New York Times America's Best Restaurants 2025

Chef Alec Schingel's James Beard–nominated tasting room delivers four-to-five-course seasonal menus built around Midwestern sourcing; cold green garlic soup, mushroom-cured trout, pork schnitzel wrapped around cabbage and apple; in a soft-lit Manchester Road storefront. Open Tuesday–Saturday evenings, reservations essential, the optional snacks course (chicken liver mousse between corn cookies) is worth the add-on.

Cariño is a Michelin-starred Mexican tasting menu in Chicago's Uptown neighbourhood, opened in December 2023 and recognised within its first year. Chef Norman Fenton runs approximately 12 courses that reframe Mexican cooking through technically demanding preparations; huitlacoche ravioli, lamb tartare tostada, Michelada-as-oyster; at a $$$$ price point. Book the counter seats, plan several weeks ahead.

Chef Bob Somsith's Lao American restaurant in East Austin is the city's most convincing case for Laotian cooking right now. Opened April 2024 in a converted parking lot with garage doors and string lights, it delivers chile-forward, fish sauce-driven dishes; think rib-eye lahb and lemongrass smash burgers; in a house-party setting. Easy to book, casual dress, serious spice.

Wildweed is the most interesting tasting-menu option in Cincinnati right now. Chef David Jackman's farm-to-table cooking; built around foraging, fermentation, freshly milled grain; earned an Esquire Best New Restaurants ranking (#26, 2024) and a Pearl 2025 recommendation. Book the chef's counter for the full picture; the à la carte is a solid fallback if the counter is full.

Ha's Snack Bar landed at #5 on the New York Times Best Restaurants in NYC list for 2025 within months of opening; a pocket-size Lower East Side bistro running French classics through a Vietnamese home-cooking lens, with fish sauce in almost everything and a focused natural wine list. Booking is currently easy, but a ranking like this in New York does not stay easy for long.

Yardy Rum Bar is Eugene's only serious West Indian dining destination; a cheerful sea-foam Victorian near downtown where chef Isaiah Martinez serves pholourie, griyo pork Jibarito, a configurable fried chicken sandwich alongside a rum-focused cocktail program by co-owner Nico Centanni. Opened in February 2024, it is the booking for food explorers who want Caribbean flavor done with real conviction.

Modern Bird is the most technically driven restaurant in Traverse City, where chef Andy Elliott applies genuine craft to Leelanau Peninsula ingredients. The walleye roulade and textural layering set it apart from the region's farm-to-table peers. Booking is easy relative to restaurants of comparable ambition; a practical advantage worth using.

Chatpati Delhi in Franklin Park has built a clear reputation since opening in June 2023: this strip-mall restaurant on Route 27 makes chole bhature that the New Jersey Indian community considers a genuine contender. The chaat menu runs deep across Delhi street food and Mumbai snacks. Walk-ins are easy, prices are casual, the room is reliably busy.

Bûcheron is a French American bistro on Nicollet Ave that opened in January 2024, channeling North Woods and Scandinavian American flavors through French technique. It's at its best in fall, when the kitchen turns root vegetables and winter squash into the kind of plates most neighborhood restaurants don't attempt. Book it for a dinner of two to four; skip it if you need a private room.

Bayonet earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand and landed on the NYT's 50 Best Restaurants in America list in 2025; both in its opening year. The raw bar anchors Alabama and East Coast oysters, while Rob McDaniel's rotating sustainable fish menu does the serious work. Booking is Near Impossible; plan well ahead or attempt the bar early in the week.

Bar Sen is Jeff Chanchaleune's Lao noodle parlor in OKC's Midtown, opened in February 2025 as the focused sibling to his restaurant Ma Der next door. The khao piek sen chicken noodle soup and glass noodle salad are the reasons to go. Easy to book now, well-suited for solo diners and food enthusiasts, the most serious Lao noodle option in Oklahoma.

McGonagle's is a Dorchester pub that opened in December 2024 with a chef who won Best Sunday Roast in London and is now cooking Irish food Boston has not seen before. The Sunday roast sells out weekly, the spice bag is the real thing, booking is easy. Go for a casual special occasion or a Sunday lunch.

