The Best Places in the United States

A courtyard waterfall and hot tub in the middle of a Vinings office corridor feels mildly surreal, but here we are. This AAA Three Diamond hotel plays the country-meets-contemporary card with wood tones, walk-in showers, and balconied rooms that overlook the pool. The Public House handles breakfast and dinner on-site, so you're not scrambling for eggs. Quieter and leafier than Buckhead proper, with EV chargers if you need them.

The building alone stops traffic: a swooping, neon-trimmed Googie landmark designed by Helen Liu Fong, sitting minutes from LAX like a postcard from 1958 that never got mailed. Inside, Pann's is a classic diner with high ceilings, linoleum tables, and a boisterous cross-section of Angelenos who all seem to know exactly what they're ordering. Mornings run to chicken-fried steak; afternoons tip toward patty melts and fried chicken. Come for the architecture, stay for the food, or reverse the order.

The big tray chicken arrives in a wok the size of a hubcap, bird parts submerged in hot oil with enough Sichuan peppercorns to rearrange your face. This tiny Chinatown noodle cafe runs on Henan hand-stretched wheat noodles, and the brisket topping is the move. The room is small, the tables fill fast, and the bill stays low enough that you can afford to order the garlicky cucumbers without doing any math.

Extended-stay hotel near Cumberland Mall and the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, with room options that run from standard guestrooms up to two-bedroom suites with full kitchens. The outdoor patio with a gas fireplace and BBQ grills gives the place a slightly more residential feel than the average airport-adjacent chain. Quiet location, EV chargers in the lot, and a AAA Three Diamond rating for guests who like a baseline guarantee.

12 Stories is a rooftop cocktail bar on the twelfth floor at the Wharf, with a DJ, a dancehall and R&B soundtrack, and a view of the whole Potomac. The food is slider-and-truffle-fries territory, so eat beforehand and treat the menu as a courtesy. It's a place to debut a new outfit, with a gingery rum-pineapple Story Teller in hand and a dance floor that rewards commitment.

A wall of waving Maneki-neko cats stands guard outside, which is either good luck or a lot of eye contact before dinner. Inside Circa, 8 East is a sit-down Asian restaurant built around small plates, skewers, and family-style dishes, so it rewards showing up with people willing to share. Come hungry, dress casually, and expect the pork belly to have been slow-cooked far longer than your commute.

82 Kimbap is a weekday-only stall in Sterling Food Hall, and it exists so the Loop's office workers have something to eat at noon that isn't a sandwich. The rice rolls come stuffed with spicy pork, bulgogi, or braised tofu, wrapped around egg, vegetables, and purple rice. Add-ons include instant ramyun and giant fishcake skewers, though the line is there for the rolls. Expect to eat at a food-hall table under fluorescent lanyard energy.

Aa Sushi is a casual Ballard sushi spot where the money that would buy one person an omakase fills the whole table with nigiri, rolls, and a startling amount of miso soup. The rice is kept just warm enough to go soft against a slice of yellowtail belly. The menu also lets you add tamago Spam musubi or lemon-squeezed chicken karaage, which feels less like ordering and more like giving in.

A downtown Reno dive bar named for the highway that used to run through town, with old signs, vintage photos, and the occasional auto part on the walls. Out back, a fire pit sits beside a silver Airstream that turns out soup dumplings and bao after 5 p.m. There's pool, live music, karaoke, and a house ritual involving steak seasoning, Jameson, and Worcestershire. Dress for a bar, not a brunch.

A chalkboard the size of a garage door lists three dozen craft beers at this Arts District brewpub, which is a lot of decisions before you've had a drink. Communal wooden tables fill up fast on weekends with card-playing post-grads nursing a single pint for hours, and the new patio takes some pressure off. A food window sells bánh mì, fish tacos, and a bacon-loaded hot dog best kept from your doctor.

Alma is a Balkan dinner spot on Northeast MLK where everything arrives built for sharing, so you'll be passing plates and negotiating over the last bite of octopus. Seafood runs through the menu, alongside an eggplant dish that makes a quiet case for vegetables. Strong black tea starts the meal and cubes of Turkish delight end it, which is more hospitality than most places manage. The cocktails include a lamb fat-washed mezcal, in case that was your next question.

