Top 100+ U.S. Restaurants 2015
101 No. 9 Park
Perched atop Beacon Hill and facing the Massachusetts State House, Barbara Lynch's flagship is the place that many of the local ingredientistas who take part in our survey say is their favorite dining spot in the city. The menu combines the cuisines of the Italian and French countrysides, featuring dishes like Lynch’s signature prune-stuffed gnocchi, a duo of Peking duck breast and confit leg with lentils and mustard greens, and butter-poached lobster with a Tuscan bread salad. Eating in the bar area is popular (you can order off either the dining room or the more casual bar menu) because of the expert mixologists who shake, blend and stir up "a wide breadth of cocktails that span the decades, from pre-Prohibition classics to contemporary favorites."
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9 Park St. Boston, MA 617-742-9991
102 Cut
It's "all Kobe all the time" at this steakhouse in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel run by none other than Wolfgang Puck. There is Wagyu raised in Australia, or you can stick with domestic Wagyu from Snake River Farms in Idaho. Not in the mood to splurge? Well, you can ask them to grill up some ordinary, corn-fed, domestically raised prime beef, which comes in 21- or 35-day aged versions. Non-steak lovers can opt for Kurobuta pork chops, Kobe short ribs or a turbot flown in from the North Sea. There are a myriad of sides and sauces to go with the meats, and "the beautiful Richard Meier-designed dining room" provides the backdrop for a scene that could exist only in Beverly Hills.
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9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 310-276-8500
103 Osteria Mozza
How can you go wrong with a restaurant where Nancy Silverton prepares your food behind something called a Mozzarella Bar? The concept is such a no-brainer that we're surprised no one thought of it before. Besides cheesy preparations that are one more delicious than the next, there are antipasti like grilled octopus with potato or crispy pig trotters with cicoria, pastas like a classic orecchiette with Swiss chard and sausage, and more ambitious presentations like calf's brain ravioli. Given that Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich are partners in the restaurant, it makes sense that "the mains bear a slight resemblance to the fare at Lupa in New York City" and that the wine list is "chock-full of the types of unusual bottles" Bastianich specializes in importing from Italy.
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6602 N. HIGHLAND AVE. Los Angeles, CA 323-297-0100
104 Lotus of Siam
This restaurant transcends its category, with half our reviewers anointing it as "the best Thai in the U.S." Chef/owner Saipin Chutima dials up the heat in dishes like a fiery-hot papaya salad, shrimps in bacon blankets, sea bass in drunken noodles, and sautéed lobster and crispy duck in cognac sauce. Along with the amazing food, there's a superb wine list, with an especially good selection of Rieslings "to help calm the fire in your mouth." The restaurant is located in an off-the-Strip shopping mall, and there's no décor or even service to speak of, but those are small details when it comes to this unusual restaurant that is "actually better than the hype."
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953 E. SAHARA AVE. Las Vegas, NV 702-735-3033
105 Nobu
Nobu Matsuhisa's New York flagship still churns out delicious versions of his globally famous cuisine. Despite complaints that the menu never changes, the kitchen is applauded for the way it "faithfully produces superb renditions of Nobu classics" like rock shrimp tempura, spicy and creamy crab and a version of black cod marinated in miso and sake that has inspired copies the world over.
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40 W. 57th St. New York, NY 212-757-3000
106 Canlis
You can blame Canlis falling out of our Top 100 list on the fact that executive chef Jason Franey left the restaurant just after the first of the year. Canlis first opened in 1950, and the third generation of the Canlis family has done a good job of modernizing the menu while keeping the regulars happy. The result is a menu on which dishes like Muscovy duck roasted with plums, prunes and Marco Polo black tea happily coexist alongside Peter Canlis Prawns and other stalwarts that the restaurant has offered since their opening. Add to the equation “polished service,” an “exquisite wine cellar stocked with 18,000 bottles” and a “magnificent mid-century modern building offering views of Lake Union” and you have a restaurant that will please everyone from discerning diners to businessmen to your 90-year-old aunt.
