The Best Places to Eat and Do in the United States

The name comes from the owner's childhood in Guerrero, where he and his siblings sold radishes at the market and got saddled with the nickname Cinco Rabanitos. This is a casual Pilsen taqueria, the order-at-the-counter, nobody-dresses-up kind, and the menu runs from tacos to tortas to caldos. Guerrero shows up in the slow-roasted pork in red mole and in the cecina, and Eater has it on its list of Chicago's best Mexican spots.

Abu Omar Halal started as a food truck and eventually got a roof, which is the kind of upgrade people at 2 a.m. appreciate. It's a casual counter-service spot built around shawarma, which arrives in wraps, over rice, loaded on fries, or as a salad bowl for the self-appointed healthy one. The family order comes panini-style on sesame bread, sliced like pizza. It stays open until 3 a.m., and until 5 on weekends.

A vegetarian Reuben built around roasted beets and smoked Thousand Island tells you where this Washington Park deli's loyalties lie, though the kitchen is happy to add bacon when asked. Part neighborhood grocery, part cafe, it runs breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch, with a coffee bar that also does beet and turmeric lattes for anyone who wants their caffeine to feel like a wellness decision.

The coffee here is grown and roasted entirely on Maui, which you'll notice before you finish the first sip. Akamai is a specialty coffee shop with baristas who take the technical side seriously, turning out foamy cappuccinos and cold brew done New Orleans-style with chicory alongside seasonal espresso drinks. Avocado toast and Belgian waffles round out the menu for anyone who needs something to eat. Two drive-up windows serve the island if you're moving fast.

The Rock sits 1.25 miles offshore, close enough that prisoners could see the city lights from their cells, which was apparently the whole problem. A 12-minute ferry gets you there, and audio tours walk you through the cell block, laundry, and chow house. The burned-out Warden's mansion is worth finding: it was torched during a 19-month Native American occupation in 1970, a chapter the gift shop tends to underplay.

The Alley burger comes stuffed with foie gras if you know to ask, which tells you most of what you need to know about this craft cocktail bar and small-plates spot tucked into downtown Durham. The seasonal cocktail menu rotates with actual intention, and the food goes well past bar snacks. A James Beard nominee for Outstanding Bar Program, it draws the kind of crowd that takes both the drinks and the kitchen seriously.

This is a gelateria in a Shea Boulevard shopping center, where you order on an iPad before you ever meet a human, which feels very Scottsdale until the scoops arrive. Flavors lean adventurous, with mesquite honey lavender and a ricotta studded with fig sharing the case with mint cookies and cream. You can taste before committing, and each cup or cone gets a crisp wafer on top. Cheap enough, casual enough, flip-flops welcome.

Raclette, schnitzel, spätzle, and a frosty Bavarian beer in a chalet-style dining room: Alpenrose leans into Alpine tradition without apology. This cozy European restaurant has been an old-school Vail institution, and a 2018 ownership change by the team behind neighboring Almresi kept the Old World spirit intact. Summer brings a flower-filled patio; winter makes the case for staying inside with something warm and melted.

Amore is a casual neighborhood pizzeria that brings Chicago to the desert, which is a long way to carry an opinion about crust. The tavern-style pies come out thin and cut in squares, and the deep-dish is there for the purists. Start with fried pickles or garlic bread, finish with mini cannoli, and eat the whole thing in a room that asks nothing of your wardrobe. Eater listed it among the best pizza in Las Vegas.

A state park sitting in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Angel Island has been a Coast Miwok home, an immigration station, and a Cold War missile base, which makes the hiking trails feel unusually layered. Rent a bike, join an open-air tram tour, or walk to the Immigration Station museum. The views of the bay and city skyline are the kind that make you forget you took a ferry to get here.

Anthony's is the M Resort steakhouse in Henderson, where the Sunday brunch buffet runs on a steakhouse budget and carries a price tag closer to a Strip dinner than a morning meal. The spread skips the usual sad chafing dishes for snow crab legs, beef Wellington, and prime rib. The patio looks out at the Strip from a safe distance, and reservations are limited, so book early.

