Top 100+ U.S. Restaurants 2015
151 Foreign & Domestic
After spending a few years working at restaurants in New York City, Ned Elliott decided it was time for a place of his own. After relocating to Austin, he opened this farm-to-table restaurant in a converted gas station. As they say, the rest is history, and it didn't take long for word to get out that Elliott was serving tasty fare like a bacon-wrapped boudin blanc terrine, pork and baby octopus in a clam broth with hominy and salsa verde, and a 24-Hour Short Rib with roasted kale, fingerling potatoes and red wine.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
306 E.53rd St. Austin, TX 512-459-1010
152 Menton
Set in an old warehouse building in Boston’s up and coming Fort Point neighborhood, this fine dining offering from Barbara Lynch offers dishes like a warm cauliflower salad with vadouvan , almond and grapes, local hake with English peas , asparagus and truffle and Grimaud Farm duck with red currants, baby beet and Sauce Poivrade.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
354 Congress St Boston, MA 617-737-0099
153 Swan Oyster Depot
They have been shucking fresh oysters since 1912 at this restaurant that some find reminiscent of Barcelona's Cal Pep. Besides oysters, there are clams and other assorted shellfish on offer, along with chowder, seafood salads and seasonal specialties like Dungeness crab. And if the idea of a large pile of sparkling-fresh shellfish isn't enough of a lure, the countermen are total characters.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1517 Polk St. San Francisco, CA 415-673-1101
154 Serpico
What makes Peter Serpico's cooking so unusual is that it combines the cuisines he experienced while growing up in Maryland with what he learned during his time as executive chef at Momofuku Ko. Adopted by an Italian father and Polish mother, his menu includes examples of his own Korean heritage (raw diver scallops with buttermilk, poppy seeds, white soy and chive), his mother's cooking (hand-torn pasta with snail sausage, garlic, crispy chicken skin and pecorino), and the German cuisine of the Mid-Atlantic (caper-brined trout with smoked potato salad, pepperoncini, crab, trout roe and chive oil).
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
604 South St Philadelphia, PA 215-925-3001
155 Boulevard
On most evenings Nancy Oakes' place is full of diners who still enjoy dishes like seared Sonoma foie gras with root beer jelly, vanilla sour cherries and toasted whole grain bread from Berkeley's renowned Acme The wine list is packed with gems bottled just up the road in Napa and Sonoma.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1 Mission St San Francisco, CA 415-543-6084
156 Cochon
Donald Link's ode to the pig is housed in a converted warehouse a few blocks from Lee Circle. Stephen Stryjewski's menu, made up of appetizers, small plates and a half-dozen large plates, offers pork in a variety of forms, from homemade charcuterie to boudin (removed from its casing and formed into a ball before being breaded and fried), crispy pig's ears, spicy grilled ribs and a fork-tender version of the namesake dish served with cabbage stewed in pork jus. It's stupendously popular, and diners are advised to book in advance as "attempting to go to without a reservation is an exercise in futility."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
930 Tchoupitoulas St New Orleans, LA 504-588-2123
157 Rasika
Vikram Sunderam, a veteran of London's Bombay Brasserie, left their classic Moghul style cuisine on the banks of the Thames. Delicacies include Coogi sweetbreads with balsamic vinegar and spiced quinoa or Sunderam's take on Japanese-style miso-marinated black cod, prepared with fresh dill, honey, star anise and red wine vinegar.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
633 D St. NW Washington, DC 202-637-1222
158 Husk Nashville
Sean Brock’s Nashville outpost of his wildly successful Charleston restaurant that is dedicated to reviving the art of Southern cooking (see # 27.) The Nashville version of Brock’s invention includes dishes like Cheerwine Glazed Belly Ham, Pit Roasted Wedge Oak Farm Chicken and NC Catfish, Green Garlic Dressing, Smoked Potatoes, Nettles, Toasted Buckwheat Groats
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
