The Best Places in the United States

The name "Theta" does hint at a quieter frequency than the surrounding blocks would suggest. This Kimpton hotel on 8th Avenue puts you a short walk from the Theater District, Hell's Kitchen, and the Rockefeller Center chaos, which makes it a practical midtown base without requiring you to sleep directly under a billboard. The 364 rooms lean calm and polished in the way the Kimpton brand tends to, a reliable counterpoint to the neighborhood's volume.

Fresh pasta lines the shelves at this Mission storefront, the casual offshoot of the Flour + Water restaurant around the corner, but the sandwiches are the reason to pull up a stool at lunch. The cured meat option layers mortadella, salami, and provolone against a sharp pepper relish and a hit of red wine vinegar. The eggplant parm, bolstered by kale pesto and burrata, is the kind of thing you think about on the walk home.

Avgolemono on a menu full of green chile cheese fries and omelets sets the tone at this neighborhood diner tucked onto a quiet, tree-shaded block just off Colfax. Chef Zorba's has been around forever, and the regulars who walk over from Congress Park carry themselves like they've never needed to look at the menu. Westword handed it Best Soup for a Hangover, which is either high praise or a very specific clientele study.

A small Uptown sandwich shop where the menu is short and the pork is the whole argument. The porchetta here comes out of the oven crackling-crisp on the outside and genuinely juicy inside, piled onto ciabatta with arugula and a pink peppercorn Kewpie mayo. The room is tight, the menu is tight, and the cravings that follow are not. A counter-service spot that keeps it simple and lets the roast pork do the talking.

Murals cover the walls of this Whittier neighborhood taco spot, and the name delivers exactly the disclaimer it promises: yes, tacos, but also slow-braised rabbit barbacoa in mole over heirloom masa, and beef cheeks in pasilla negro adobo with handmade tortillas. The chef has a Food Network face and the kitchen to back it up. Named one of Denver's 25 best restaurants by 5280, it's the kind of Mexican place that makes ordering feel like a commitment.

The amber glow through the windows at night is the first thing you notice, and then all the people inside, clearly mid-splendid-time. This is a neighborhood restaurant done with genuine ambition, the kind where the cowboy rib-eye with cracked pepper butter sits on the same menu as Dover sole and creative cocktails. Webster Groves is a quick drive from the city, and regulars treat it like their dining room, which is a compliment to everyone.

The dining room glows in golden light, and everyone seated in it has the look of someone who waited weeks for this reservation, because they probably did. Wright's Tavern is a small neighborhood steakhouse where the French Syrah, a New York strip, and Dauphinoise potatoes form the obvious throughline, but the crab cake and shrimp scampi quietly compete for the table's attention. St. Louis Magazine named it among the city's best restaurants.

The chef sources so locally he's reportedly knocked on strangers' doors to ask about their gardens, and his mom's plot is in regular rotation. The result is a Northwest New American restaurant on Alki Beach where essentially everything on the plate comes from Washington state, no California citrus allowed. The bar runs the same way and is worth the trip on its own, and the desserts have drawn their own devoted following.

Alpino is a Corktown dinner spot dressed as an Alpine ski lodge, with a stone fireplace at the center and no mountain within several hundred miles. The menu wanders through Austria and the neighboring French, German, Italian, and Swiss kitchens, and the team makes its own bread, pasta, and sausage. It was a James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant. Reserve ahead, especially if you're angling for the summer patio.

Every dish arrives in a metal pie tin, which sets the tone: this is a casual, communal American restaurant in RiNo where the whole point is ordering too much and arguing over the last of the mac and cheese. The menu runs from cornbread muffins to whole fried fish built for pulling apart into tacos, and the cocktails are tangy and strong enough to make everyone agreeable about sharing. Come with people you like, or you'll be negotiating with strangers.

The carts are back, loaded with dumplings, chicken feet, shrimp balls, and sticky rice, and on weekend mornings a line forms outside before the doors open. Star Kitchen is a dim sum parlor tucked into a strip mall on Mississippi, the kind of room that rewards a large, hungry group with a working knowledge of chile oil. Dinner happens too, but the morning rush is the whole point.

Purple ube tortillas are the opening move at this compact Mission taqueria, where the kitchen leans Yucatecan rather than the Bay Area standard. Cochinita pibil arrives with real tart depth and habanero salsa that bites back, and a pastor negro made with black adobo keeps things interesting. The San Francisco Chronicle named it among the best taco spots in the Bay Area, which tracks for a place this quietly opinionated about the form.

