15 Great American Restaurants You Shouldn’t Miss
America’s food scene is a melting pot of flavors that tells the story of our nation’s diverse heritage. From coast to coast, talented chefs are creating unforgettable dining experiences that showcase regional ingredients and cooking techniques.
These 15 restaurants represent the best of American cuisine, offering everything from down-home comfort food to innovative culinary masterpieces.
1. Alinea (Chicago)
Grant Achatz’s modernist playground transforms dining into performance art. Floating food balloons and edible centerpieces might sound gimmicky, but the mind-blowing flavors back up the theatrics.
Located in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, this three-Michelin-star restaurant serves multi-course tasting menus that challenge your perception of what food can be.
2. Franklin Barbecue (Austin)
How can a place be worth a five-hour wait? Take one bite of Aaron Franklin’s brisket and you’ll understand why barbecue fanatics line up before dawn.
Slow-smoked to perfection with nothing but salt, pepper, and patience, this meat speaks for itself. The modest surroundings only emphasize that here, it’s all about what’s on your tray.
3. The French Laundry (Yountville)
Though Thomas Keller’s temple of fine dining opened in 1994, it remains the benchmark for American haute cuisine. Nestled in a historic stone building in Napa Valley, every detail feels intentional.
The perfectly choreographed service makes the multi-hour, multi-course experience feel like a delicious dream. Just don’t expect to snag a reservation without planning months ahead!
4. Eleven Madison Park (New York, NY)
Nestled in a stunning Art Deco building overlooking Madison Square Park, this three-Michelin-starred restaurant transforms dining into an unforgettable experience.
Chef Daniel Humm’s kitchen creates plant-based masterpieces that challenge everything you thought you knew about vegan cuisine.
Despite the change, their commitment to excellence remains unwavering.
5. Commander’s Palace (New Orleans)
Where else can you find 25-cent martinis at lunch? This bright turquoise Victorian mansion has been serving refined Creole cuisine since 1893.
Jazz brunch here is practically a religious experience for food lovers. The bread pudding soufflé might make you consider moving to New Orleans permanently, just saying. Famous chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Paul Prudhomme got their start in this legendary kitchen.
6. Canlis (Seattle)
Perched on a hillside with jaw-dropping views of Lake Union, this mid-century modern gem has been Seattle’s special occasion spot since 1950. Family-owned for three generations, Canlis somehow feels both timeless and contemporary.
While jackets were once required, today’s menu reflects Pacific Northwest ingredients through a global lens. The legendary potato chips served with champagne prove fancy food can still be fun.
7. Dooky Chase’s Restaurant (New Orleans)
Civil rights leaders planned strategy over gumbo at this historic Creole restaurant where the late Queen of Creole Cuisine, Leah Chase, fed everyone from presidents to freedom riders.
When it’s offered, don’t pass up the gumbo z’herbes, but the fried chicken is still renowned. Lunch here is a feast for the spirit and the stomach, with an excellent collection of African American art on the walls.
8. Spago (Beverly Hills)
Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant invented California cuisine as we know it. Smoked salmon pizza, anyone? Hollywood power players still flock here for lunch deals and star sightings.
However, the food remains the real celebrity. Seasonal ingredients from local farmers get the spotlight treatment. After four decades, Spago continues to influence how America eats, proving true innovation never goes out of style.
9. Frasca Food and Wine (Boulder)
Imagine Northern Italy’s finest regional restaurant somehow teleported to the foothills of Colorado. Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey and Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson have created exactly that magical experience.
Perfect precision and simplicity are celebrated in the Friulian-inspired food. Their gnocchi may be the lightest in the United States. For good cause, the wine program has received every accolade in the industry.
10. Husk (Charleston)
Southern ingredients get the royal treatment at this Charleston institution housed in a Victorian mansion. Chef Sean Brock’s philosophy of rediscovering heirloom varieties and traditional techniques sparked a revolution in Southern dining.
The menu changes twice daily based on what local farmers bring to the door. Even the humble burger becomes transcendent here, topped with bacon ground right into the patty. Drop your thoughts below if you’ve tried their famous cornbread!
11. Katz’s Delicatessen (New York)
“Send a salami to your boy in the army” was their WWII slogan, but today people line up for towering pastrami sandwiches that defy gravity.
This Lower East Side institution has been slicing meat since 1888.
Famous for the “When Harry Met Sally” scene (yes, THAT scene), the real star remains the hand-carved pastrami. Grab your ticket, don’t lose it, and prepare for a sandwich that requires two hands and many napkins.
12. Cochon (New Orleans)
Cajun country cooking gets a chef’s touch at this warehouse district hotspot. Chef Donald Link’s celebration of all things pork (cochon means “pig” in French) has turned Louisiana’s rustic cuisine into a national treasure.
Your life might be changed by wood-fired oysters sizzling with garlicky chile butter. Numerous tourists have become ardent supporters of Louisiana cuisine after trying the crispy fried boudin balls, which are made of pork and rice sausage.
13. Pizzeria Bianco (Phoenix)
Before artisanal pizza was everywhere, there was Chris Bianco, obsessively crafting perfect wood-fired pies in the Arizona desert.
Food critics have called it America’s best pizza, and the lines still form before opening.
The Rosa with red onion, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Arizona pistachios proves pizza genius lies in restraint, not excess toppings. Though the wait can be brutal in summer heat, that first bite makes you forget everything except the pizza in front of you.
14. Highlands Bar & Grill (Birmingham)
Frank Stitt’s Birmingham institution marries Southern ingredients with French technique, proving fine dining doesn’t need a big city address. After multiple James Beard nominations, they finally won Best Restaurant in America in 2018.
The stone-ground baked grits with country ham remain on the menu since opening day in 1982. The legendary service makes everyone feel like a regular, whether it’s your first visit or your fiftieth.
15. Zuni Café (San Francisco)
If California cuisine had a spiritual home, it might be this Market Street institution with its copper-topped tables and wood-fired brick oven. The late chef Judy Rodgers created a menu that defined farm-to-table before it was a buzzword.
They reward patient with crispy skin and bread salad that soaks up every delicious drop of their roast chicken for two, but it takes an hour to prepare. While you wait, the Caesar salad and oyster bar make excellent appetizers.