ChòpnBlok brings West African cooking with genuine culinary depth to Houston's Montrose neighborhood in a fast-casual format that opened in October 2024. Chef Ope Amosu's six-bowl menu; built around suya-spiced skewers, jollof jambalaya, plantain-laden stews; is calibrated and precise. Easy to book, casual dress, the most distinctive flavor profile currently on Westheimer Road.

Bin 707 Foodbar is the restaurant to book in Grand Junction. Chef Josh Niernberg's seasonal Colorado cooking; Southwestern flavors, in-state sourcing, combinations that should not work but do; sits in a category of its own on Colorado's Western Slope. The most visually polished dining room in the region, open since 2009, easy to book.

Sanders BBQ Supply Co. opened in Beverly in June 2024 and immediately earned a spot on Resy's Best of the Hit List for 2025. The oxtail gumbo and rib tips are the reasons to make the 12-mile drive south from the Loop. Booking is easy, pricing is casual, the kitchen is producing smoked barbecue that holds its own against anything in the country.

Kwame Onwuachi's Afro-Caribbean restaurant inside the Salamander Hotel is one of D.C.'s hardest tables to get for good reason. The sharing-plate format pulls from Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, Creole traditions with real specificity; earned a Michelin Plate and Esquire Best New Restaurants nod in its first year. Book four-plus weeks out via Resy, bring a group to get the most from the menu.

Sunny's is the Miami steakhouse to chase when national recognition and a Little River destination feel matter more than predictable steakhouse polish. It is dinner-only, hard to secure, better for a planned special occasion than a casual fallback. If the location or booking friction is wrong for the night, Edge Steak & Bar or Prime One Twelve will be easier fits.

RVR is Travis Lett's Japanese-California izakaya on Abbot Kinney, named Esquire's Restaurant of the Year for 2025. The small-plates format; ramen, yakitori, a notably deep vegetable menu; makes it the most compelling new opening in Venice, CA. Booking is easier than the award profile suggests; mid-week tables are readily available.

Mezcaleria Alma is chef Johnny Curiel's mezcal bar and small-plates venue in Denver's LoHi neighbourhood, opened in November 2024. The menu pairs Japanese-sourced seafood, housemade tortillas, CDMX-inspired technique with a 120+ agave spirits list. At $$$, it delivers Michelin-adjacent ingredient quality in a louder, more casual format than its starred sibling Alma Fonda Fina next door.

Sam Richman's Rockland spot earns its reputation through serious sourcing; foraged mushrooms, house-pickled alewives, smoked haddock with homemade brown bread; served in a room where ketchup cans hold the wine. Booking is easy relative to the quality on the plate, making it the clearest yes for food-focused travelers passing through Midcoast Maine. Go in late spring or summer when the seasonal menu is at its most alive.

Meetinghouse is a Fishtown tavern that earned Resy's Best of the Hit List in 2025 by making American pub food; roast beef sandwiches, pork-and-beans, a dressed green salad; taste far better than the menu suggests. Opened in August 2023, it's an easy booking and a strong choice for a low-key dinner where the cooking does the work. Book a week ahead on weekends.

The Paper Bridge is Portland's most focused Northern Vietnamese restaurant, earning a Resy Best of the Hit List nod just over a year after opening in November 2023. The kitchen makes its own rice noodles; rare by any city's standards; and the Hanoi-style grilled half-duck makes it worth booking with a group. Cocktails like the calamansi gin fizz are calibrated to the food, not bolted on.

Verjus is Michael and Lindsay Tusk's French-bistro wine bar in Jackson Square, reopened in November 2024 and stronger for it. A Michelin Plate (2025) and an Opinionated About Dining ranking confirm what the room delivers: grower Champagne, Pacific-sourced bistro cooking, enough grown-up calm to make it one of San Francisco's more reliable special-occasion options at a non-tasting-menu price point.

A June 2025 Resy Hit List pick on New Orleans' West Bank, Saint Claire brings Cajun-French cooking to a century-old Algiers property with serious seasonal sourcing: muscadine grapes, pickled peaches, rabbit rillettes, dark roux gumbo. The 15-minute journey from the French Quarter is part of the meal. Book while reservations remain easy.