A big live oak shades the patio, which tells you most of what you need to know about this all-day cafe and cocktail bar on West Fifth. Coffee in the morning, serious drinks by afternoon, and a menu of laid-back dishes that runs from breakfast sandwiches built around crispy hash brown patties to a Taiwanese-style fried chicken sandwich at dinner. The kind of Austin spot that makes parking feel like a personality trait, and means it.

A neighborhood sushi spot tucked into Mt. Washington's merchant village, Chiyo draws locals away from the more obvious downtown options with straightforward nigiri and sashimi alongside a few playful additions, banana tempura ice cream among them. The room runs across two levels now, with a downstairs bar and a quieter dining room below. It's the kind of place regulars have strong opinions about, and those opinions are broadly favorable.

The fireplace in the entry has been warming Wall Street deal-makers since before anyone can remember, and the wood-paneled dining room at this old-school steakhouse still reads like a set for exactly that. The boneless rib-eye that carries the house name is the move, though the lobster Newburg keeps loyalists from ever opening another section of the menu. Business casual is the unspoken dress code, and nobody seems to mind.

Beef heart on a skewer is not a timid opener, but El Chullo's anticuchos, marinated and grilled dense and chewy, set the tone for a traditional Peruvian restaurant that doesn't hedge. The Melrose location on Seventh Avenue is cozy and colorful, the kind of room where a Pisco Sour tastes better than it has any right to. Lomo saltado, ceviche mixto, and arroz chaufa round out a menu that takes the Lima-meets-Canton fried rice angle seriously.

An old-school neighborhood butcher and sandwich counter in the Sunset, where the meat is weighed after slicing so your Italian sub doesn't tilt the table. That discipline produces something balanced rather than heroic: the Toscano lines up salami, coppa, provolone, and pepperoncini like they've been rehearsing. In-house roasted turkey, ham, and pork fill out the case, and on Tuesdays the Zinfandel-marinated tri-tip is the move.

Brie tempura on the same menu as otoro nigiri tells you something about the kitchen's priorities at this laid-back North Loop sushi spot: a little of everything, taken seriously. The room leans into natural wood and blue tile, calm enough that the quality of the fish can do the talking. House wine that doesn't embarrass itself and a short sake list round things out without fuss.

A smashburger shop built into a shipping container alongside Two Pitchers Brewing Co., Lovely's has a menu that reads like a love letter to drive-through nostalgia. Picnic tables and string lights fill the dog-friendly outdoor space. The fried onion burger, a riff on the Oklahoma classic George Motz made famous, cooks the patty right into thinly sliced onions so the beef fat goes everywhere it should.

Pinball machines and white walls set the scene at this Potrero Hill sandwich shop, where the menu runs on East Coast bodega logic: Kaiser rolls, poppy seeds, and a bacon-egg-and-cheese that doesn't apologize for itself. Pastrami swaps in for the pork if that's your move. Ask for the lacto-fermented hot sauces, which bring enough acid and heat to make everything sharper. Casual, low-key, and named among the Bay Area's better sandwich spots by the Chronicle.

Every sandwich at this sandwich shop contains pork, which tells you almost everything you need to know. The signature is porkstrami, a brined and smoked pork butt that earns its place alongside coppa, salami, and mortadella in the loaded Salvatore, served hot on a Dutch crunch roll. Turkey and roast beef exist if you insist. Old-timey novelty sodas handle cleanup duty. Bring your appetite and leave your dietary restrictions at the door.

Pan Artesanal is a Mexican bakery on Fullerton where the cinnamon rolls come in tiramisú, arroz con leche, and chocoflan, which is a lot of dessert to ask of a roll. Past the conchas you'll find egg sandwiches in red sauce, chilaquiles, and tacos on handmade tortillas. It tends to sell out early and a line forms, so arrive before the pastry case starts looking picked over. Eater has it on its Best Mexican Restaurants list.

A Hong Kong-style cafe in Quincy where the French toast oozes with creamy egg yolk and the ji cheung fun comes loaded with beef brisket or curry fish balls. The menu pulls from classic cha chaan teng tradition and gives it a modern, careful reworking. The chef earned a James Beard semifinalist nod and a Bon Appétit best new restaurant mention, which explains the regulars making the trip from the city.

A moody Old Town Scottsdale cocktail bar where the olive oil-washed dirty martini is only the beginning. The menu swings between arancini for two and a full table spread of ceviche, burrata, and pasta, and it changes often enough to reward regulars. The duck bolognese tossed with mafaldine and garlic crumble has become something of a signature. It reads equally well as a date bar or a group dinner, which is a harder trick than it sounds.