Apna Chat Bhavan is a casual counter-service Indian spot in Beaverton, tucked between a food market and a micro cinema, serving the kind of range most places would split across three restaurants. A "half" order of biryani arrives as a mountain of rice, and the dosa is roughly the length of a small runway. Order at the counter, ignore your better judgment, and save room for the pastry case. Eater included it on its list of Portland's best restaurants and food carts.

Arario is a second-floor Korean restaurant in Midtown where the portions run large and the pickled banchan arrives whether you asked or not. The menu splits between traditional dishes and fusion, which is how a bulgogi cheesesteak and a Korean Loco Moco with black bean gravy end up on the same page. There's room for big groups, a terrace for decent weather, and a Negroni made with Japanese gin, because why not.

This Greek restaurant started in suburban Winnetka and then crept into the city, which is the opposite of how chains usually migrate. The River North room is all plants and pale wood, built to feel like a long lunch on an island with a better ferry schedule than yours. The menu goes past the gyros-and-flaming-saganaki starter pack, though you should still order the saganaki. Eater lists it among the area's best.

The whole fish, selected by the diner and cooked to order, is the move at this airy, high-ceilinged Greek restaurant in the heart of Beverly Hills. The room leans into an easy Aegean elegance without trying too hard, and the crowd obliges by dressing accordingly. Seafood does the heavy lifting, but the Greek salad and roasted peppers with barrel-aged feta hold their own. Bring someone you want to impress, and let the pacing do the work.

Greyhound statues loom over a room that looks like a wealthy socialite grandmother's vacation home, which is exactly the vibe Quality Branded, the group behind Don Angie, was going for. This maximalist Italian restaurant moved into the old Palm Steakhouse space and brought the New York original's cheeky energy with it. Daily-made pastas, a seafood tower, and roasted garlic babka that people apparently talk about unprompted fill out a menu that never takes itself too seriously.

A converted tourist kiosk steps from the Air and Space Museum that happens to be the only place on the National Mall where you can order a glass of wine with your pizza. The team behind Sonny's Pizza runs this casual counter, pouring natural wine, beer, and spritzes alongside grandma-style pan slices and focaccia sandwiches. Mornings lean espresso and pastries. The footnote writes itself: museum gift shops sell astronaut ice cream; this place sells Aperol spritzes.

This is the hotel lobby bar at the Pendry on the Wharf, all brass, espresso wood, and dim velvet, the sort of room where a Louis Vuitton-print jacket would blend right in. Hotel guests and the well-funded settle into the lounge with coffee-and-rum cocktails while complimentary nuts and olives arrive unprompted. Entrees exist, but most people stick to truffle fries and a charcuterie board. It's a nightcap spot.

Batch Gastropub is a casual pub in a neighborhood where most bars seem to require a reservation and a point of view. Here the main decor is televisions, plenty of them, which makes game day the natural habitat. The beer list runs deep on craft pours, the whiskey shelf is serious, and the pub fare leans burgers and wings. Happy hour and weekly trivia give the regulars a schedule, and nobody asks you to dress for the occasion.

This is a red-sauce Italian joint a block off the Strip, with celebrity headshots, old records, and a wedding's worth of chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling. The kitsch is not subtle, and it suits big, loud group dinners where nobody checks the menu prices. Entrees come in under $50 and include unlimited house red and white, which is the real plot of the evening. Plan on leftovers and a lively walk back.

Beaujolais Bistro is a proper French bistro in a vintage brick building on a leafy corner near the Truckee River, where tables sometimes spill into the front yard for what passes as a dinner party under the stars. Big groups get the moody wine cellar, and the list leans Burgundy with a few Napa bottles on standby. It holds AAA Three Diamonds and a spot on Eater's Reno list.

Beloved's Bread is a bakery-cafe south of Midtown, where the first sign you've arrived is a patient line outside, obeying a posted rule that only six people may be inside at once. The loaves run from sourdough to Japanese milk bread and a proper pretzel, and the cafe turns to eggs in the morning and sirloin burgers later. Order at the counter, eat on the move, and keep an eye on your place in line.

Bencotto is a sit-down Italian restaurant in Little Italy, run by a Milanese kitchen with no interest in reinventing lasagna. The showpiece is pasta tossed inside a giant wheel of Parmesan, which is exactly as theatrical as it sounds. Expect housemade noodles, ossobuco, and a pink pancetta sauce, plus a weekday happy hour where the Aperol spritzes are cheap enough to make the early start feel like good judgment.