The Best Places to Eat and Stay in the United States

Spam musubi is a 7-Eleven staple in Honolulu; at Māze it arrives with a gossamer strip of Wagyu over rice steeped in Wagyu fat. This omakase, rooted in Asian and Hawaiian traditions and pronounced like the Japanese word for "to mix," folds cocktails into the tasting menu itself, drinks built in collaboration with the chef rather than offered alongside. A James Beard semifinalist and a two-star New York Times Critic's Pick, it reads as the kind of place that earns those mentions quietly.

The tater tot casserole with fried onions has its own reputation at this Houston Heights BBQ shop, which is saying something given the brisket. Pitmaster Leonard Botello IV runs a slick, polished counter operation that somehow still cooks like a roadside shack in the best possible sense. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand. Arrive early; the sausages sell out, and the line is serious before the doors even open.

A Havana-via-Hemingway resort sitting just off Scottsdale's main drag, where the whole premise is that you're not in the Arizona desert, even when the Arizona desert is right there. Eight acres of hammocks and two pools, one with a sandy beach, do a lot of convincing. Rooms run Art Deco and mid-century, heavy on walnut and brass. The on-site restaurant serves Cuban-American food, and yes, craft cocktails arrive in pineapples.

Desert-toned walls and a condensed, always-shifting wine list set the mood at this neo-bistro and wine bar on Seventh Street. The team pulls from old and new world bottles for both pours and a rotating spritz selection, while small plates from the kitchen give you a reason to stay for another glass. A James Beard semifinalist for Best New Bar, it draws the kind of crowd that actually talks to the table next to them.

The Sanskrit logo rings the window of this lively neighborhood Indian restaurant on a Capitol Hill corner, and the sidewalk fills up the moment the weather cooperates. The kitchen, run by Rasika veterans, takes classic Indian cuisine sideways, folding blue cheese into tandoor chicken kebabs and sending minced bison into momos. A Michelin Bib Gourmand for a room that buzzes rather than whispers.

A Michelin Bib Gourmand BBQ truck parked next to Oddwood Brewing, where the line forms early and the menu swings between Texas smoke and Cairo spice. The chef traded a finance career for a pit, and the result is brisket country seasoned with sumac, cinnamon, and pomegranate. Texas Monthly named it among the state's best BBQ joints, and the crowd agrees, loudly, with their mouths full.

The cemitas, Puebla-style sandwiches on sesame-seeded buns baked in-house, are what anchor this colorful South Philly Mexican restaurant. Bring friends and a strategy, because the menu rewards sharing, and skipping the lacy griddled flour tortillas would be a regrettable act of self-sabotage. The chef earned a James Beard semifinalist nod and a Michelin Bib Gourmand, plus a spot on the New York Times restaurant list, which is a lot of hardware for a tight little room.

Afghan rugs on whitewashed walls and hurricane lamps set a date-night mood that doesn't feel like it's trying too hard. This Afghan restaurant in Columbia Heights earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand with food that's fragrant and light, nothing buried under heavy spice. The flatbreads and dumplings are reliable starting points, and the qabili palow, lamb over basmati with carrots and raisins, is the dish regulars plan their evening around.

Chris and Idie Hastings have been cooking in Birmingham long enough that the city has essentially grown up around them, and now their New American restaurant anchors the Pepper Place market district with a curved chef's counter and a menu that moves with the seasons. The heirloom tomato salad in summer is the kind of thing regulars plan around. The Michelin Guide has it listed.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten's steakhouse inside the ARIA leans on the premium-cut playbook, Wagyu and Kobe alongside serious seafood, with the kind of sauce work that reminds you a French-trained chef is quietly running things. The room is sleek and contemporary, polished enough for a deal dinner but not so stiff you feel watched. The wine list is extensive and the service knows it. AAA Four Diamonds.

A century-old ranch house just outside Beaver Creek Resort, and the chef's family actually lives there, which goes a long way toward explaining why this French fine dining room feels less like a white-tablecloth performance and more like someone's very well-fed home. The European-trained kitchen leans into generous portions and old-school indulgences, with a dessert course the menu treats as non-negotiable. Dress up a little; the room earns it.

Dover sole filleted tableside is the kind of move that makes the name feel earned. Splendido is a fine dining room in the Beaver Creek area where the menu runs from pomegranate-marinated Colorado lamb to a chocolate and peanut butter pavé, threading a line between creative and classically comfortable. Service is warm and attentive without being stiff. The crowd tends toward après-ski celebration mode, and the room is happy to oblige.