The chef's pastry background explains why the flan de erizo and the croissant sobrasada roll have each turned heads at Seattle Met. This tapas bar on 12th Avenue riffs on Galician cooking, leaning into the Pacific Northwest's seafood to find where Spain's northwest and Washington's coastline overlap. The menu takes liberties, in a good way, and the sherry list is longer than you'd expect. A James Beard semifinalist in 2024.

A chrome-and-neon diner aesthetic gets quietly serious treatment at Clyde's, where the kitchen leans on local ingredients and the menu runs from double smash burgers to seared salmon without apologizing for either. The chef earned a James Beard semifinalist nod for Best Chef: Midwest in 2024, which feels about right for a place still bothering to finish you off with soft serve. A fine diner, in every sense the name implies.

A boutique hotel where the art collection is the point, not the lobby filler. The 21c chain built its name in cities you wouldn't expect, and the Durham outpost fits right into a downtown mid-reinvention. Rooms sit alongside rotating contemporary art, and the whole thing feels more like a stay inside a functioning museum than a polished-down corporate property. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.

Arched windows and original brick from an old Midtown building are still doing the heavy lifting here, even as the interiors have gone full Autograph Collection, with taupe walls, tall headboards, and copper accent pillows. Chesapeake Energy Arena and Bricktown are walkable, and the Rooftop O Bar draws enough locals that you'll forget you're staying at a hotel.

A water taxi from Pier 25 drops you on Governors Island, a city park that happens to sit between Brooklyn and the Statue of Liberty, where Collective operates a glamping resort that makes the Catskills seem like a lot of driving. Tents come with air conditioning, Frette robes, and en suite bathrooms, and the top cabin adds a soaking tub aimed at the Statue of Liberty. Cocktails on the Sunset Terrace, morning buffet, yoga, oyster shucking classes: summer camp, if camp had gone upmarket.

The origin story involves black flowers bought from a French roadside cart, and the whole hotel has leaned into it ever since. Moody botanical wallpaper by Ellie Cashman lines the interiors, while giant murals spill into a poolside courtyard with fire pits and Adirondack chairs. Casitas and suites have terracotta floors and midcentury furnishings. The speakeasy-style rosé bar keeps things from taking themselves too seriously.

Art Deco bones from the thirties, a wash of UW purple, and a plaid nod to the city's nineties moment: Graduate Seattle is a boutique hotel that wears its neighborhood on its sleeve. Rooms are comfortable without pushing into splurge territory, which fits the University District just fine. There's no bar or restaurant, just a lobby lounge, but the Neptune Theatre is right across the street and the neighborhood fills in the rest.

Twenty-inch brick walls and ornate plasterwork that predate the Civil War set the scene at this nine-room boutique hotel in Boylan Heights. The Italianate mansion has been fitted out in what the team calls "Modern Victorian," meaning four-poster beds and working fireplaces alongside contemporary furniture, so it reads as historic without feeling like a museum. Guests book the Honeymoon Suite; the house books weddings in the library and drawing room.

Every night at 7:33, the hotel rings a bell and invites guests to pour a whiskey, marking the end of Prohibition with the kind of ritual that sounds gimmicky until you're actually doing it. Hotel Distil occupies a restored bourbon warehouse on Whiskey Row, where the old facade gives way to glassy, modern rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and city or river views. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected Louisville hotels.

A three-story chandelier anchors the lobby of this downtown Indianapolis hotel, which occupies a restored 11-story landmark that's been around long enough to have earned the bones worth restoring. Inside, Italian marble and Indiana-inspired artwork do their civilizing work, while rooms come with proper skyline views, wet bars, and Byredo products for guests who notice such things.

Three blocks south of the Sunset Strip, on a genuinely quiet residential street, sits this all-suite hotel that has quietly figured out it doesn't need to compete with the nightclubs nearby. Suites come with fireplaces and fully stocked minibars, some add kitchenettes and balconies, and the rooftop pool looks out over West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The lounge drifts from co-working space to something more convivial by evening, on its own unhurried schedule.

Zombie Taco and Bar Moxy handle the ground floor of this Moxy hotel on historic Whiskey Row, which puts Churchill Downs, the distillery trail, and the KFC Yum! Center all within reach. Rooms are compact and wired for guests who treat the bed as a pitstop between bourbon stops and late nights out. The communal living room, game tables, and Whiskey Alley patio make it clear that lingering in the lobby is half the point.