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2576 Aurora Ave. N. Seattle, WA 206-283-3313
107 Miyake
Given Portland's status as one of the country's premier commercial fishing centers- its wholesalers supply many of the top restaurants in the country - it's somewhat surprising that it wasn't until Masa Miyake moved here from New York City that the city could claim to have a top-flight sushi restaurant. Miyake's résumé includes slicing fish at Nobu and working in Oceana's kitchen, and he combines the best of the local catch with fish imported from Tokyo's Tsukiji Market. But "sushi is only part of what makes Miyake special": Masa's cooked dishes, like sea eel wrapped around a mixture of miso and brown butter or pork intestine slow-braised in sake and soya, make the omakase menu a unique experience. We suggest you reserve one of the six counter seats and go with the letting-the-chef-choose-your-dinner option. Miyake is located in a converted corner store at the edge of the West End. They don't have a liquor license, so make sure to bring your own.
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129 Spring St. Portland, ME 207-871-9170
108 Momofuku Ssäm Bar
David Chang’s restaurant is still packing them in. Diners can choose from a menu filled with Chang-esque small plates, like Santa Barbara uni with warm silken tofu, trout roe and wasabi peas, and showstoppers like the Bo Ssam, a slow-cooked pork shoulder that feeds six to eight people and is served with a variety of condiments. The environment is loud and fun, and while we could easily fill a few pages with raves about the food, the one that summed it up best was, “Would this be my choice for my last meal? It’s certainly in the running.”
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207 2nd Ave. New York, NY 212-254-3500
109 Frontera Grill
Many U.S. diners first cut their teeth on serious Mexican fare at Rick Bayless' restaurant. You can start your meal with selections from a raw bar featuring sustainable seafood, like oysters on the half shell served with various homemade Mexican salsas, or assorted ceviches of salmon, shrimp and tuna. There are also sopas, tamales and enchiladas, and mains that might include grilled shrimp in an atole of corn and poblano pepper or duck breast in red-peanut mole. The place is ridiculously popular, so we recommend going for lunch as reviewers reported the wait for a table at dinner can be two hours.
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445 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 312-661-1434
110 Joel Robuchon at the Mansion
While he spends most of his time dishing out small plates at sushi-style restaurants all over the world, you can still enjoy the full-on Robuchon experience at this restaurant described as, “virtually flawless in every respect.” And why not, the price tag is $385 per person before beverages so it better be good. Fortunately for that price you get an avalanche of foie gras, caviar and truffles, along with a service staff that takes care of your every need.
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3799 Las Vegas Blvd. S Las Vegas, NV 702-891-7337
111 Momofuku Noodle Bar
This is where David Chang revolutionized the contemporary dining experience, creating a cuisine that has been copied by chefs all over the country. Using a counter seating format, Chang takes the money he saves on servers and spends it on sourcing the very best artisanal ingredients and hiring cooks talented enough to work at the top restaurants in the city. The result is a cuisine that includes dishes like greenmarket brussels sprouts with kimchi purée and cubes of Benton’s bacon, and Anson Mills grits cooked in dashi and served with pink shrimp from Maine.
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171 1st Ave New York, NY 212-475-7899
112 Pok Pok
Most chefs who spend time away from their kitchens suffer criticism. Andy Ricker is an exception, as whenever he is not standing in front of a hot stove he is scouring Thailand in order to learn more about the country's cuisine. Not surprisingly, Ricker's restaurant is like "no other Thai restaurant in the country," and the combination of a décor that's reminiscent of a shack in Thailand and dishes like fried catfish marinated in turmeric and sour rice and northern Thai spicy hand-minced water buffalo salad will make you feel like you are in Bangkok rather than PDX.
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3226 SE Division Portland, OR 503-232-1387
113 Piccolo
We asked a number of Twin Cities chefs where they liked to eat, and every one of them mentioned Doug Flicker's restaurant. Labeled a "small plates extravaganza," Flicker's menu - dishes like smoked eel with magnalista lardo and cauliflower pickles; scrambled brown eggs with pickled pigs' feet, truffle butter and Parmigiano; and Callister Farms chicken with pistachios, prunes, artichokes and rosemary olive oil - is as interesting to read as it is to eat.