Artichoke hearts turn up in a mala beef shin appetizer, which tells you everything about where this Cantonese restaurant is coming from. The Happy Crane is chef-driven contemporary Chinese in Hayes Valley, the kind of place where fennel and Italian charcuterie find their way into char siu and gold coin chicken without anyone apologizing for it. A James Beard semifinalist, and reservations are the first obstacle you'll face.

Sneakers mounted on the wall are, in fact, for sale, which tells you everything about the vibe before you've ordered. Erik Bruner-Yang's café and all-day dining room on H Street blends a retail shop with Cambodian and Taiwanese cooking, all meant for the table to share. The caramel fried chicken has been on the menu long enough to qualify as a classic, and the Michelin Bib Gourmand suggests the kitchen isn't coasting on that.

Ski-in/ski-out access mid-mountain at Northstar Resort means you can theoretically go straight from bed to chairlift without touching a parking lot. This Forbes Four Star resort leans into the alpine lodge fantasy hard: a great room instead of a lobby, fireplaces in every room, and balconies facing Martis Valley. The heated outdoor pool keeps going through winter, and a spa handles whatever the mountain did to your legs.

The Fidelity Hotel Cleveland sits in a restored 1920s mortgage building on what was Short Vincent, the old strip of jazz joints and whiskey bars that once made this city feel briefly like Manhattan. Ninety-seven rooms with Bellino linens, sculptural lighting, and deep, considered color throughout. The Club Room downstairs earns its keep with low light and strong drinks. A Michelin Key hotel, for those keeping score.

Every room at Hotel ZaZa Memorial City has its own distinct decor, and the overall look lands somewhere between gallery and fever dream, in the best possible, most deliberate way. This boutique hotel on the west side brings the brand's signature mix of maximalist design and genuine comfort to a city that doesn't get enough of either. Michelin recognized it with one Key. Pack something that photographs well.

Seafood flown in from Tokyo lands on a menu that changes fast enough to make the printed version decorative. UNI is an innovative Japanese restaurant tucked into the Back Bay, the kind of place where the server steers you toward five small plates and somehow that's exactly right. The signature bite, uni with caviar and quail egg, makes a pretty compelling case for letting them run the whole show. AAA Four Diamonds.

A former fire station in Oakland's Dimond District, Bombera earns its name twice over: "firewoman" in Spanish, and the wood-fired oven at its heart burns corn husks whose ash goes straight into the masa. It's a contemporary Mexican restaurant where the tortillas are nixtamalized in-house and the moles are layered enough to make you stop mid-sentence. The Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on the L.A. Times' California 101 follow naturally from that kind of seriousness.

The former Heller's Bakery space now runs all day as a cafe, from morning lattes and egg sandwiches on potato rolls through a pastrami Reuben at lunch and on to dinner plates that get genuinely ambitious: fried halloumi with farro, chicken Milanese with romesco, ravioli with mushrooms and hazelnuts. The kitchen leans into fermentation and seasonal quirks in a way that keeps things interesting without making you feel like you're being lectured. Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Corn sourced from Oaxaca and nixtamalized in-house gives you a sense of how seriously this upscale-casual Mexican restaurant in Dupont Circle takes its sourcing. The menu covers raw bar, sopecitos, and mains like halibut with mole, plus sides that quietly steal scenes. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, it started as a pop-up, which might explain why the cooking still has a point to prove. The papaya dessert alone earns its real estate on the menu.

Pitmaster Hector Garate smokes whole hog and beef cheeks through a Puerto Rican lens, and the result is a barbecue joint that feels like its own category. The beef cheek tacos landed on a New York Times list of the year's best dishes across the country, and the Chuleta Kan-Kan, a tomahawk pork chop, makes a strong case for its own recognition. Bring friends, bring an appetite, and don't plan anything strenuous afterward.

The 40-layer lasagna, built with short rib and truffled mornay, is what most people are already planning to order before they walk in. This Italian restaurant in the Capitol Crossing development earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand, with a wood-burning grill and pizza oven doing plenty of heavy lifting alongside the pasta. Soaring ceilings make it feel a bit grand for a Tuesday, but the counter seats keep things grounded.

The café con leche here is made with a lighter roast, which in Miami is practically a political statement. Tinta y Café is a Cuban sandwich and coffee shop in Coral Gables where the second-generation team bakes its own baguettes, folds French eggs into the breakfast sandwiches, and stuffs the Madurito with roasted pork, chorizo, and sweet plantains. The New York Times put it on their Miami restaurant list, which the regulars probably shrug at between sips.

