Food & Wine's 2026 Top US Restaurants list (4 out of 10)

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The Top 10 US Restaurants, According to the Experts

04/08/26

The best restaurants in America right now aren't just serving memorable meals; they're telling personal stories. The top 10 for Food & Wine's 2026 Global Tastemakers Awards channels a wide map of influences, from Guadalajara and Jamaica to southern Thailand and South India, filtered through the ingredients and energy of their home cities. Some occupy Michelin-starred dining rooms; others buzz with the energy of a joyful neighborhood hang, but all of them share a common thread — chefs cooking with conviction and celebrating their roots while pushing American dining forward. From coast to coast, these are the restaurants worth traveling for.

01 of 10

Winner: Kabawa (New York City)

A spread including the Puerto Rican pork shop at Kabawa in NYC.

Photo by Andrew Bezek

Chef Paul Carmichael celebrates his Caribbean heritage in New York's East Village, where the former Momofuku Ko space now houses Kabawa, a collaboration with the Momofuku group. Opened in March 2025, the restaurant centers on counter seating around an open kitchen, turning out dishes that pull from across the Caribbean, like electric red pepper shrimp, breadfruit toston, and jerk duck sausage. The three-course prix fixe, with several choices offered for each course, is ideally experienced with a group to taste the full range; at the end of the night, the neighboring Bar Kabawa makes a strong case for one more patty and daiquiri.

03 of 10

Canje (Austin, Texas)

Jerk chicken at Canje.

Courtesy of Canje

Bold spice and unapologetic heat define Canje, where Caribbean cooking takes center stage in East Austin. 2020 F&W Best New Chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph — a 2025 James Beard Outstanding Chef semifinalist — draws from his Guyanese heritage and across the islands, turning out pepper fish fragrant with aromatics, rich West Indian curry, and dark, slow-cooked pepperpot built on cassareep (a thick, cassava root syrup that’s a staple in Guyanese cuisine.) The cocktail program matches that intensity with signature drinks like the Curry Wata, made with curry gin, mango-apple chutney, and citrus, and frozen riffs that cut right through the heat.

04 of 10

Dogon (Washington D.C.)

Hoe Crab at Dogon.

Photo by Scott Suchman

2019 F&W Best New Chef Kwame Onwuachi made his long-awaited return to Washington, D.C. in 2024 with Dōgon, an Afro-Caribbean dining room inside the Salamander hotel built on big flavors and stories. Named for the West African Dogon tribe and inspired by Benjamin Banneker — the Black astronomer-surveyor who mapped the District’s original boundary in the 18th century — the restaurant weaves local history with Onwuachi's Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole roots. The signature hoe crab with aji verde is a must, as are mains like Mom Dukes Shrimp and berbere roasted chicken paired with jollof rice. Since opening, the restaurant has earned a slew of accolades, including TIME World’s Greatest Places 2025.

09 of 10

Kann (Portland, Oregon)

Photo by Steve Freihon

Portland’s hottest table is also one of its most personal. At Kann, three-time James Beard Award-winning chef Gregory Gourdet cooks a live-fire love letter to Haiti, weaving Scotch bonnet heat, epis aromatics, and abundant spice into the Pacific Northwest’s seasonal bounty. The family-style parade of dishes are meant for sharing, from warm plantain brioche buns with plant-based epis butter and smoked shrimp curry with pickled green tomatoes to impeccably charred seafood and meats. The room hums with energy and the experience feels celebratory from start to finish