affordable considering the extraordinary quality and generous portions.

This open-air restaurant at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort has high ceilings and a lanai that overlooks the pool and the sandy-white shores of gorgeous Hapuna Beach. The focus is on the freshest seafood, and the small-plate appetizers and main course options also showcase a bounty of Big Island ingredients infused with Mediterranean influences. Try the seared scallops with garden ulu gnocchi. Other highlights are a charcuterie and crudo bar and an artisan bread nook. Arrive early for the best table—lines begin forming before the 5:30 pm seating time.

With two restaurants (including Sofra in Cambridge), a James Beard award, and two cookbooks to her name, chef--owner Ana Sortun continues to bewitch area diners with her intricately spiced eastern Mediterranean mezes (small plates) made with fresh-picked produce from her husband's nearby Siena Farms. Oleana's menu changes often, but look for the hot, crispy-fried mussels starter and Sultan's Delight (tamarind-glazed beef with smoky eggplant puree) along with large plates of Iskender lamb kebab and lemon chicken. The Chef's choice is a delightful vegetable meze, complete with a rich dessert. When the weather is inviting, the cozy atmosphere of this tucked-away spot spills out into a peaceful back patio garden. Of note: a 5% kitchen appreciation fee and 1% administrative fee are added to all checks.

Chef Sunny Gerhart helms one of the state's best oyster bars (St. Roch, in Raleigh), but for his signature restaurant melding Spanish and Italian cuisine, he chose an old brick former dry cleaning building in Wilmington, now outfitted with leather booths, gold-top bars, and upscale psychedelia. Its 2023 opening elevated the city's dining scene, raising the bar with an open-fire grill that roasts nduja (spreadable pork sausage)-stuffed dates, charred Brussels sprouts with pancetta and pecorino, and filets of vermilion snapper with sofrito (a sauce made from sweet peppers, onions, and garlic). The menu is broken into four parts: tapas, salads, pasta (all house-made), and heartier protein dishes. You'll be too full for dessert, but order the budino (Italian-style pudding) topped with toasted marshmallow cream anyway. 

Regulars of this southern Petaluma "daytime café" with indoor and outdoor seating rave about its eastern Mediterranean–inflected cuisine—immediately downplaying their enthusiasm lest this quiet gem become more popular. The menu changes often, but mainstays include shakshuka (a tomato-based stew with baked eggs) and a lamb burger dripping with fennel tzatziki.

A low-key farmhouse atmosphere, friendly and gracious service, and a frequently changing menu of creative Mediterranean dishes make Pêche a destination restaurant, particularly in this part of the state where fine dining is harder to come by. Menu staples include Moroccan lamb, which comes prepared as meatballs alongside dishes of accoutrements such as chutney, chopped nuts, and grilled lemon halves, as well as burrata with charred figs and a sourdough boule baked fresh for each table. The small, rotating selection of wines has been thoughtfully chosen to work with the meals. In warm months, the little patio is an inviting place to people-watch.

This tiny bar and dining room on the ground floor of the Whitney Hotel is no typical lobby restaurant. It serves up a sophisticated take on rustic, coastal Mediterranean-inspired food with a nod to New England ingredients and seasonality. Diners are meant to rest, order slowly, and enjoy a scratch-made meal in multiple stages. The vibe is modern, with blues and browns, and a gorgeous wood floor.

Don't be fooled by its playful name—this place serves high-quality food that befits its chic surroundings. This restaurant's owner is a fisherman himself, so you know the fish here is the freshest available. Lunch features affordable and delicious sandwiches and burgers, but in the evening the space is transformed into an Italian--Greek bistro with entrées like chicken fettuccine and moussaka.

Chef Melissa Kelly has twice won the James Beard Best Chef: Northeast award (1999 and 2013), and she and her world-class restaurant have been written up in such magazines as Gourmet, Bon Appétit, and O. Named for the chef-owner's Italian grandfather, Primo serves masterfully prepared pasta, fresh seafood, and local meats. The restored Victorian house offers a variety of atmospheres: downstairs rooms with white-tablecloth-covered tables have a formal feel; a new Primo Room offers a more contemporary feel; and upstairs dining rooms tend to be livelier. Reservations, the earlier the better, are strongly advised. Behind the restaurant is the 0km (as in zero kilometers) Bungalow, a rustic structure where you can enjoy a drink before or after dinner. It's also the place for $1 oysters on the half shell on Sunday afternoon, along with live music. No matter where you sit, it can't get more farm-to-table: the restaurant raises its own chickens and pigs, cures its own meats, produces its own eggs, and grows its own fruits and vegetables.

The Magnificent Mile isn’t usually known for dining, but locals and tourists alike love the Purple Pig, a Mediterranean wine bar with an extensive wine list and many affordable wines by the glass. Adventurous eaters will revel in chef Jimmy Bannos Jr.’s offal-centric dishes, though there’s plenty for tamer palates and vegetarians here as well, along with an array of notable Mediterranean-styled desserts.

The restaurant is hip and artsy, with exposed brick and blown-glass lighting, arched doorways, and textured draperies. Chef Jennifer Jasinski's intense attention to detail is evident in her tribute to Mediterranean food with contemporary flair. The 2013 James Beard winner for Best Chef Southwest, she also partners with Beth Gruitch to run Stoic & Genuine, Bistro Vendôme, and Ultreia; Gruitch is in charge of the front of the house here too, and together the duo has maintained a remarkably loyal following. The wine list presents Riojas galore, and is well priced for Larimer Square. The tiny bar is a nice stop for dessert, and weekend brunch features freshly fried doughnuts and a pork-belly-based "hangover cure."

The small meze plates at this locally loved Mediterranean joint are so good you might not want to share. Pair dishes like sole katayif (stuffed pancakes) and eggplant schnitzel with their expertly crafted cocktails or wine, and soak up the social atmosphere.