37 Rutledge St Nashville, TN (615) 256-6565
159 Animal
Who on earth would cook up a menu filled with dishes like pig tails "Buffalo style," served with celery, and ranch dressing; veal brains with vadouvan, apricot purée and carrots; poutine with oxtail gravy and cheddar cheese; and fried rabbit legs with Charleston gold rice, lemon pepper and sour cream gravy? That mishmash of styles, which comes with a cholesterol count that is high enough to warrant 20 grams of Lipitor, is the product of none other than Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, whose Fairfax Avenue restaurant pioneered hipster-style dining in Los Angeles.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
435 N Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 323-782-9225
160 Angelini Osteria
In a city overrun with run-of-the-mill Italian eateries, a "Tuscan-influenced menu with a touch more imagination" allows Gino Angelini's restaurant to stand above the pack. It's hardly a temple of cuisine; the room is small and cramped, and the atmosphere casual yet buzzy: The table next to you is as likely to be filled with movie stars as an entire family digging into pastas like green lasagna with a veal ragu or a leg of pork roasted in a wood-burning oven.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
7313 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 323-297-0070
161 Connie & Ted's
With Providence firmly established as one of the country's top restaurants, Michael Cimarusti decided it was time to pay homage to his Rhode Island roots, so he named this bustling seafood restaurant after his grandparents. Using mostly fish and seafood that is flown in daily from New England, Cimarusti calls on his mastery of seafood cookery to construct versions of dishes like Rhode Island Stuffies (clams broiled with linguica sausage and breadcrumbs) and a live New Bedford scallop broiled in garlic butter that are well beyond the type of preparation you'll find at your typical seafood restaurant.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
8171 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA (323) 848-2722
162 Sushi of Gari
We laughed when we saw that these restaurants sparked an authenticity debate. The controversy arises from Masatoshi "Gari" Sugio having pioneered a post-modern style of sushi in which the fish comes with various toppings, like fresh salmon with sautéed tomato or fluke topped with a green salad and pine nuts. While the style clearly has its fans, one reviewer notes that "Sushi purists should consider eating elsewhere." But those with an open mind should just sit back and let the chef serve an omakase, a tasting menu in which the unusual pieces are served one at a time, or order the Tuna of Gari: eight unique preparations, ranging from minced to seared to diced, along with a small spicy tuna roll.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
402 E. 78TH ST. New York, NY 212-517-5340
163 The Bazaar
Imagine a restaurant that serves a myriad of different types of small plates, ranging from traditional tapas to molecular gastronomic creations, located alongside a trendy hotel bar packed with hordes of people. That's the best way to describe this restaurant from José Andres, located in the SLS Hotel, where the combination of "the food, the space, the people is unlike anything you've seen in L.A. or likely anywhere else." While it is easy to like the classic fare like shrimps in garlic sauce, most of the comments were directed at the modern tapas Andres serves, like foie gras cotton candy, modern olives, miso linguini with smoked trout roe, tomato, lemon and chervil and Andres’ own take on a Philly Cheesesteak—air bread, cheddar, Wagyu beef.”
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
465 S. La Cienega Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 310-246-5555
164 Elizabeth's
Iliana Regan’s serves what she describes as “new gatherer cuisine,” which basically means that she combs various woods and forests, gathering wild fruits, vegetables, mushrooms and herbs. There is also “an element of science” going on in Regan’s cooking (an obvious nod to her days as a server at Alinea,) but reviewers say the ingredients “are used in such a thoughtful way that you barely notice.”