Named for one of the building's original tenants, this hotel in a century-old downtown tower pays tribute to Des Moines past and present without making it a history lesson. Mid-century modern interiors run throughout, and rooms come with Sferra linens and original work from local artists on the walls. The on-site Mulberry Street Tavern is worth knowing about on its own. The Michelin Guide includes it among its selected hotels.

A boutique hotel in Buckhead that takes its design cues from Hong Kong rather than the usual Atlanta playbook of marble lobbies and monogrammed robes. Rooms are stylish without being fussy, the restaurant runs wood-fired Mediterranean, and the cocktail bar, Mr. B, plays a convincing modern riff on old-school glamour. If you were expecting another legacy luxury chain on Piedmont Road, this one will catch you off guard.

The upstairs Bullock Room, named for Tom Bullock, the first African American to publish a cocktail recipe book, tells you everything about how seriously this Lafayette Square bar and restaurant takes its history. Seasonal cocktail menus have drawn inspiration from roller derby and Dolly Parton, which is either chaotic or inspired depending on your mood. The burger, loaded with chorizo jam and pub cheese on a challah bun, holds its own alongside the drinks.

A German-Lithuanian couple looked at upstate New York and saw Scandinavia, which is either a leap of faith or just good eyes. The result is a Michelin Key hotel in Windham with A-frame cabins and a lodge redesigned in clean Nordic lines, sitting in Catskills hills that have been quietly staging a comeback. It's two hours from the city, which is exactly far enough to feel like you actually left.

Named for George Bailey's house in "It's a Wonderful Life," this five-room bed and breakfast in Great Barrington is run by a couple who came up through the New York restaurant world. The rooms mix historical bones with modernist furniture and an eclectic haul of art and antiques. A billiards parlor and a music room keep things interesting between meals, and the Berkshires towns nearby handle lunch and dinner. Michelin has awarded it one Key.

A modernist former motor lodge in North Hollywood that leaned into its past instead of apologizing for it, the Garland kept the grasscloth wallpaper, wood paneling, and stone fireplace, then painted the gym retro orange for good measure. Rooms have private balconies, and the hotel is dog-friendly in a way that goes beyond a shrug, with toys and bowls waiting on arrival. The Michelin Guide includes it in its selected hotels.

A boutique hotel on the edge of World's Fair Park, the Tennessean holds a Michelin Key and makes a strong case that Knoxville has fully arrived on the overnight scene. Rooms lean into the luxury side of boutique, comfortable without being anonymous, and the downtown location puts you within easy reach of the city's better restaurants and breweries. The kind of place that makes you wonder why you ever booked a chain.

A working farm in Gardiner that takes the "secluded" part more seriously than most Hudson Valley properties, Wildflower Farms is an Auberge resort with 65 cabins spread across actual farmland. The produce grown on the property feeds Clay, the on-site restaurant. The Thistle Spa handles the rest. It holds a Michelin Key, which is the guide's way of saying the stay itself is the point.

Arched doorways, white tablecloths, and filigree pendant lights give this Loyal Heights Middle Eastern restaurant the feel of a neighborhood place that knew exactly what it wanted to be and never wavered. Hummus plates, mezze spreads, kebabs, and family-style platters fill tables that tend to fill early. The hummus topped with lamb and pine nuts has its own cult following, which is saying something in a city that eats a lot of hummus.

The menu changes constantly, so on any given night dinner at this neighborhood restaurant might land on Filipino braised pork, lamb biryani, or smoked chicken pappardelle. Beyond the dining room, the team runs cooking classes, farm dinners, and a grocery program, which gives the place a slightly utopian community-hub energy. The focaccia with whipped garlic butter has a reputation that precedes it, which tells you something about the level of care going into everything else.

The menu at this Mexican restaurant changes constantly, which is either the chef's restlessness or a sign that he has a lot to say. Emanuel Corona draws on Puebla, Mexico City, and Oaxaca for cooking that moves between tlayudas and chiles rellenos, beef cheek barbacoa and lamb birria. The room on South Second Street carries the quiet weight of a place that has meant something to this neighborhood for a long time, under more than one name.

Rebuilt after a 2005 fire, this Adirondacks lodge sits right on the edge of Lake Placid, the water kind, not the film. Arts and crafts bones, plaid upholstery, and animal prints give the interior a luxurious take on rustic Americana. There's a casual pub for hot toddies and chess, and a proper dining room for something more considered. The kind of place that takes the "tranquil getaway" promise more seriously than most.

