It could be the way the room embraces you as you linger with friends. It could be an eye-opening flavor combination. Curry leaf butter on warm cornbread? Genius. Or maybe you just had no idea a roast chicken could be so memorable. But you know it when you feel it. And we do, too.

For the 2026 list of our 50 favorite restaurants in the United States, the scouting team was bigger than ever. As the 16 of us traveled the country, we ate in all kinds of places, from small-town Wisconsin to downtown Manhattan.

Our picks aren’t ranked, and if a restaurant was on a previous year’s list, you won’t see it here. Many have opened since we finished reporting last year’s list (they’re marked “new”). Some are just weeks old, already great but very much still becoming themselves. Others are decades old, and perfectly seasoned. We try to experience them the same way you do. We brave the reservation apps, we stand in the lines, we walk in unannounced. We pay for all of our food, and we don’t accept freebies.

Most importantly, we’re looking for that feeling. In these 50 places, we found it. 

Junah

Salt Lake City • Italian Japanese • Opened March 2025 • junahslc.com

Mckenzie Tagai

It may have surprised Salt Lake residents when the chefs Felipe Oliveira and Hiro Tagai, who opened the ramen bar Koyoté in 2024, followed that hit with … a fusion restaurant. The cuisine at Junah is itameshi, a Japanese tradition integrating Italian elements. At Junah that means a menu heavy on pasta, like pork and beef ravioli shaped like gyoza in gravylike brown butter demi-glace, or a swirl of tagliolini in a creamy sauce with speckles of mentaiko and a bundle of shiso on top. On one lucky night, a tuna tartare special appeared to be served on cubes of crispy rice, but, upon one shattering bite, revealed themselves as deeply golden potato pavés. For dessert, the standout is a simple dish of sliced honeydew melon, cured in sake for 3 days, and shaped into a perfect, electric-green rose. 

Junah