A seven-story resort parked directly in front of Oceanside's historic wooden pier, with rolling surf visible from most rooms. The rooftop pool and bar, dressed in palm trees and retro daybeds, is where the whole hotel seems to migrate at golden hour for the panoramic Pacific sunset. The Baja-influenced restaurant Valle draws its own crowd. Oceanside is having a moment, and this resort arrived right on cue.

Pupusas made with heirloom corn, stuffed with seasonal produce, and cooked over a wood flame set the tone at this live-fire restaurant in Old Oakland, where the menu moves between Salvadoran and Mexican traditions. The New York Times called out the guacamole with tortillas brushed in asiento, pork lard left over from making chicharrón. Bon Appétit named it one of America's best new restaurants, and the San Francisco Chronicle ranks it among the Bay Area's top ten.

There's a piano near the door, and on weekends kids actually play it while their families work through lazy breakfasts nearby. Cocina Consuelo is a supper club in Harlem built from a pandemic-era Mexican pop-up, and the home-cooking warmth masks some real kitchen ambition: masa pancakes from heirloom corn, birria over bone marrow. The New York Times named it one of the city's best new restaurants in 2025, and also called out the masa pancake among the top dishes of 2024.

The deer heads on the walls outnumber the menu items, which is saying something at this Houston BBQ shop where the beef rib routinely sells out before noon. Pitmaster Grant Pinkerton earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on Texas Monthly's 50 Best list, and Bill Gates has reportedly made the pilgrimage. You queue past the slicing station, grab a tray, and try not to overthink it. The smoked bread pudding is not a joke.

Soft tofu is the anchor of the menu at this homestyle Korean restaurant in Koreatown, which makes a quiet case for everything that isn't barbecue. Bubbling casseroles, spicy stews, pajeon, bibimbap, and cod roe omelet fill out a menu that reads like someone's grandmother wrote it. The dining room is wood tables and close quarters, warm enough that you forget you're on 35th Street. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and on the New York Times list of the city's 100 best.

Twelve seats in a brick corridor, a chalkboard that changes daily, and a chef who treats gooseneck barnacles as a reasonable Tuesday ingredient. Off Alley is an intimate Pacific Northwest tasting spot where foie gras might end up as ice cream and snails arrive on sourdough with bone marrow butter, though the stranger touches tend to punctuate dishes that are, underneath it all, quietly seasonal and elegant. The New York Times put it on their restaurant list, and the staff describe every plate like they can't quite believe it either.

A wine bar on Clement Street doing Turkish food with a California edit, and the Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand to prove the combination works. The börek arrives golden and shatteringly flaky, the hummus floats in chili oil, and the künefe kadayif pulls cheese under a crunch of pistachio. The wine list runs deep and leans affordable, which explains why nobody at the small tables seems to be in any hurry to leave.

Glowing red neon and a tight menu of smash burgers and waffle fries in a downtown Phoenix storefront that used to pour rum cocktails. Bad Jimmy's is a casual burger shop that moonlights as a cocktail bar, which explains why half the room looks like they just escaped a nearby venue. The rotating specials reward repeat visits, and vanilla soft serve finished with olive oil is the kind of thing that sounds wrong until it doesn't. Phoenix New Times named it the city's top smashburger spot.

Tucked behind an auto repair shop on Lewis Street, this narrow Vietnamese restaurant with exposed brick and wood floors is easy to miss and hard to forget. A Serbian-born chef runs the kitchen, which tells you something about the cooking: contemporary Vietnamese with French technique and Texan instincts folded in. The Michelin Bib Gourmand recognizes what regulars already know. Bao, brisket, nuoc cham, and coconut lemongrass panna cotta somehow all belong on the same table here.

The line wrapping around the building is the first sign; the smell of oak and hickory smoke is the second. Cattleack is a beloved Dallas BBQ shop with a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on Texas Monthly's 50 best list, where pitmaster Andrew Castelan runs brisket and pork ribs as the anchors but keeps daily specials, like wagyu pastrami brisket, for the regulars who know to look. Tangy house sauce sits on every table, not because the meat needs it.

Rattan light fixtures and dark wood set the mood at this Hell's Kitchen shared-plates spot, where the kitchen focuses on Southern Thai cooking. The menu runs through curries, noodle dishes, and seafood plates that lean traditional rather than trend-chasing. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the chef earned a James Beard semifinalist nod. Pre-theater crowds from nearby find it fits the timeline without feeling rushed.