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4302 Bryant Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 612-827-8111
114 Acme
Typically, regional cuisines do not travel all that well, and in order to enjoy them you have to visit the place of origin. But Mads Refslund, who was the chef at Restaurant MR in Copenhagen before he moved his water circulator to this side of the Atlantic, will save you the airfare. Don’t be surprised when Mads sends out dish after dish of super-tasty food, like a serving of barley, scallops and clams; a hip take on chicken and eggs (which features eggs that are fried but runny); foie gras and langoustine with white walnuts and burnt lemon; and rib eye with carrots in a dill sauce. The crowd is hip and super trendy; if you are interested in watching a supermodel eat New Nordic cuisine, this is a good place to do it.
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9 Great Jones St New York, NY 212-203-2121
115 Alma
Ari Taymor’s restaurant is among those playing an important role in the revival of downtown Los Angeles. Taymor’s menu is ingredient-centric (he utilizes a number of ingredients he raises in his own garden), and tantalizing-sounding dishes like roast chicken with butter-soaked carrots, chanterelles and a seaweed béarnaise have made the restaurant a favorite with the local L.A./hipster foodie crowd. A 10-course tasting menu is the only option for dinner most nights; they offer a three-course market menu on Tuesday through Thursday evenings.
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952 S Broadway Los Angeles, CA (213) 244-1422
116 Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria
If you are the type of diner who likes to graze on top-notch salumi, a wide assortment of cheeses, and small plates of tasty Italian fare, this is a good choice for you. It’s open early in the morning till late at night, so you can enjoy a breakfast sandwich of organic eggs, salame rosa and Rupert cheese served on focaccia; a lunchtime panini of roasted porchetta, arugula and salsa verde; and a dinner of spit-roasted rabbit with mushrooms à la Grecque, endive and natural olives. And while the offerings fit quite well under the definition of trattoria food, the large and lively space (two floors) gives it the feel of a brasserie. Of course, when the words Italian and delicious are used in the same sentence, there is no shortage of people clambering for a table.
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53 Great Jones Street New York, NY 212-837-2622
117 Hen of the Wood
Back in 2005 Eric Warnstedt converted a grist mill from the 1830s into this award-winning restaurant. Examples of the way Warnstedt utilizes the local larder can be found in dishes like a soup of spring-dug parsnips from Pete's Produce Farm, Rhode Island calamari sautéed with garlic, parsley, anchovies and chili flakes, and LaPlatte River Angus Farm beef short ribs braised in red wine. And if serving "the most interesting food in Vermont" is not enough, diners get to finish their meal with an "incredible cheese board featuring a dozen or more selections," most of them made locally.
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92 Stowe Street Waterbury, VT 802-244-7300
118 Chi Spacca
In the mood for a $90 Tomahawk pork chop? Or how about a 40-ounce bone-in rib eye or a 50-ounce dry-aged porterhouse for the respective eye-popping costs of $175 and $210? Well, this Italian steakhouse from Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich is the place for you. It’s also the place for our reviewers because in spite of the odds (given the prices), each and every one of them loves the place. It’s located just next door to Osteria Mozza, in the space that used to be known as Scuola di Pizza.
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6610 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA (323) 297-1133
119 Barley Swine
Don’t be fooled by the strip mall location and the long lines out the door due to a no-reservation policy. This is where Austin’s culinary intelligencers go when they are looking for progressive cooking. The reason is Bryce Gilmore’s cuisine, which features dishes like carrots with goat feta, ancho chile and a fried chickpea cake; black cod with potato, leek, salt cod cream and olive; and cow head with artichoke, caramelized white chocolate and sunflower. As for comments by our reviewers about Gilmore’s cooking, our favorite comes from one who told us, “Bryce Gilmore has an understanding of foie gras that is unmatched in Austin. It’s almost always paired with stronger notes that make the fat burst forward on the mid-palate, resulting in a delightful surprise in every bite.”
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2024 S. LAMAR Austin, TX 512-394-8150
120 Dover
Walker Stern and Joe Ogrodnek, we salute you. Most chefs who open second restaurants after having success at their first one (in this instance Battersby), usually dumb things down and hope to trade on their name. The two of you decided to deviate from standard behavior, and your second restaurant is even more ambitious than your first. A must for anyone visiting the restaurant is the caviar pie, a decadent concoction of American paddlefish roe atop layers of chopped egg and a house-made crème fraîche, which sells for the amazingly low price of $35. Shoppers, come on down! Other dishes like lamb ribs with mint and peanut hit the spot as well.
