1767 Best Restaurants in USA

Stretched aside Route 27 as it curves into Stratton, this eye-catching white farmhouse restaurant has an inconspicuous rear entrance, allowing for maximum use of original rooms, one tin-ceilinged, and an old-fashioned glassed porch-turned-dining space. The seasonal menu features ingredients from area farms and items range from halibut to rack of lamb. The establishment’s modern pub has a separate menu. The restaurant’s entrepreneurial owners also have a more causal eatery in the village, Backstrap Bar & Grille, that’s home to a shop selling fine cuts of meat as well as seafood, including Maine lobsters and steamer clams (live or cooked).

The draw at this rustic-sleek trattoria is chef Michael Tusk's (also the chef of the nearby Quince and Verjus) flavorful, seasonally driven Italian cooking, headlined by pastas, beautifully grilled or spit-roasted meats, and homemade gelato. The look inside and outside is comfortably chic, with wood tables, quality stemware, and fantastic Italian wines by the bottle and glass.

Along Fairfax Avenue in the Little Ethiopia neighborhood locals and visitors can enjoy Ethiopian signatures like tofu tibs; spicy chicken dorowat; and potato, green bean, onion, and carrot atkilt. Chef-owner Genet Agonafer transports diners to Addis Ababa.

The wood-warmed interior of this shingled building on Lubec's working waterfront invites diners to order a good meal and stay awhile, as do water views flowing beyond the picture windows and the deck. Sweet scallops and boiled lobster (2 pounders!) from local waters are always on the menu, but entrées change with the seasons—halibut in spring, filet mignon in July and August, and sometimes moqueca (a Brazilian seafood stew). The bar is a great place to grab a coffee, beer, or glass of wine, and if you want the lowdown on where to go or what to see in Lubec, this is the place to ask.

Restaurants in Berkeley and San Francisco tend to get most of the credit for launching the local ingredient–focused farm-to-table California cuisine movement in the 1970s and 1980s. However, chef Jesse Cool played an enormous role in that as well when she opened this venerable restaurant in 1980. It’s a formal restaurant that also manages to be relaxed, where the menu changes frequently and always mentions many acclaimed Bay Area farms, ranches, and gardens. Pasta, gnocchi and risotto (when they're on the menu) are a big strength for the restaurant, but the most excitement tends to come in the first course section, which includes vegetable preparations and a few compelling local seafood creations. Make sure to save room for the always satisfying, unfussy desserts. 

The Surf Shack is a six-room B&B with attractive guest rooms with coastal casual decor, but the lodging is almost secondary to Chef Momo Kamara’s Polynesian-inspired dining experience at the restaurant downstairs. Indulge in daily ceviche selections, pork belly steamed buns, and curried and Thai-style mussels, capped with Tahitian-style rice pudding for dessert.

18 Central Oyster Bar and Grill produces excellent, creative dishes in a cozy spot high above Rockport's working harbor. Seasonally inspired, locally harvested seafood plus dishes with a hint of Southern comfort make up the backbone of the menu—think fried green tomatoes with local peekytoe crab, chili oil, and microgreens, or crispy fried chicken accompanied by collards and heirloom grits. More northerly flavor shines in such choices as finnan haddie (cold-smoked haddock), roasted mussels, and diver scallops.

The second generation operating this legendary, traditional kosher Jewish deli moved its enormous corned beef and pastrami sandwiches and buckets of pickles uptown from the original longtime location on 2nd Avenue in the East Village, keeping the name and the menu. That also includes "Jewish penicillin" (aka matzo ball soup), knishes, pastrami, blintzes, potato pancakes and more. Upstairs, 2nd Floor Bar & Essen is an upscale cocktail lounge that opens at 5 pm and has a limited bar menu that features unconditional bites, like pastrami deviled eggs. A deli-only location is in Midtown East.

Top-notch craft beer and plenty of food options make the 49th State Brewing Company a must when passing through Healy. Committed to using local ingredients whenever possible, the kitchen turns out plenty of Alaska-grown dishes, the keystones being the Alaskan-raised yak burger and pork ribs. More than ten in-house beers are on tap to go along with the outdoor beer garden. Gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options are also available.