Diane Moua's Northeast Minneapolis restaurant, open since April 2024, is the most compelling new Hmong restaurant in the city. The coconut-pandan croissants and pan-fried bean thread noodles alone justify a visit, but the full menu; rooted in Hmong home cooking and executed with a pastry chef's precision; makes it worth coming back. Booking is easy now. Go before that changes.

Sun Moon Studio is a 12-seat, Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant in West Oakland run by Chefs Alan Hsu and Sarah Cooper, earning its star within months of opening in August 2024. The 12 to 14-course, producer-driven Californian menu is one of the most competitive reservations in the Bay Area. Book 6 to 8 weeks ahead, plan for a couple or solo visit, expect a personal rather than ceremonial meal at the $$$$ price tier.

Avize earned a Michelin Plate in its first year (2025) by fusing Southern ingredients with Alpine European precision in Atlanta's West Midtown. The creative, tweezer-food menu; fermented carrot Bolognese, lemon pepper frog's legs, trout crudo; rewards curious diners willing to engage with an unconventional concept. Booking is currently easy; that window will close as the restaurant's profile grows.

La Padrona is Back Bay's most complete Italian restaurant right now: a genuinely glamorous two-floor room inside Raffles Boston, backed by serious in-house pasta and technically precise cooking from Jody Adams. Book for a celebration dinner when you want the full experience; a high-energy room, sharp service, an extensive wine list, food that justifies the setting.

J.C. Holdway is Knoxville's most credentialed restaurant and the clearest answer to where to eat dinner in the city. Chef-owner Joseph Lenn has held a Michelin Plate and an Opinionated About Dining ranking since 2016 without expanding the concept. The Southern-Italian menu rotates seasonally, dinner only Tuesday through Saturday, booking lead time is a manageable one to two weeks.

Haring's opened in June 2024 on the Mystic River in Noank, converting a marine fueling station and lobster pound into one of the Connecticut shoreline's most flexible waterfront bookings. Eat steamed lobster and smoked bluefish on the dockside railing, or move inside for seared tuna and squash curry. Summer seats fill fast; book ahead.

The Mayflower Cafe has been a downtown Jackson institution since 1935, the 2024 ownership transition under chef Hunter Evans has kept the classics intact; seafood gumbo, broiled redfish, comeback sauce; while adding thoughtful improvements. Book here for a special occasion dinner when you want Gulf seafood with genuine local history behind it. Reservations are easy to secure.

Mori Nozomi is the most compelling sushi omakase to open in Los Angeles in 2024; Michelin-starred, eight seats, built around a kaiseki-inflected progression that goes well beyond a standard nigiri format. Reservations are hard to secure and evenings-only Tuesday through Saturday. Book if you are serious about the format; expect to plan weeks ahead.

A reservation-only seasonal tasting menu in a 1926 kit house in Staunton, Virginia. Chef Ian Boden's four-to-eight course dinners lean hard into local sourcing; ramps, morels, dry-aged proteins, preserved and fermented ingredients; in a spare, intimate room. Thursday through Saturday only, with an adjoining inn. Best for a special-occasion dinner for two.

Chubby Fish doesn't take reservations and seats just 40 people, but seven years of lines around the block on Coming Street tell you everything about the cooking. James London's daily-catch seafood menu; built around direct relationships with local fisherpeople and recognised on Resy's 2025 Hit List; makes the wait worthwhile. Arrive by 4 p.m., add your name to the list, wait next door.

Rada earned a Michelin Plate in its first year of operation; a meaningful credential for Charlotte's contemporary European dining scene. Chef Callan Buckles brings New York kitchen training to a small, focused room on Selwyn Avenue, with a tight European wine list and a Basque-inspired cocktail program that matches the food's precision. Book for a date night or special occasion rather than a casual drop-in.

Pilgrim's Inn opened in May 2025 with a rotating chefs-in-residence format: a new kitchen team takes over each month, cooking a seasonal menu rooted in Maine seafood and local produce. The Bar Tartine lineage behind the concept signals real ambition. Check who is in the kitchen before you book; it will meaningfully change what you eat.