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412 Court St Brooklyn, NY (347) 987-3545
121 Bondir
This restaurant is located on one of the busiest thoroughfares in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but Jason Bond's rustic but elegant style of cooking seems better suited to a farmhouse in a remote part of New England. Ask Bond to explain what his restaurant is about, and he will gladly tell you that his goal is to offer the purest expression of an ingredient that is humanly possible. That jibes with our reviewers' reactions; one described a dish that combined a soft-cooked pullet egg served with a crispy chicken leg as "one of the chickeniest pices of chicken I have ever tasted."
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279A Broadway Cambridge, MA 617-661-0009
122 Woodberry Kitchen
Spike Gjerde is on a mission. His menu is filled with dishes featuring local ingredients like Rappahannock oysters, Richfield Farms corn soup or Marvesta sizzling shrimp, Springfield Farm chicken and Liberty Farms beef stew, and it would be difficult to find a chef who is as committed to serving the best of the Mid-Atlantic region. Set in a renovated mill building in a gentrifying part of town, Gjerde's restaurant is "a pleasant surprise in the no-man's-land of Baltimore dining" and "would likely be better known if it was located in a different city."
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2010 Clipper Park Road, No. 126 Baltimore, MD 410-464-8000
123 Baumé
Because so many of the top restaurants in the country are in the Bay area, this one – located in the oldest part of Palo Alto – can easily be overlooked. But reviewer after reviewer sings its praises, and we hope that the leap in its rank, all the way from number 90 in 2012 (it’s our third biggest mover), will inspire more of our readers to schedule a visit. Bruno Chemel describes his cooking as “French cuisine moderne with a Zen touch.” The result can be a dish of leeks, Burgundy truffle Gigha halibut and shiso, or lantern scallops with lichee, lilikoi and chocolate. One could argue that this is the most underrated restaurant in the country, but those who have had the good fortune to eat Chemel’s cooking say things like, “molecular gastronomy-informed dining that tastes great and is filling
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201 S. California Ave. Palo Alto, CA 650-328-8899
124 Morimoto
Before he became famous as the Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto was the number two in Nobu's kitchen. But if you want to see how he distinguishes himself from his mentor, as well as what drives the high rating, book a seat at this restaurant’s omakase bar, where the chefs (including Morimoto himself on certain nights) dole out tasting menus that start at $250 per person and quickly spiral upward if supplemented with luxury ingredients like Kobe beef or truffles.
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723 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 215-413-9070
125 North Pond
A renovated Craftsman-style house - formerly part of a skating rink complex - makes a perfect match for the American cuisine with a modern edge at North Pond. Bruce Sherman's menu emphasizes organic ingredients, with entrées like sweetbreads paired with sweet onions, polenta and a red pepper coulis that are prepared in a simple but careful manner. The setting in the middle of Lincoln Park "couldn't be more gorgeous."
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2610 N. Cannon Dr. Chicago, IL 773-477-5845
126 Café Juanita
Though Italy is nearly 6,000 miles away, Holly Smith does such a good job of capturing the spirit of its cuisine that her restaurant might as well be located outside of Bologna. Smith utilizes the bounty of the Northwest in starters like Mad hatcher squab breast with escarole, walnut oil and aged balsamico; maltagliati with Cattail Creek lamb sugo, minted green beans and honeyed ricotta; and rabbit braised in Arneis wine with a Ligurian chickpea crepe, pancetta and porcini. Beloved by a number of our reviewers, the place garnered comments like "super-high-quality ingredients and owners who really care" and "the best Italian restaurant in the Seattle area; nothing else comes close."
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9702 NE 120th Pl. Kirkland, WA 425-823-1505
127 Aburiya Raku
Whenever someone recommends a Vegas restaurant that isn’t on the Strip we immediately take notice, especially when it makes our list of the Top 100 restaurants in the country. In this instance, the focus is on the “superb aburiya cooking” in an “off-the-beaten-track location.” While there are a number of raw fish preparations on offer, reviewers save their raves for the aged dashi (house-made tofu), which they say “serves as a reference point” for the dish, along with offerings cooked over the robata grill, ranging from tsukune (chicken meatballs) to foie gras. One reviewer described “a very special and soulful restaurant,” while another went so far as to say, “It’s better than many izakaya restaurants I’ve been to in Japan.” No wonder it’s the number-one spot to see local chefs having dinner on their nights off.