Smoke, coal, fire, and ash create a through line for the menu at a.kitchen, on the ground floor of the AKA Hotel. Attired in blond wood and Carrara marble, it looks like a spa in the Italian Alps, and its Rittenhouse address guarantees a scene, but chef Eli Collins has transformed it into a serious restaurant with an ace sommelier and a steak tartare that cannot be missed. The cocktail bar next door is also among the best in the city.

Defeating the cliché that restaurants in hotels can't be citywide draws, chef Francis Ang's longtime Pinoy Heritage pop-up is thriving at its permanent home within the Kimpton Alton Hotel. Ang's exciting contemporary Filipino cooking has gained rave reviews from national publications and well-deserved awards. The chic space has a slight tropical edge to it and includes a small patio at the front and a bar reserved for those who can't score a reservation.

Much more than a shopping break, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurant is a love letter to greenmarket cuisine. Underneath the exposed concrete beams, a chic crowd devours fresh, flavorful appetizers like the roast carrot and avocado salad or pretzel-dusted calamari, and winning entrées that include pizzas, pastas, and hearty mains. The restaurant is committed to all the right causes—environmentalism, sustainability, supporting local farmers—all of which are announced in a near manifesto-length list on the back of the menu; thankfully, ABC Kitchen pulls it off without seeming patronizing or preachy.

Saws, pitchforks, ox yokes, and the like hang on the barn walls, but the wood tables are lacquered, and the napkins are linen. Specialties include slow-roasted prime rib; baby-back Danish pork ribs barbecued with a sauce of peach preserves and Southern Comfort; and shrimp Dijon. An ample wine list offers a wide variety of domestic and imported choices. After dinner try one their specialty coffees including Tennessee Mud with Jack Daniels or Franciscan Coffee. A children's menu is available.

When it opened in 1980, Al Forno put Providence on the national dining map as the originator of its distinctive grilled pizza. Still consistently good, the restaurant retains a loyal following for its thin-crust pizza, handmade pastas, and wood-grilled or roasted entrées.

Look to this easygoing, art-filled restaurant for inventive, locally sourced, and mostly organic dishes, including pizzas from the wood-fired oven with creative toppings like pesto, truffled goat cheese, and pickled onions. The menu's sustainably harvested seafood selections highlight whatever is in season and also get the wood-fire treatment. Even the bacon-wrapped meat loaf features local grass-fed beef, along with buttermilk mashed potatoes and greens.

It may not look like much from the outside, but this unique and community-focused culinary powerhouse has won the devotion of diners far and wide (plus a James Beard Foundation nomination) for its bright-flavored and far-ranging dishes. Located inside a beautifully renovated convenience store, the menu changes almost constantly and reaches across the globe, with a majority of the ingredients emphasizing sustainable farms, local makers, and things the staff has foraged. If you can score a seat for the extremely popular brunch, know that the fresh sourdough donut with vanilla bean glaze is a thing of beauty.

Dinner at Alys' is a simple treat, where the "international eclectic" prix-fixe options feature lamb, steak, chicken, or seafood; fresh vegetables; potato, rice, or pasta; soup or salad; and soft drinks, tea, or coffee (vegetarian dinners are always available too). Wine is extra, and you'll appreciate the attentive care taken with the thoughtful wine list—you might even have the opportunity to ask chef Alys Romer what she recommends.

At Amada, the first of chef-restaurateur Jose Garces’s restaurants, the Ecuadorian-American chef reinterprets regional cuisine with choice ingredients and a modern touch that feature in more than 50 tapas, from the crab-stuffed peppers with toasted almonds to the flatbread topped with artichoke, black truffle, and manchego. Many ingredients—including even more glorious cheeses—are sourced from northern Spain, the main inspiration for the menu. The large, festive front room can skew loud; for a quieter meal, ask for a table in the second dining room, beyond the open kitchen.