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
4835 N Western Ave Unit D Chicago, IL 773-681-0651
165 Gramercy Tavern
After Danny Meyer and chef Tom Colicchio parted ways, Mike Anthony was given the task of maintaining the high standards this restaurant had always been known for. Though it took him a while to adapt the subtle style of cooking he was known for when he cooked with Dan Barber at Stone Barns to the more full-flavored style that Gramercy was known for, reviewers say that dishes like grilled sturgeon with broccoli, beans, leeks and oysters and a duck breast and confit leg with sunchokes, quince, Brussels sprouts and wild mushrooms, "are on a par with what they serve at any of the top restaurants in the city." The same terrific Danny Meyer service team and a well-stocked wine list complement the food.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
42 E. 20TH ST. New York, NY 212-477-0777
166 Empellón Cocina
After making a name for himself as one of America’s top pastry chefs, Alex Stupak decided to open a Mexican restaurant that was more about the number of tacos the kitchen could turn out than the quality of what was inside them. But Stupak is too talented to stay a taco slinger forever, and he opened this more upscale, and progressive, restaurant revolving around Mexican cuisine. Last year, Stupak announced that he would start offering dessert tasting menus, something his fans have been itching for ever since he left the now-defunct WD-50.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
New York, NY
167 Admiral
Everyone loves Drew Wallace's restaurant. The food is fairly complex for a place of this type, but the plates are never fussy enough to make you morph into serious dining mode. Though a number of reviewers described chef Ivan Candido's cooking as "gasto-pubbish," that description sells him a bit short as dishes like crispy frogs' legs with blue grits, bok choy and Texas Pete syrup, or a confit duck leg with pimento cheese fries are more ambitious than your basic gastropub fare. Worth making a detour if you are within shouting distance of this beautiful area of western North Carolina.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
400 Haywood Road Raleigh, NC 828-252-2541
168 Rosinjin
Unlike some of the other big-ticket Japanese restaurants in New York City, Rosanjin has been flying under the radar for the eight years since it opened. But those who are in the mood for an authentic Kyoto-style classical kaiseki meal should check out this lower-Manhattan restaurant named after the Japanese artist who goes by the name of Kitaōji Rosanjin. The restaurant offers a mere nine tables, in an environment that is almost as zen as the food.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
New York, NY
169 AKA Bistro
Chris Chung and Christian Touche each wanted a restaurant that reflected his particular background. Chung, who had trained as a sashimi chef, had become a local celebrity working at Uni, while the French-born Touche, who was the general manager at Clio, dreamed of owning a bistro. So how did they handle the conflict when they became partners? Simple: Rather than opening a fusion restaurant, they decided to create two restaurants in one. The result: Diners can choose to stick with one cuisine or the other, or they can start their meal with Chung's succulent creations, like Hawaiian poke with sweet onions and spicy and pickled mung beans, and finish it off with duck confit. "Who knew the combination could be so good?" is how one reacted to what might be the oddest pairing since Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
145 LINCOLN RD Lincoln, MA 781-259-9920
170 Blackberry Farm
Joseph Lenn w turns out dishes like Farmstead duck ham and pear salad with arugula, Fall pears, elderflower and rye and braised pork belly with sweet potato puree, candied pecans and collard green kim chee. "A helpful and caring staff" and "one of the best wine lists you will ever come across" make it a unique dining experience.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1471 West Millers Cove Road Walland, TN 865-984-8166
171 Gautreau's
If you are visiting New Orleans and you are getting tired of eating Creole and Cajun cuisine (I know that sounds crazy, but anything is possible), check out Sue Zemanick‘s restaurant in the Garden District with its New American fare, like seared sea scallops with parsnip purée, pickled chanterelles, sorrel and beurre noisette and pork osso buco with apple-fennel gremolata, a fines herbes spaetzle and Savoy cabbage.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1728 Soniat St New Orleans, LA (504) 899-7397
172 Lilette