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5030 W Spring Mountain Rd #2 Las Vegas, NV 702-367-3511
128 Son of a Gun
Though Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo became famous serving fatty meat dishes at their restaurant Animal, reviewers prefer their West 3rd Street fish restaurant. There are Asian-influenced dishes (yellowfin tuna tataki with white boy kimchi) as well as Italian offerings (linguine and clams doused in uni aglio-olio). Good old American fish cookery appears in a bite-size lobster roll that rivals anything you’ll find in New England. And for the fish-averse, the duo offers plates of Broadbent’s country Ham and hush puppies and one of the best versions of fried chicken you will find outside of the South.
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8370 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA 323-782-9033
129 Topolobampo
Purists typically don't like fancy versions of ethnic cuisine, but they seem to have made an exception for Rick Bayless' restaurant. Though he's a top celebrity chef who is often away filming his TV show or doing a book tour, to his credit we didn't receive a single complaint about him not being in his kitchen. The restaurant's success is built on the following principles: Craft a Mexican cuisine that adheres to tradition but is prepared by chefs with formal culinary training. Result: The snapper in a Oaxacan mole sauce and the puerco pipian verde are more refined than they would be at your typical Mexican restaurant.
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445 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 312-661-1434
130 Gary Danko
With dishes like glazed oysters with Osetra caviar and lettuce cream, risotto with lobster, rock shrimp, Shimeji mushrooms and asparagus, and quail stuffed with foie gras, Gary Danko’s menu is swimming in the type of luxury ingredients that diners like to enjoy on special occasions. And that’s before you get to the “spectacular wine list.”
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800 N. Point St. San Francisco, CA 415-749-2060
131 Café Boulud
Some of the best French cooking in the country can be found at this luxury bistro that many call "the best restaurant in the Daniel Boulud empire." Each evening Gavin Kaysen's menu features four different styles of cuisine: traditional, international, contemporary and market, and it isn't surprising to see the kitchen offering cassoulet, porchetta and Vietnamese pho all at the same time.
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20 E. 76th St. New York, NY 212-772-2600
132 Chez Panisse
Back at a time when agricultural conglomerates were forcing independent farmers out of business, Alice Waters decided to open a restaurant that only used ingredients that were raised naturally. The storied history is only one reason to be a Chez Panisse fan; another important reason are the pristine ingredients, which are prepared in the most loving and respectful manner.
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1517 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 510-548-5525
133 Aldea
After working for chefs David Bouley, Alain Ducasse and Kurt Gutenbrunner, followed by a three-and-a half-year stint with Marco Morerira as the executive chef at Tocqueville, George Mendes decided he wanted his own restaurant. Now you can find him at Aldea, serving a cuisine based on his Portuguese heritage, with dishes like shrimp with garlic, coriander, pimenton and pressed shrimp jus; Hampshire pork loin and shoulder with onion soubise; honey-crisp apples and Savoy cabbage; and what he calls arroz con pato - paella-style rice laced with chunks of duck confit and chorizo. Mendes is routinely labeled "a chef to watch," one who executes "brilliant Iberian cooking served in a lovely setting, at an even lovelier price point."
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31 W 17th St New York, NY 212-675-7223
134 Ad Hoc
This fixed-menu, family-style affair from Thomas Keller is a good example of how one of the country’s top chefs can take the food that we eat day in and day out and make it a special experience. A typical evening’s menu might include a Cobb salad, Southern-fried chicken, a cheese course and dessert, all for the bargain-basement price of $52 a person. It’s a favorite with the BYOB crowd as “a limited wine list” makes it the perfect place to bring that special bottle you picked up at a winery tasting earlier in the day,
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6476 Washington St. Yountville, CA 707-944-2487
135 Takashi
This "beef afficanado's dream" features ingredients sourced from purveyors like Dickson's Farmstand Meats and Creekstone Farms. It seems like every part of the carcass is on offer, ranging from tame cuts like short ribs, skirt steak and rib eye to "the best offal I ever had," includes heart, tongue, liver and the scrumptious-sounding fourth stomach. Ordering is only half the fun: You cook the cuts of beef over a personal hibachi and eat them with tasty side dishes like grilled vegetables of the day and bakudan, a mixture of rice and seaweed wrapped in a sesame leaf.