Andrew Tarlow's first Manhattan restaurant earned a spot on New York Magazine's 43 Best list within months of opening in September 2024. The monthly-changing trattoria menu from chef Jordan Frosolone runs from cheese-filled focaccia to wood-oven sweetbreads and beef heart; a room for food-curious diners who want Italian with a point of view, not a safety net.

Isidore earned a Michelin star in 2025, less than a year after opening, on the strength of a kitchen that forages Texas terroir and transforms it; mesquite bean butter, local-milk yuba, Texas Wagyu; in ways the hotel-lobby room doesn't advertise. It's one of the most serious dinner bookings in San Antonio right now, one of the hardest to get. Book four to six weeks out minimum.

Cosmica is the most compelling new Italian opening in Salt Lake City’s Central Ninth neighborhood, where chef Zach Wade combines housemade pasta, elk carpaccio, a standout clam pie in a room that is deliberately kitschy and genuinely fun. The service style matches the concept: casual, confident, worth the booking. Open since May 2025, tables are easy to secure midweek and manageable on weekends with a week’s notice.

KC Turkey Leggman is a walk-in counter-service barbecue spot in northwest Kansas City built around one exceptional protein: the turkey leg. Open since May 2023, it earns its following with smoky, moisture-packed dark meat, a mac and cheese-stuffed leg that is worth ordering once, burnt ends that deliver. No reservation needed, no dress code, low spend.

Mawn is the hardest table in South Philadelphia and, since the 2025 James Beard Award for Emerging Chef, arguably in the whole city. Chef Phila Lorn's Cambodian-American noodle house on S 9th St runs BYO, casual, completely oversubscribed; plan at least several weeks ahead. The cooking spans Cambodian home food to broader Southeast Asian, the experience earns the effort.

Calliope is Chattanooga's most compelling dinner reservation right now: Modern Levantine cooking with serious Southern roots, from a chef who grew up in Amman and landed in Tennessee with a clear point of view. Falafel with preserved mango tahini, lamb andouille over muhummara, spatchcocked chicken with harissa toum make a strong case for booking a table. Opened September 2021; long-term lease signed.

Smithereens is the most wine-serious seafood restaurant in the East Village right now, earning a Star Wine List White Star and a Resy 2025 Hit List nod within months of opening. Chef Nicholas Tamburo's tight menu champions undersung fish; mackerel, bluefish, whiting; at $$$, with sommelier Nikita Malhotra's bright, high-energy white-wine list built to match. Book two to three weeks ahead.

Lilo earned a Michelin star in its opening year; a 24-seat chef's counter in Carlsbad serving a 12-course tasting menu rooted in California's coastline with global references. At $$$$ and with bookings genuinely hard to secure, it is worth the effort if a progressive tasting menu format is what you are after. Book as far ahead as possible.

The Wren opened in Fells Point in early 2025 and makes a credible case as Baltimore's strongest gastro pub. With 20 bar stools, a serious whiskey and draft program, a daily-changing seasonal kitchen run by chef-owner Will Mester, it delivers more than the room size suggests. Book for a date or a relaxed evening; arrive early for a stool.

Emeril's is the right booking when a New Orleans dinner needs to feel serious, polished, worth planning around. With Michelin 2 Stars, a Wine Spectator Grand Award, E.J. Lagasse leading a Cajun kitchen, it is better for a seated special occasion than takeout, delivery, or a casual group meal.

Chef Thai Changthong has spent over a decade perfecting khao man gai, at this Airport Boulevard spot; open since April 2024; the Thai-Chinese poached chicken dish gets a serious, sourcing-driven treatment: two-year-old broth, ice-bath skin, chicken-fat rice, seven sauces worth ordering in full. Booking is easy, the format is focused, the payoff is real.

Kabawa is worth prioritizing for a New York City celebration when the table wants a Caribbean tasting menu with a clear point of view. The counter-forward room suits solo diners, dates, small groups better than large parties, the strongest reason to choose it over nearby alternatives is the more structured, occasion-ready experience.

La' Shukran is Washington D.C.'s most ambitious Modern Levantine opening of 2024; a second-floor speakeasy accessed through a Morse Street alley, serving chef Michael Rafidi's genre-crossing menu of Levantine sharing plates and arak-forward cocktails. Reservations fill fast for good reason. Book ahead and order the soujek dumplings.