The best way to describe John Harris' cuisine is 90% New American, 10% Creole and 100% devoted to quality ingredients. Harris' bistro-style fare includes dishes like sweet and sticky fried beef short ribs or grilled redfish atop market vegetables with a Champagne beurre blanc, which one reviewer described as being "good enough to be served at a top bistro in Paris."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
3637 Magazine St. New Orleans, LA 504-895-1636
173 Babbo
Along with wine, cheese, fine art and classic films, you can add Mario Batali’s signature restaurant to the list of things that get better with age. One of the few restaurants where more people recommend the appetizers and pastas than the entrees – fans talk about delicious versions of classic dishes like lamb’s tongue salad, and the signature mint love letters with spicy lamb sausage – a sizable contingent of reviewers recommend “forgoing the mains entirely” and sticking exclusively to the starters and pastas. This is a tough reservation to come by, and eating at the small bar at the front of the restaurant is popular with reviewers. Joe Bastianich’s wine list is loaded with cherries and treasures, but buyer beware: Given the prices, one would think the bottles were coated in gold leaf.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
110 WAVERLY PL. New York, NY 212-777-0303
174 Sawa Sushi
The scene while driving along El Camino Real, the main commercial thoroughfare of the Silicon Valley, is classic American suburbia. There seems to be an endless number of strip malls, and the diverse population means you will drive by what seems like an endless supply of ethnic restaurants. Amidst this sprawl lies Sawa, which was unearthed by the blogger, Chuckeats, in the early 2000’s. Comments from Steve Sawa’s fans are rabid; “The most remarkable sushi joint I have been to. A strip-mall restaurant with a chef who thinks that he is cooking at a palace” and "Steve isn't a chef; he's a procurement officer and it just so happens he's the best one on the planet." A word of caution: the size of the bill belies the meager surroundings.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1042 E. El Camino Real Sunnyvale, CA 408-241-7292
175 Little Serow
With the successful Komi running like a smoothly oiled machine, Johnny Monis and Anne Marler decided it was time to branch out. They renovated the ground-floor space next door to Komi and opened this restaurant, where each night they serve a price-fixed, family-style meal of northern and northeastern Thai dishes for $45. A no-reservation policy makes it a bit of a hassle to eat there — people start lining up in advance of the 5:30 opening hour – but reviewers say “the hot and impressive food” is “worth the wait.” A “small but excellent” list of beer and wine complements the food.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1511 17th Street NW Washington, DC
176 Bern's Steak House
The glowing comments about this venerable steakhouse include "If I get a choice, my last meal will be at Bern's," "It's not just the food, it's also about the atmosphere, attitude and service," And that doesn't cover the wine list, described as "incredible," "divine," "extensive," "crazy," "huge" and "ginormous." Part of the experience is a separate dessert room, where you can top off your steak with a slice of German chocolate cake or a banana split while sipping a glass of aged Sauternes.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1208 S. Howard Ave. Tampa, FL 813-251-2421
177 Au Cheval
Having never met a fatty food he didn't like, Brendan Sodikoff is a firm believer in the Martin Picard school of cuisine. But given his Jewish background, Sodikoff decided to combine his grandmother's style of cooking with a Picard-like obsession with foie gras and bacon. That means a menu on which chopped chicken liver and a fried bologna sandwich live side by side with scrambled eggs with foie gras, and fried chicken with a crispy potato hash doused with duck heart gravy. Numerous reviewers claimed that Sodikoff's double cheeseburger is "the best burger in the country."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
800 W Randolph St Chicago, IL 312-929-4580
178 Chez Panisse Café
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.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1517 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 510-548-5525
179 The Bohemian
One of the quirkiest restaurants in the U.S. is this cocktail lounge located behind a Japanese butcher shop in New York City’s East Village. Few people know about it (like its sister restaurant in Tokyo, in order to get in you need an introduction from someone who has been there), but if you manage to snag a reservation, you can order the six-course tasting menu, including oysters and sashimi, which you can pair with quirky cocktails. But the main event is the beef, sourced from the shop in front of the lounge.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