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456 Hudson St New York, NY 212-414-2929
136 Zuni Café
The cultural importance of the late Judy Rogers' restaurant merits its mention in the same breath as places like New York's Union Square Café and La Coupole in Paris. The food is nothing fancy, just a selection of oysters or a Caesar salad, and mains like Petrale sole with sauerkraut in a Riesling butter sauce and the most famous roast chicken in the country, cooked in a brick oven and served with a warm bread salad, red mustard greens, scallions, currants and pine nuts.
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1658 Market St. San Francisco, CA 415-552-2522
137 Fork
One of the best revampings in recent years is this Old City offering from Ellen Yin and Eli Kulp. A veteran of a number of high-level New York City Italian restaurants, such as Del Posto and Torrisi Italian Specialties, Kulp’s menu includes creations like cauliflower and cheddar soup with pickled cauliflower florets and long green chili, fennel pappardelle with pork ragu and pollen, and grilled lobster with John Cope’s polenta, dandelion and chicory. A contender for the Top 100 list in 2016.
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306 Market St Philadelphia, PA (215) 625-9425
138 Jung Sik
Our reviewers were slow to take to Jungsik Yim’s restaurant, an outpost of a restaurant he opened in Seoul in 2009. Chef Yim has reinterpreted Korean cuisine, which in some instances means that he has taken dishes out of bubbling pots and plated them in a manner that his customers would recognize as Western-style fine dining. For some menu items, like Thai lobster with Meyer lemon and a Tom Yum broth, the menu reaches beyond the Korean peninsula to other Asian countries.
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2 Harrison St New York, NY (212) 219-0900
139 Addison
Few diners outside of the San Diego Metropolitan area have heard of William Bradley. But one important diner who has heard of him is none other than Thomas Keller, who has tipped Bradley as the U.S. chef who showed the most potential in 2011. A classicist, Bradley crafts dishes like a very Robuchon-esque langoustine wrapped in phylo, a coddled farm egg with fava beans, gouda and a smoked ham hock; and braised Kobe beef short ribs with a potato croustillant and cremini mushroom gratin. It’s the best French food you will find between LA and the Mexican border served in the type of setting that one expects to find at a world class resort.
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5200 Grand Del Mar Way Del Mar, CA 858-314-1900
140 Pêche Seafood Grill
Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski felt that they didn’t have enough on their plates, so they decided to team up with Ryan Prewitt to open a seafood-style restaurant. Prewitt’s menu is filled with Cajun-influenced specialties, like catfish with pickled greens and chili broth or baked drum with lemon broth and peas, as well as Asian-influenced fare like the spicy ground shrimp and noodles that pays homage to the area’s large Vietnamese population.
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800 Magazine St New York, NY (504) 522-1744
141 Nico Osteria
With Blackbird, Avec, Publican and Publican Quality Meats smoothly humming along, Paul Kahan decided to add Italian trattoria food to the mix. The extensive menu ranges from crudos like striped jack with radish, bird chili and lemon vinegar to starters like grilled wagyu beef tongue with ramps and steelhead roe, a giant ravioli with farm egg, Swiss chard, and ricotta in a parmesan broth, and grilled Heritage pork shoulder with braised lentils, gamberi d’acqua dolce and salsa verde.
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1015 N Rush St Chicago, IL (312) 994-7100
142 Eventide Oyster Co.
This offering from the Hugo's people is located in a space that once housed the cookbook store Rabelais. Diners can go classic - oysters on the half shell, lobster roll, fish and chips - or they can go modern by selecting from a series of ceviches and escabeches. The menu expands even further in the evening to include things like grilled swordfish belly and slow-cooked pork shoulder, along with what they call a New England Clam Bake, which includes steamers, mussels, lobster, potatoes, salt pork and a hard-boiled egg that have been cooked in a seaweed-filled Chinese dumpling steamer.
