The 100 Best Restaurants in North America & Europe

GET YOUR COPY TODAY!

GET A FREE COPY BY PARTICIPATING IN OUR 2009 SURVEY OR YOU CAN PURCHASE COPIES BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW

Opinionated About Dining Survey

The results of our 2008 Fine Dining Survey have now been published. Over 900 people participated in the survey, with 25% of them being located outside  of the U.S. The ratings are broken down into categories which correlate to how important a restaurant is. Though this guide only covers restaurants in the first three categories because of its limited scope. Here are the results:

Opinionated About Dining Top 50 Restaurants in North America with Rankings

Worth Planning a Trip Around

Urasawa, Beverly Hills, California 113
The French Laundry, Yountville, California 111
Jean Georges, New York, New York 109
Manresa, Los Gatos, California 109
Per Se, New York, New York 107
Alinea, Chicago, Illinois 106
McCrady’s, Charleston, South Carolina 106
Minibar, Washington, DC 105
Splendido, Toronto, Ontario 105

Worth Going Out of Your Way For

Le Bernardin, New York, New York 104
Providence, Los Angeles, California 104
Sushi Yasuda, New York, New York 104
Bouley, New York, New York 103
Hatfield’s, Los Angeles, California 103
Kuruma Zushi, New York, New York 103
Masa, New York, New York 103
Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, New York 102
Eleven Madison Park, New York, New York 102
Marinus, Carmel, California 102
Craft, New York, New York 101
Spago, Beverly Hills, California 101
Sugiyama, New York, New York 101
Chez Panisse, Berkeley, California 100
Il Grano, West Los Angeles, California 100
Uni, Boston, Massachusetts 100

Top Local Choices

Alex, Las Vegas, Nevada 99
Avenues, Chicago, Illinois 99
Blue Hill, New York, New York 99
Coi, San Francisco, California 99
Daniel, New York, New York 99
The Dining Room at the Langham, Pasadena, California 99
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, New York, New York 99
Michel Richard Citronelle, Washington, DC 99
Picasso, Las Vegas, Nevada 99
Sushi Seki, New York, New York 99
WD-50, New York, New York 99
Alan Wong’s, Honolulu, Hawaii 98
Fore Street, Portland, Maine 98
Lampreia, Seattle,Washington 98
Matsuhisa, Beverly Hills, California 98
Mistral, Seattle,Washington 98
Sona, Los Angeles, California 98
Susur, Toronto, Ontario 98
Joe’s Stone Crab, Miami Beach, Florida 97
Komi, Washington, DC 97
Masa’s, San Francisco, California 97
Morimoto, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 97
Troquet, Boston, Massachusetts 97
Boulevard, San Francisco, California 96
Cyrus, Healdsburg, California 96

Opinionated About Dining Top 50 Restaurants in Europe with Rankings

Worth Planning a Trip Around

Troisgros, Roanne, France 116
Bras, Laguiole, France 115
The Fat Duck, Bray-on-Thames, UK 114
L’Arpège, Paris, France 114
Pierre Gagnaire, Paris, France 114
El Bulli, Roses, Spain 112
L’Astrance, Paris, France 112
L’Arnsbourg, Baerenthal, France 111
El Poblet, Denia, Spain 110
Le Calandre, Sarmeola di Rubano, Italy 109
Les Ambassadeurs, Paris, France 109
Oud Sluis, Sluis, The Netherlands 109
Etxebarri, Axpe-Marzana, Spain 108
La Broche, Madrid, Spain 108
Le Louis XV–Alain Ducasse Monte Carlo, Monaco 108
Mugaritz, Errenteria, Spain 108
L’Ambroisie, Paris, France 107
El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain 106
Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark 106
Arzak, Donostia–San Sebastián, Spain 105
La Pergola, Rome, Italy 105

Worth Going Out of Your Way For

El Racó de Can Fabes, Sant Celoni, Spain 104
Hof van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium 104
L’Auberge de l’Ill, Illhaeusern, France 104
Les Maisons de Bricourt—Olivier Roellinger, Cancale, France 104
Pavillon Ledoyen, Paris, France 104
Taillevent, Paris, France 104
Comme Chez Soi, Brussels, Belgium 103
Elkano, Getaria, Spain 103
Lameloise, Chagny-en-Bourgogne, France 103
Guy Savoy, Paris, France 102
La Maison de Marc Veyrat, Veyrier du Lac, France 102
Le Bristol, Paris, France 102
Hibiscus, London, UK 100
The River Café, London, UK 100
Sant Pau, Sant Pol de Mar, Spain 100
The Square, London, UK 100

Top Local Choice

Apicius, Paris, France 99
Arnolfo, Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy 99
Gordon Ramsay, London, UK 99
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Paris, France 99
The Capital, London, UK 98
Enoteca Pinchiorri, Florence, Italy 98
Hispania, Arenys de Mar–Caldetes, Spain 98
L’Ami Louis, Paris, France 98
Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, UK 98
Tetou, Golfe-Juan, France 98
Cibrèo, Florence, Italy 97
Da Fiore, Venice, Italy 97
Tom Aikens, London, UK 97

If you participated in the survey, a copy will be mailed to you shortly. If you would like a free copy, you can get one by filling out our survey. Just click on the link to our homepage to register for the 2009 survey. If you would like to purchase copies, you can do so on the home page by using a PayPal account.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen. This is just the beginning. I am planning to expand the scope of the survey for 2009 to include moderate and inexpensive dining with the goal of publishing comprehensive guides to dining for bothe continents in the coming 12 months.

OPINIONATED ABOUT DINING SURVEY

Comments

[matt k.]

great blog. I work a few blocks from Urasawa in Beverly Hills and eat underneath it at McCormick's for their happy hour quite often. Funny knowing that it's such a destination for diners. I've had multiple offers to dine there with friends but the high cost hasn't allowed me to do so. I wonder why it scored higher than Masa in NY, even though this is the restaurant that was borne out of Ginza Sushiko. Perhaps chef Urasawa is more inventive. Who knows. Or maybe it's a longer "desination" for the majority of the diners in your survey (who are probably New Yorkers, I'm guessing). Either way, I'm wondering where I can obtain a copy of your book (in a store). If not, I'll just get it online. Cheers!

[Steve Plotnicki]

For some reason, many of the people who particpated in the survey were somewhat underwhelmed by Masa. I think the price, $350 to $250 at Urasawa, has something to do with it. There are also complaints of Masa not being particularly gracious, while Hiro is the perfect gentleman. As far as buying the book, Cook's Library has it and you can find it in just about any independant book store in the country.

[Mark]

Why call it North America? Just the United States would suffice. As, you don't seem too aware of the existence of Canada.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Hey there are loads of Canadian restaurants on the survey but few had scores high enough to qualify. But you can help rectify the situation by participating in the survey.

[Mike]

Great work on the Survey; however, any survey that allows McCrady's to be on par with Alinea and above Per Se is obviously flawed. I dined at McCrady's over the weekend and while nothing was bad, nothing on the tasting menu was anything close to exceptional. Sean Brock has a love for great ingredients and a lust for creativity but lacks the talent to pull of exceptional, mind-blowing dishes. I remember reading your post about how it is amazing what Sean Brock is doing in Charleston, SC. However, a better story would be about what John Shields is doing at the Town House Grill in Southwestern Virginia. He is a chef who has the love, lust and talent to deliver every time.

[Gow]

No Charlie Trotters? Highly disappointing... Trotters is one of the best restaurants in the world, not to mention North America.