57 Great Jones St New York, NY
180 Clio
Ken Oringer's menu features dishes like Nantucket Bay scallops with ginger salt, goat's-milk butter and argan oil, a cassoulet of lobster and sea urchin served with candied lemon or a Kobe rib eye with black fig chutney. Cutting-edge desserts are a specialty of the house Rene Herzog turns out interesting creations, such as a milk chocolate croustillant with tangerine emulsion, cocoa crumble and black olive. Multiple reviewers called this their "favorite French restaurant in Boston."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
370 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 617-536-7200
181 Galatoire's
With its emphasis on seasonal ingredients, backed up by top-notch execution in the kitchen, Galatoire's is still the best of the old-line New Orleans dining rooms. The menu is loaded with classics, like oysters Rockefeller (invented here), soft-shell crabs smothered in étouffée, pompano meunière almondine (not one or the other, but both preparations together) and chicken bonne-femme, as well as eight or ten cuts of grilled meats and a half-dozen fresh fish of the day offerings.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
209 Bourbon St. New Orleans, LA 504-525-2021
182 Aquavit
This restaurant fell into a state of semi-oblivion after the legendary Marcus Samuelsson left it in 2010, but Emma Bengtsson has once again made Acquavit relevant. Bengtsson channels her experience growing up in a small town on the west coast of Sweden with dishes like Klädesholmen matjes herring with quail egg, rye bread and Västerbotten cheese and artic char with nettles, spring onions and split peas.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
Park Avenue Tower, New York, NY 65 E 55th St
183 Prune
While the level of her fame has shot up significantly over the past five years, not much has changed about Gabrielle Hamilton’s restaurant. One of the first American restaurants that resembled the gastropubs that had become popular in Britain at the time, her menu still features the same eclectic style of cooking – like an omelet with duck broth, littleneck clams topped with smoked paprika and blistered squid with pork sausage and white beans – that Hamilton has been serving since she opened Prune in 1999.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
54 E 1st St New York, NY (212) 677-6221
184 Cúrate
Katie Button has done such a superb job of utilizing local ingredients in a traditional tapas experience that even simple dishes like pan con tomate - grilled bread topped with heirloom tomatoes and olive oil - seem special. Of course, being able to cook at this level is no accident: Prior to opening Curate, Button and her then fiancé, Felix Meana, worked at El Bulli - she in pastry and he as a captain. Not surprisingly, Botton's desserts, like Melon in Textures, which combines melon sorbet, melon mousse and compressed melon with a shaving of mint ice, are world-class.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
11 Biltmore Avenue Asheville, NC 828-239-2946
185 Congress
While Austin might be teeming with restaurants serving barbecue and progressive hipster food, it is lacking in the type of sophisticated urban dining experience that you find in other big cities. David Bull’s restaurant fulfills that role in the city, and his menu is filled with treats like charred broccoli with candied almond, goat milk ricotta and garden dressing and rack of lamb with black trumpet mushrooms, polenta, brussels sprouts and green garlic.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
200 Congress Avenue Austin, TX 512 827 2760.
186 Casa Tua
Hidden behind a high row of hedges, this chic hotel restaurant is always filled with well-dressed international diners enjoying well-made Italian fare - a combination you don't see very often in a place like South Beach. The cuisine comes with a contemporary edge - seared foie gras with a ginger and tomato marmalade; tagliatelle with crème fra√Æche and caviar; and seared lamb chops with grilled endive and pickled onions. Comments reflect the effort that has gone into the food: "One of my favorite places to eat on the Beach" and "It's refreshing to find a restaurant on the Beach that didn't lower standards to take advantage of the tourist trade."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1700 JAMES AVE Miami Beach, FL 305-673-1010
187 Bacchanalia