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86 Middle St Portland, ME (207) 774-8538
143 Sushi Ota
All the key indicia that you are within the confines of one of California's top sushi places are present here. The first is the location in a dreary strip mall, directly across the street from gas stations and taco stands. The second - "super-fresh, high-quality fish, including tuna, sea urchin and a number of other varieties that come from local waters," doled out in "preparations that range from classic to contemporary" - is responsible for the third: a line of people waiting for a table that usually extends out the door. Reviewers weren't as enamored with the service (one complained that they put a one-hour time limit on his meal), but if you "sit at the counter and put yourself in the chef's hands," you will enjoy what one reviewer described as "easily the best sushi between Los Angeles and the Mexican border."
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4529 Mission Bay Dr. San Diego, CA 858-270-5670
144 Rogue 24
It is set in a converted warehouse in an alley in Washington, D.C.’s Mount Vernon neighborhood, but the location isn’t the only thing that is ambitious about RJ Cooper’s restaurant. Each night Cooper crafts a 24-course menu of progressive fare, including dishes such as a duck blood lavash topped with a liver spread and onion marmalade, pigtail donuts with pear butter, pork fat dust and mustard, and squab leg with pear, rutabaga, mashua and tarragon.
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922 N St NW Washington, DC (202) 408-9724
145 Moto
With a menu filled with dishes titled Snowman sashimi, Italian Biosphere, Kentucky Fried Pasta, Philly Monte Cristo and Acme bombs, not to mention the infamous menu printed in an inkjet printer on edible paper, Homero Cantu’s restaurant offers the most cutting edge dining experience in the country. Of course when a chef pushes the envelope to this extent, the experience isn’t for everyone and we suggest that the fainthearted think twice before going. But if you’re the type who likes a bit of theater with your meal, you should follow the advice of reviewers who say things like, "the food was so interesting that I preferred it to restaurants where the food tasted better" and, “perfect for those who want to be philosophical about what they eat.”
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945 W. Fulton Mkt. Chicago, IL 312-491-0058
146 Spinasse
At the heart of Jason Stratton's cooking are his homemade pastas, and if you sit at the chef's counter and order a tasting menu, it will likely include tortellini in broth, tagliatelle with pork shoulder that has been braised in milk and what one reviewer called "the best tajarin I've had outside of Italy," lightly tossed with butter and sage. A "small and decent list" of northern Italian wines and "friendly service" make a visit here one of the most delightful evenings in the city.
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1531 14th Avenue Seattle, WA 206-251-7673
147 Twist by Pierre Gagnaire
Judging by comments like “sensory overload” and “everything but the kitchen sink was thrown on the plate,” it appears that Ryuki Kawasaki has done a credible job of transporting Pierre Gagnaire’s highly expressive cuisine from Paris to Las Vegas. In addition to the food, reviewers commented on “a stunning room” and “service that was beyond attentive.”
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3752 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas, NV 702-590-3172
148 N/Naka
Given how few female chefs are in charge of Japanese restaurants, we are happy to see Chef Niki Nakayama’s restaurant earn a slot in the 100+ list. It’s located in a mostly residential area of Los Angeles known as Palms (sort of in-between Century City and Culver City). Nakayama’s menu features complex creations like zucchini blossom stuffed with blue crab, sanbai-zu gelee and carrot sorbet, and seared sand-smoked albacore served with tuna tonnato and a sauce of ponzu pinot blanc.
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3455 Overland Ave Los Angeles, CA (310) 836-6252
149 El Ideas
Back in 2011, Phillip Foss traded in his popular Meatyballs Mobile truck for a 13-seat dining room in one of Chicago’s most deserted neighborhoods. But the surroundings aren’t the only thing Foss changed. The meatballs have been replaced by contemporary-styled dishes like peas with buttermilk, coppa and lavender, and sweetbreads served with ramps, hazelnut and licorice.
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2419 W 14th St Chicago, IL 312-226-8144
150 Frances
Melissa Perello has put her years of experience cooking at notable Bay Area restaurants like Charles Nob Hill and the Fifth Floor to good use. The menu at Frances is small, offering only four choices of appetizers and entrées, like spugnole pasta with cotechino sausage and a Liberty Farms duck leg with butter beans, endives and Sicilian olives. But despite the limited choices, Perello gets much love from our reviewers, who say things like "exceptional comfort food in a neighborhood setting," "typical San Francisco fare but it's done absolutely right" and "It's worth the month-long wait for a table."
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3870 17th St San Francisco, CA 415-621-3870