This is a casual sandwich shop on Jackson Avenue where the menu reads like a dare: a collard green melt stacked double-decker on rye, wrapped in swiss and a pickled cherry pepper dressing. The place made the national circuit as one of Eater's best new restaurants in America and has since spawned a small empire of siblings. Order at the counter, eat fast, and expect the sandwich to follow you home.

Chris Bianco, the Phoenix pizza legend, brought his wood-fired pies to Los Angeles and the lines haven't stopped since. This is a pizza shop in ROW DTLA with a handful of pies on the menu, a takeout window, and outdoor seats where people happily eat standing up over open boxes. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which should settle the New York argument. Lunch adds sandwiches; the antipasto platter fills the gaps.

The fried chicken here has been drawing Atlantans to this tiny soul food cafe on MLK Drive since before most of their parents were born. It's takeout only, which doesn't slow anyone down. The menu runs classic Southern, with daily specials and sides like tangy-sweet beans alongside whatever protein you came for. Finish with a cobbler. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, and the New York Times put it on its Atlanta list.

A covered patio furnished in reclaimed and upcycled wood sets the vibe at this Encinitas brunch spot, which holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on the Los Angeles Times 101 Best Restaurants list. The kitchen leans into local ingredients and a short, seasonal menu built for sharing. The nonalcoholic drinks menu gets real attention here, which is rarer than it should be. The crowd skews the kind of people who actually know their farmers.

A wood-burning oven churns out sourdough pita at this Mediterranean grill house in San Antonio's Pearl District, where the menu roams from North Africa to the Levant without losing the thread. The terrace overlooks a courtyard, the cocktails lean into the same bold spicing as the food, and the Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand. Dress is casual, the vibe is lively, and the food punches well above the price point.

The Greek Revival mansion a short walk from UT Austin has been a boutique hotel for a while now, but it has been many things longer. The original lady of the house, Ella Wooten, spent decades turning what was an ordinary estate into something considerably less ordinary, and the place has been coasting on her taste ever since. A calm, handsome stay in a neighborhood that doesn't always offer either.

Marriott's Autograph Collection landed in Austin not downtown but beside the UT campus, which tells you something about its vibe. The Otis leans hard into the city's live-music identity, weaving that thread through the room design and the details rather than just hanging a guitar on a wall. Rooms run luxe without going cold, and four on-site restaurants and bars cover everything from New American to tapas to a rooftop lounge.

Floor-to-ceiling windows face the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson, which is about as pointed a statement as a hotel can make without saying a word. The W Hoboken is a full-service hotel with the brand's signature bold graphics, loud color, and buzzy public spaces, plus a spa and fitness center for the morning after. Halifax handles the seafood side, and the Living Room bar runs craft cocktails with live music.

You order at the counter, then walk through the kitchen to reach the patio, which tells you most of what you need to know about this colorful little regional Mexican spot in Sonoma. The menu shifts with the seasons, and fellow diners will cheerfully brief you on the day's highlights before you've found a seat. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the kind of place that rewards coming with enough people to order half the menu.

The chef mills buckwheat in-house, mixes the dough by hand, and cuts every noodle, which is the kind of dedication that explains a 45-minute wait at a noodle shop in deep industrial West Oakland. The good news is you wait in a gorgeous bamboo-fountain courtyard designed by a Zen Buddhist craftsman, which softens the blow considerably. Soba earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and they cap orders at 100 a night, so arriving early is its own reward.

On some nights, the menu at this tiny Lower East Side wine bar runs almost entirely on toast, sometimes composed, sometimes a hunk of baguette left for you to figure out. The kitchen gestures toward France and Vietnam without committing to either, and the eggs mayo spiked with Maggi and trout roe has caused some embarrassing arguments about egg dishes. Stools, minimal lighting, a short pours list. Bon Appétit named it one of America's best new restaurants.

Parked at the edge of the Union Station train tracks, Tavernetta is a polished Italian restaurant from the Frasca Hospitality Group, whose wine list alone draws a certain kind of devoted regular. The room is bright and roomy, with a comfortable bar up front and an open kitchen in the back. The menu runs classic, cacio e pepe and lamb ragu with rigatoni, prepared with real care. The Michelin Guide has given it a Bib Gourmand, and lunch is a particular moment to go.