Located in a converted warehouse in an up-and-coming area of the city, Bacchanalia is the cornerstone of Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison's culinary empire, which includes four additional restaurants and a gourmet food shop. At the heart of Quatrano's cooking is the produce she raises on her farm, 30 miles north of Atlanta; it lays the foundation for her New American cuisine, which includes enough of a Southern twist to allow it to be associated with the area. It's not the flashiest cooking you'll ever experience - in fact, one reviewer called it "solid, accomplished and restrained" - but dishes like crispy veal sweetbreads with lentils, prunes and bacon and mortadella-stuffed Georgia quail served with farro risotto make this one of the best dining experiences in Atlanta.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1198 Howell Mill Rd. Atlanta, GA 404-365-0410
188 The Modern
Though he was in charge of the kitchen at this beautiful restaurant in the Museum of Modern Art for ten years, our reviewers never fully warmed up to Gabriel Kreuther’s cooking. Enter Abram Bissell, formerly chef de cuisine for Daniel Humm at Eleven Madison Park, and the tone of the reviews we have been collecting have begun to pick up. Bissell has abandoned the Alsatian influence the restaurant was known for during Kreuther’s reign for a more straightforward New American cuisine featuring dishes like turbot roasted on the bone and Du Puy lentils and truffle sauce.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
9 W 53rd St New York, NY (212) 333-1220
189 Dirt Candy
One of the things we enjoy about our annual lists is how many different types of restaurants are part of the rankings. This vegetarian offering from Amanda Cohen is a good example of the list’s diversity. Not one to be shy about the merits of her cuisine, Cohen presents a menu that ranges from offerings like spinach mille-feuille with grapefruit ricotta and smoked pistachios to butternut squash scallopini with harissa labneh balls and green chermoula, and a platter of brussels sprout tacos and accoutrements that can be shared by the table.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
86 Allen St New York, NY (212) 228-7732
190 Highlands Bar & Grill
How does one calculate the extent of the impact that Frank Stitt has had on Southern dining? Not only is he single-handedly responsible for creating the thriving Birmingham dining scene, no other chef has done as much to promote the cooking of the South as Stitt. While he advertises his cuisine as French, evidenced in dishes like veal sweetbreads with a ragout of porcini and hedgehog mushrooms, other offerings like stone-ground baked grits with country ham, mushrooms, fresh thyme and Parmesan have a distinctly Southern flair. Comments verge on the rapturous: “Frank Stitt still rocks the Birmingham dining scene at his flagship restaurant,” and “world-class cuisine where you would never expect to find it – worth a special trip from Atlanta.”
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
2011 11th Avenue S Birmingham, AL 205-939-1400
191 Purple Pig
The gastropub concept can be articulated in a number of different styles and flavors. This offering, from the quartet of Jimmy Bannos (Jr. and Sr.), Scott Harris and Tony Mantuano, have settled on an Italian approach to the dining concept, and their small-plates menu offers cured meats, “smears” like mortadella, balsamic and pistachio, and pork neck bone gravy with ricotta, and a series of dishes cooked “a la plancha,” such as charred green onions with romesco sauce and pork tripe a la parmigiana with pork skin breadcrumbs.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
500 N Michigan Ave Chicago, IL (312) 464-1744
192 Sixteen
Working from a restaurant located on the 16th floor of Chicago’s Trump Hotel, Thomas Lents has been attracting a number of positive comments from our reviewers. Though Lents trained with Joël Robuchon, Jean Joho and Michael Tusk – all kitchens where the focus is on traditional cooking – he has decided on an approach that pays homage to different eras of cooking, with different courses focusing on the New Nordic movement, the molecular cuisine era and something he describes as “Mining Traditions: What Is Old Is New Again,” which features gilled lobster served with uni and coffee.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
Trump International Hotel & Tower 401 N Wabash Ave Chicago, IL
193 Stephan Pyle's Restaurant
One of the founders of the Southwestern cuisine movement, Stephan Pyles opened his first restaurant, Routh Street Café, in 1983. Twenty-two years later, he developed this beautiful space in Dallas' Art District. Ceviches and tiraditos, along with a variety of flatbreads from a wood-burning oven that Pyles serves at lunch, complement scrumptious-sounding starters that include halibut cheeks with spicy orange and ginger and lenguado with smoked corn and sweet potato. The contemporary Southwestern theme continues with mains like a slow-smoked natural pork chop with green chile hominy and what Pyles calls Contemporary Arroz con Pato, a sous-vide smoked duck leg with achiote rice and shellfish. "Worth a visit," say reviewers, who add that it's "a good choice in a town that isn't overflowing with good restaurants."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