In L.A.'s very crowded field of acclaimed Thai restaurants, Anajak has gotten a lion's share of the attention since former Disney art director Justin Pichetrungsi took over his family's decades-old establishment. The now James Beard Award winner kept the funky interior and menu signatures like fried chicken, various curries, and his mom's mango coconut rice dessert while also increasing ingredient quality, pushing the boundaries of Southeast Asian flavors, and improving the wine list with natural wines. His pandemic fix for closed dining rooms, cooking and plating gourmet fusion tacos in the alley, was such a hit that Thai Taco Tuesdays has stuck around years later and still has a line down the block.

If you're a fan of vibrant coastal decor and fresh local seafood, you'll gush over this restaurant and bar overlooking the water and Hawks Cay Marina. The menu is varied with options that include burgers as well as grilled fish, the cocktails are creative, and there are more than a dozen beers on tap. Live music and comedy nights bring in the locals. The restaurant also offers a "Hook and Cook" option whereby your catch is prepared and served family style with sides.

Downtown Sevierville's transformation feels complete with the opening of this fine-dining twist on traditional mountain cuisine. If you're feeling adventurous, try the seared headcheese or the buffalo frog legs, but there's plenty of comfort dishes like hanger steak with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms to fall back on.

Much of the produce used at this fine-dining outpost at Dancing Bear Lodge is grown from seeds at the on-site garden, resulting in explosive flavors like a summer squash soup with bacon and seared scallops or pan-seared salmon over corn, okra, and sausage succotash. The monthly changing menu is aided by the custom-built smokehouse behind the kitchen, fueled by firewood from the property. In the tastefully rustic dining room or on the spacious covered patio, the sommelier guides you through the 300-bottle wine list. Diners flock here from Knoxville for the mountain air and buzz-worthy cuisine.

With glowing gas fireplaces, period antiques, exposed beams, and hardwood floors covered with splendid Asian rugs, the setting of this 1823 farmhouse is both elegant and homey. The menu features adventurous dishes like sweetbreads with oysters and buttermilk potato puree, as well as crispy roast duckling with apple and ginger chutney . . . and everything is remarkable.

Standing on the edge of the harbor, with dining decks on three sides, Archer's is the prime spot in Rockland for dining with a view—even when the weather keeps you indoors, there are plenty of windows. The large menu is heavy on traditional preparations of fresh, local seafood—including old-fashioned baked stuffed haddock—but also includes plenty of contemporary dishes. Chef-owner Lynn Archer emerged victorious on the show Throwdown with Bobby Flay. The dish? A triple-decker club sandwich with lobster. Happily, it's on the menu. There are many non-seafood choices, too. Everything on the wine list is available by the glass, and there are lots of creative cocktails.

Chefs Charles and Megan Fells started a dining renaissance on Poughkeepsie's once destitute Main Street when they opened this New American bistro and wine bar in a chic spot that wouldn't be out of place in New York City's Flatiron district. Fish is flown in fresh, and if it's available (the menu changes every two weeks), pork lovers shouldn't miss the Three Little Pigs: pork tenderloin stuffed with housemade pork sausage topped with a horseradish-bacon glaze. For dessert, Megan's daily cheesecake special is always divine.

This steak house incorporates high-quality beef into the culinary traditions of northern Mexico. Barley-fed Australian Angus and American, Japanese, and Australian Wagyu hit the grill, while USDA Prime meat goes into tacos and tortas. The salsa bar and appetizers show the finest ingredients and flavors, along with a touch of tradition in the handmade guacamole. Along with a strong wine list, the bar stocks a superb selection of mezcals that includes niche and rare bottles.

Family owned and operated for four generations, this iconic Point Judith indoor-outdoor dining spot has been a must for Rhode Islanders every summer since it opened in 1920. Its peerless, waterside location, and unpretentious atmosphere are the main draws, along with favorites like steamers, fish-and-chips, and namesake Carrie Cooper's clam cakes, still made using the original recipe.

One of two inviting restaurants run by the city's excellent Proper Brewing Company, this contemporary neighborhood bistro on a quiet street in the Avenues is a terrific option for a meal on the terrace on a sunny day or in the postindustrial dining room. Sample the flavorful house-brewed ales paired with eclectic comfort fare like steak frites, Korean pork belly bibimbap, and shrimp and grits. There's a taproom downtown and an additional restaurant in Sugar House.