The Victorian mansion anchoring this Cape Cod resort has been around forever, and its bones still set the tone: high ceilings, grand proportions, and 90 rooms a short pedal from some of the best bike paths on the Eastern Seaboard. The rest of the property fans out into villa clusters for families who need a kitchen and a door to close. Brewster is a quieter corner of the Cape, which is either a selling point or a warning, depending on who you ask.

Steamed momos are the anchor here, plump Nepalese dumplings served with a tomato-cilantro sauce that splits the difference between salsa and chutney. Bini's Kitchen is a casual counter spot, the brick-and-mortar home of a catering operation that built its reputation on those dumplings alone. Combo meals let you mix in vegetarian stews and grilled meats, and the whole thing stays firmly in lunch-money territory. The Howard Street location is the one with actual seats.

The Baja-style fish taco is the reason people show up at this casual order-at-the-counter seafood spot in the Outer Sunset. Rockfish comes out of the fryer in a shattering crust, and the carrot habanero salsa is bright and sharp enough to keep things interesting without just torching your tongue. San Francisco Chronicle named them among the best tacos in the Bay Area, and the regulars here behave accordingly.

Luce is a small Italian trattoria on East Burnside, with a checkerboard floor, floor-to-ceiling windows, and shelves of jarred things that make it feel like a mini-mart from a more graceful era. Antipasti run a few dollars, pastas come in half portions, and the house wine arrives in little tumblers. They don't take reservations, so the plan is to show up and look relaxed about waiting. It has made both the Eater and Portland Monthly best-of lists.

San Dong is a Taiwanese noodle house on Bellaire Blvd where the forks, spoons, and bowls are all the to-go kind, and you grab your own containers off a shelf like it's a very small hardware store. The menu is beef noodle soup and pan-fried or steamed dumplings, and a full meal for two comes in under $20. Bring cash, tip the cashier, and don't expect much elbow room.

The dinner-party vibe is not an accident: Scout's grew out of an apartment pop-up, and the casual energy, upbeat music, and focused menu still read that way. Both chefs came up through fine dining around St. Louis, and the cooking shows it without announcing it. Vegetables get the same attention as the pasta, and the menu stays short enough that everything on it clearly earned its spot.

This is a Filipino supermarket with a food court attached, so dress for a cart and bring a stomach with a plan. Grill City turns out whole squid, skewers, and chicharones fried to order, while a steam-table station carves slices off a roast pig. Do a lap of the aisles before committing, then stop at the bakery by the exit, where the ube is so thorough it borders on a personality.

A neighborhood restaurant where the owners greet you like they've been expecting you, African Grill and Bar serves a broad sweep of regional African cooking, not just one country's repertoire. Jollof rice, oxtail stew, black-eyed pea dishes, fish stew, and several kinds of porridge all share the menu. Regulars tend to work through it methodically, which is a reasonable life goal.

An all-outdoor pizza shop spread across terraced levels in Dana Point, with citrus trees close enough to brush your shoulder and a window cut into the kitchen so you can watch the wood-fired ovens do their thing. Two styles of pizza, round and square, both with serious crust credentials, plus salads and sandwiches for anyone dragged here involuntarily. It landed at number four on 50 Top Pizza USA, which is a fairly loud argument made quietly.

The burritos here come open at both ends, more like fat rolled tacos than anything you'd expect, and ordering one is a mistake because you'll immediately want another. Testal is a casual counter-service taco shop on Grand Avenue doing Chihuahuan cooking, a regional tradition that gets less attention than it deserves in Phoenix. The rajas, spicy and cheesy with roasted poblano, are a reason to make the trip on their own.

The pink storefront on the Avenue of Fashion signals the tone before you're even inside. This bakery and cafe is the kind of place that does cinnamon rolls, banana pudding cupcakes, and celebration cakes alongside a solid vegan lineup, with a family caramel recipe that's been around forever anchoring the whole operation. Chef April Anderson was a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Bakery. Baking classes run separately at Eastern Market for those who want to take notes.

Cheesesteaks and pizza from a shop that takes both more seriously than most fine-dining kitchens take their tasting menus. Little Arthur's started as a pop-up and landed in a sunny little beer bar on Seventh Avenue, where the sourcing is meticulous and the portions are generous enough to make the prices feel fair. Mozzarella sticks and loaded fries round out a menu that reads casual but cooks deliberate.