1807 ROSS AVE. Dallas, TX 214-580-7000
194 Asanebo
While some of the best-known Japanese restaurants in the city are found on the stretch of Ventura Boulevard from Studio City to Sherman Oaks (affectionately known as "the sushi trail"), Asanebo is the one our reviewers claim is the best along that strip. The cuisine reflects both the classic style, with pristine cuts of fish covering compact mounds of highly polished rice, and more progressive preparations like chopped eel molded with rice and topped with sweet anago sauce or cooked dishes like steamed skate wings. In addition to the delicious food, they are known for "making you feel at home," an extra benefit given the reputation for gruffness that others on the sushi trail have earned.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
11941 Ventura Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 818-760-3348
195 Hot and Hot Fish Club
Chris and Idie Hasting and their crew will tantalize you with dishes like an heirloom cauliflower gratin with Petals from the Past pecans and bread crumbs or a roast venison chop with rutabaga, marjoram and persimmon juice. A number of reviewers raved about an heirloom "tomato salad to die for," with one telling us, "Nothing beats [it], except maybe their shrimp and grits, or maybe their donuts . . ."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
2180 11th Court S. Birmingham, AL 205-933-5474
196 Central Provisions
This small-plates specialist from Chris Gould, a former chef at Uni (Ken Oringer’s sushi bar inside Clio), includes mouthwatering dishes like skillet corn bread with egg, bacon and cheddar cheese, Maine bluefin toro with daikon, chili, orange and lime, and smoked carrots with cinnamon, house goat cheese and pistachio. An excellent addition to the Portland dining scene and one of the better new restaurants to open this year. Recommended.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
414 Fore St Portland, ME (207) 805-1085
197 Bar Tartine
Nick Balla and Cortney Burns thought the time was right to expand the type of farm-to-table cuisine that Bay Area restaurants were known to serve. So they decided to expand their Cal-Ital franchise by turning to Balla's Hungarian background, and the result is dishes like stuffed mushrooms in sauerkraut broth and a modern-day version of goulash that includes a marrow bone. The expansion did not end there as the pair branched into Nordic cuisine with a trout roe smørrebrød, and into Japanese with dishes such as gai lan with dried beef and radish.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
561 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 415 487 1600
198 Flour + Water
The San Francisco dining scene seems to be able to absorb an endless number of pizza and pasta specialists. But despite what feels like an infinite number of places to choose from, many of our reviewers have decided to cast their lot with Thomas McNaughton, eating pizzas like the Osso - bone marrow, rapini, fontina and horseradish - as well as pastas like Aleppo pepper maltagliati with rabbit sausage and mustard greens. This can be a tough reservation to come by, though single diners have a shot of snagging a seat at the bar or a "cute community table."
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
2401 Harrison St San Francisco, CA 415-826-7000
199 The Publican
If meat is your thing, we can’t think of a better place to dine than Paul Kahan’s Fulton Market restaurant. There are hams, pates, rillettes and pork rinds, and for those who want to veer from the restaurant’s mission statement, a long list of oysters on the half shell. But the main event is the meat dishes, like short ribs from Slagel Farms served with escarole and kumquats, and the house signature Ham Chop “In Hay,” an extra-thick Becker Lane Farms smoked pork chop with celery root, horseradish and pine nuts.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
837 W Fulton Market Chicago, IL 312-733-9555
200 Estela
This progressive small-plates restaurant from chef Ignacio Mattos and beverage director Thomas Carter is hugely popular with the New York food cognoscenti. Mattos will dazzle you with dishes that range from fried arroz negro with squid and romesco to lamb ribs with charmoula and honey, while Carter (who used to be the wine director at Blue Hill at Stone Barns) has cobbled together a small but superb list of cherries.
photo credit:
click on text to expand.
47 E Houston St New York, NY (212) 219-7693