Carol Nguyen's Lower Greenville Vietnamese restaurant pulls its menu straight from Hanoi street food, the kind of cooking where portions are generous and every bowl arrives already fragrant. Rustic wood, a lively room full of families and groups, and a kitchen that keeps things bright and balanced. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, which tracks: this is the neighborhood Vietnamese spot Dallas didn't know it needed until it had one.

Sujan Sarkar's follow-up to Indienne lands on Lincoln Avenue with a focus on regional Indian cooking, the sharing-plate kind that turns dinner into a group negotiation. The room runs warm and the menu swings between vegetarian and non-vegetarian plates, all designed to pile up. Walk-ins can park at the full bar. A Michelin Bib Gourmand and a James Beard semifinalist nod in 2026 suggest the neighborhood noticed.

The smoked fish counter on Orchard Street has been an institution since forever, and Russ & Daughters is the appetizing shop New York trots out whenever it needs to prove a point. White-jacketed servers, a pristine deli case, egg creams, bagels, and Scottish salmon done multiple ways. The Michelin Bib Gourmand nod keeps it honest: the food is the whole point, and the regulars at the counter have known that for years.

The dining room looks like it was decorated by a child who just discovered neon, which turns out to be exactly right for Isan-style Thai cooking this loud and alive. This Elmhurst restaurant earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand for fiery northeastern Thai food built for sharing, heavy on dried shrimp, electric fish sauce, and whole fried fish. Showing up alone is technically possible but spiritually inadvisable. A New York Times top-100 pick.

A dim sum shop that rose from a literal fire, HK Lounge Bistro landed in SoMa after its beloved predecessor burned down in 2019, and the regulars followed. The carpeted, low-key room inside an office building asks you to ignore the setting and focus on the food, which isn't hard. Shanghai soup dumplings, baked pork buns with a crackly top, and shrimp wontons in peppery sesame sauce do most of the persuading. The Los Angeles Times named it one of the 101 Best Restaurants in California.

Pozole comes in five broths here, which is already an argument. This no-frills Mexican restaurant on Larimer holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and landed on the New York Times Restaurant List, with dark wood floors, vivid walls, and an extensive mezcal selection to keep things interesting. The chef was a James Beard nominee two years running. Weeknight deals keep the regulars cycling through more than once a week, which tells you something.

The original Chinatown location that started a Houston-wide Sichuan empire, this casual Chinese restaurant earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand for cooking that doesn't just drown everything in chili oil. The heat and tongue-numbing mala tingle are there, but measured, so you can taste the food between the fire. Portions run generous, and the classics like kung pao chicken and dan dan noodles give the menu its spine.

The No. 19, a hot pastrami on rye with Swiss, coleslaw, and Russian dressing, is the thing strangers stop you to ask about when you're carrying it to your table. Langer's is an old-school deli, been around forever, with booths, a full menu of latkes and chopped liver, and breakfast served all day. The Michelin Guide gives it a Bib Gourmand, which feels about right for a place where the sandwich does all the talking.

The counter shares a wall with a liquor store, which tells you everything about the vibe before you've even ordered. This Korean-Southern BBQ shop smokes brisket low and slow while reaching for gochujang, turning out pork braised in a sweet-spicy sauce that's become the calling card. The green tomato kimchi with jalapeños and radish is the kind of detour a traditionalist might distrust until they taste it. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the line moves fast.

While the rest of Palm Springs does mid-century California, this 11-room adults-only hideaway is cosplaying 1960s St. Tropez, and somehow it works. Sunny colors, bohemian interiors, a pool built for lingering, and an orchard that makes you forget the desert is right there. Breakfast is included; dinner you'll find nearby with a little help from the staff. A Michelin Key property.

A converted motor lodge on Sunset Boulevard, Le Petit Pali Brentwood is a 25-room boutique hotel tucked into one of LA's quieter, leafier neighborhoods. Four bungalow buildings wrap around patios with stone fountains and string lights strung over Adirondack chairs, giving it the feel of a private garden compound. Brentwood runs short on hotels by design, so staying here is about as close as you get to the residential calm the locals guard so carefully. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

Sitting inside an open-air shopping village just across the river from downtown Tampa, this Palisociety boutique hotel brings the brand's California-by-way-of-Europe sensibility to the Gulf Coast without it feeling out of place. Hyde Park is a quietly upscale residential pocket, and the hotel fits the neighborhood, colorful and eclectic without trying too hard. It holds a Michelin Key.