Antonio's is an old-school Italian pizzeria on Hillcroft where the name is a promise: dough gets tossed overhead, and the staff has clearly done it more than a few times. The pies run up to 16 inches, and if you can't decide on toppings, the folks behind the counter will decide for you, which feels like the right amount of authority. Calamari and pasta share the menu, so nobody at the table gets stuck with just bread.

Shokupan, the pillowy Japanese milk bread, is the anchor of this quiet strip mall pastry shop near Fujiya Market. The egg salad sandwich built on thick slices of it has a following all its own, and the matcha rolls, red bean buns, and strawberry cakes lean subtle rather than sweet. A couple of tables invite lingering over green tea cheesecake, but the filled crepes and melon pan tend to disappear early, so arriving with a plan is not the worst idea.

A Beaux-Arts building that used to be the city's main library now holds one of the largest Asian art collections in the Western hemisphere, spanning India, China, Korea, Japan, Tibet, and beyond. Pottery, weapons, calligraphy, snuff bottles, and a fully reconstructed Japanese tearoom share space with a standout Chinese bronze collection. The redesigned galleries organize the sprawl around 15 anchor masterpieces, which helps considerably.

Tucked inside the historic Wheeler Opera House, this New American pub is where Aspen locals go when they've had enough of the scene and just want a bison burger and a beer. The menu roams widely, from Nashville hot chicken to tikka masala fries, without making a fuss about it. The European-style outdoor tables are the spot when the weather cooperates, and the whole place runs smoothly before and after shows next door.

A neighborhood shop in the Sunset that stocks handmade home goods, locally printed graphic tees, and vintage finds sourced from local makers and the occasional road trip. It has the feel of a very good flea market find without requiring you to actually dig through one. The shirts are designed and printed in San Francisco on US-made blanks, which is either a detail you care about deeply or proof that you do now.

Aya Sushi is a Bellaire sushi restaurant where a Tokyo-trained chef runs an omakase that costs $159 before the sake pairing adds $85. That is a real dinner out, so dress like you meant it. The menu also holds a bone marrow in shoyu butter and a Japanese-style ceviche with its own portmanteau name, because the sushi alone apparently wasn't dramatic enough. Eater lists it among Houston's best sushi spots.

Cuban bakery on Westheimer where the coffee comes strong and the pastries come sweet, which is exactly what the name promises. The capuchinos, spongy yellow cones soaked in spiced syrup, are the thing to know about, along with flaky pastelitos stuffed with guava, beef, or cheese. A cortadito or café con leche keeps things civilized; a café Cubano does not.

The shelves at this Eastern European deli and market run floor to ceiling with imported snacks, spices, and things you won't find at a regular grocery store. Grab a piroshki from the deli counter, a yeasted hand pie stuffed with beef and cheese, and ask them to warm it. The samsas and chebureki are worth the indecision. A courtyard out front makes it easy to eat standing up, which is probably for the best given the portions.

A long strip of sand tucked beneath the Presidio's bluffs, with the Golden Gate close enough to feel like a backdrop someone forgot to take down. The surf looks inviting and is genuinely dangerous, so most people stay on dry land and enjoy the view, which is the point anyway. Fog rolls in more often than sun, so dress for it. The Sand Ladder at the north end connects to trails along the bluffs for anyone who wants to turn a beach walk into a hike.

A Bosnian bakery tucked into a North Phoenix strip mall, where burek, those spiral coils of housemade phyllo filled with beef, cheese, or spinach, arrives golden and still warm from the oven. Mornings also bring kifli, glossy pretzels, and soft rolls alongside sweets when available. Regulars fill the small space sipping coffee and talking in Bosnian, which tells you most of what you need to know. Hours are short and seating is limited, so treat it like a farmers market: go early, go often.

Barebottle is a warehouse-sized brewery in Bernal Heights where you navigate dog toys and stroller wheels just to reach the taps. Arcade games, foosball, and a wall of TVs keep the kids busy while the adults drink, and whatever food truck is parked out front handles dinner. Odds are good you'll run into your third grader's classmate, and their dog.