Bathtubs carved from old horse troughs are the giveaway that Sparrows Lodge has a point of view. This Michelin Key boutique hotel wears its ranch bones lightly: recycled mid-century wood, a red barn that opens for dinner and drinks at night, and a pool ringed by guests in retro swimwear who look like they read actual books. Horseshoes, wooden tennis rackets, private campfires. Summer camp, basically, for people with good taste in cocktails.

Paper lanterns, deep red booths, and a playlist that makes the room feel like a set from a film you can't quite place. Double Luck is a Chinese-American restaurant that began as a pop-up and earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand once it settled into a permanent home. The duck salad comes piled with crispy shredded duck over sesame cucumber, and the sweet and sour pork belly is the kind of dish that makes a cliché feel newly earned.

A roaring wood-fire grill anchors this Ridgewood neighborhood steakhouse, casting the dining room in amber light most places only manage with candles and wishful thinking. The bar upfront handles cocktails; the back handles fire. Polenta bread comes out fluffy and smoky, the dry-aged steaks arrive with green garlic butter, and the servers seem constitutionally incapable of being cold. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and the chef is a James Beard semifinalist.

Half-pound sandwiches on Jewish rye, a proper Reuben, and homemade cake that sells out before dinner, this is a New York-style Jewish deli doing things the way delis used to. The family operation has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which feels about right for a counter where leaving hungry would require genuine effort. Go early if you want the cake.

Three creeks actually run through the property, which is how a Montana luxury ranch earns a name like this. Ninety minutes from Missoula and sitting at 4,600 feet in the Bitterroot Mountains, Triple Creek is the kind of all-inclusive hideaway where the event calendar runs from cowboy school to vintner weekends, and 750 forested acres mean you won't hear much besides running water. A Forbes Four Star property, and a Michelin 2 Keys listing.

A roll of paper towels sits at the center of every table, and that tells you most of what you need to know about eating here. The Jerk Shack is a Caribbean spot in an industrial space west of downtown, with warehouse floors, high ceilings, and vivid art on the walls. The mixed plate of grilled jerk chicken and fried chicken is where to start. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and the chef was a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Texas.

An Italian restaurant on Sycamore where the bread basket arrives housemade, breadsticks and focaccia folded in together, and the menu moves through antipasti, pasta, and secondi at a pace that discourages rushing. The crispy potato gnocchi has a following, and the malfatti comes cacio e pepe style, which is either a provocation or a compliment depending on your Roman loyalties. Tiramisu closes things out.

At high tide, waves actually slap the glass at this La Jolla fine dining room, which makes the front tables less a perk and more a contact sport. It has been an old-school institution on the Pacific since forever, serving a menu that runs from raw bar and caviar to wagyu and truffle risotto alongside the seafood. Elegant without being stiff, and the lounge pours the full menu if the dining room is booked solid.

The building was a post office once, and the open kitchen has replaced the sorting floor with a wood-fired oven at its center. Tribute is a neo-Neapolitan pizza shop that also does grandma-style and New York slices, with pies named as nods to figures from the American pizza world. The bar leans heavily into tequila and whiskey, and the staff can walk you through all of it without making you feel slow for asking.

The marble lobby skips every mouse ear in a ten-mile radius, which tells you what kind of resort this is. The JW Marriott Bonnet Creek sits close enough to the parks to catch the EPCOT fireworks from the sixth-floor Activity Garden, yet the design runs cool and geometric rather than costumed. A sprawling pool, mini golf, and a rock-climbing wall mean families aren't exactly suffering, just doing it in a quieter register.

A waterfall that ignites with flames at night sets the tone for this sprawling desert resort, where four themed pools compete for your attention and two championship golf courses fill the gaps. At 950 rooms across 300 Sonoran Desert acres, "going back to the room" barely narrows things down. Eight restaurants mean you can avoid ever leaving, which, in Phoenix in July, is a feature not a flaw.

A Craftsman-style resort perched above the Pacific, where the stained glass and Stickley-influenced furniture make it feel more like a very grand lodge than a hotel. Guests sleep in rooms with ocean or golf course views, many with fireplaces, and those who play can tee off on the adjacent championship course at Torrey Pines. The kind of place that makes you feel obscurely guilty if you spend the whole day inside.

A wedge-shaped fine dining room tucked off the highway near downtown Houston, Justin Yu's place seats you close enough to the counter that you'll feel like a regular by the end of the first course. The food is shareable contemporary cooking that looks simple and then isn't, seasoned with real intention. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand, and it landed a James Beard semifinalist nod for Outstanding Hospitality, which tracks for a room this warm.