The Best Places to Eat and Stay in the United States

The she-crab soup has been on the menu forever, and regulars treat it as non-negotiable. Red Sky is a casual all-day cafe in Duck running lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch, the kind of place that does fish tacos and short ribs under the same roof without making it feel like an identity crisis. The OBX spin on a Calabash platter draws a crowd, and Sunday brunch brings out a shrimp-and-risotto dish billed, cheerfully, as "Redneck."

The larb comes one way: hot or Thai hot, and the co-owner will tell you which to order. This neighborhood Thai bistro in North Miami runs on Isan flavors, the kind that are fragrant and punchy in equal measure, and the whole fried snapper with house chile sauce has regulars coming back for it specifically. The New York Times named it among Miami's 25 best restaurants. Small room, big cooking, and Ricky himself helps out over the summer.

The handmade corn tortillas here taste like an actual ear of corn decided to become a taco, and they're sturdy enough to hold the juiciest fillings without folding on you. This taqueria sits near Lake Merritt, which makes eating outside feel less like a picnic and more like a civic event. Classic fillings, snappy carrot pickles, and carnitas that manage to be both chewy and crisp, from a team that grew up in East Oakland taco royalty.

House-made pita arrives before anything else at this Mediterranean restaurant in north Oklahoma City's Chisholm Creek development, and the table tends to fill fast with hummus, baba ghanoush, and muhammara before the shareable mains show up. The chef pulls from Greece, Morocco, the Levant, and occasionally the Basque Country, which is either inspired range or a very long grocery list. Braised lamb shank and tajine-braised short ribs anchor the menu.

The patio fireplace faces the Black Warrior River, which is either a nice coincidence or the whole point. River is a sit-down Southern restaurant with a menu that moves from fried green tomatoes and wild game meatballs to shrimp and grits and steaks. The room skews cozy, the crowd runs loyal, and the homemade oatmeal creme pie is apparently a nod to a certain famous former football coach's breakfast habits.

Rosa is a neighborhood coffee shop in Rosedale, named for the owner's great-grandmother, who was among the first Black residents to move to the area. The pastel pink and green room serves Fast Haus beans, a short run of pastries and sandwiches, and doubles as a spot for community meetings. Evenings bring DJ sets, open mic, and karaoke, so check the socials before assuming it's a quiet latte situation.

Hat Yai-style fried chicken is the reason to know this casual Berkeley Thai spot, where a rice flour batter does double duty as marinade and delivers a thin, shattering crust topped with fried shallots. You order from a touch screen, the staff will walk you through the menu, and the sweet chile sauce that comes alongside is fine, but the prik nam pla is the move.

Rosette is a grocery store with a cafe attached, or the reverse, and it lives on the ground floor of a Corktown apartment building, which means some of the people ordering a latte are technically just coming downstairs. You can grab milk and pantry staples, then sit at one of the many tables with a Colombe espresso and a cinnamon rolls-and-croissants situation from Zingerman's. Cheap, casual, no dress code beyond pants.

A photo of Keanu Reeves in the window is this Tenderloin Thai spot's unofficial marquee, and the barbecued pork shoulder is the reason he keeps coming back. The fish sauce marinade gets charred on a grill and turns up three ways: over fried rice, in a salad with toasted rice powder, or straight with a dipping sauce. A cash-and-plastic neighborhood joint where the regulars look comfortable enough to be furniture.

Saigon Seafood Harbor runs a hybrid system: you fill out a paper order slip, then carts bring the food anyway. It's a dim sum parlor in a Sunnyvale strip, and the barbecue pork buns arrive with that glassy, lacquered top that signals someone is paying attention. The siu mai gets a drizzle of chile oil, and the scallop dumplings are translucent little parcels with enough celery to keep things bright. Weekend tables fill fast, so come early or come hungry enough to wait.

Saint Germain is a French bakery and cafe at the Interlock, with Parisian-style tables roomy enough that you can set up a laptop and stay until closing without a single glare. The display cases hold frilly cakes so decorated you hesitate before the first forkful, briefly. The macaron selection runs past twenty flavors, lavender to pistachio, which is a lot of decisions for someone who only came in for coffee.

French technique meets Japanese flavors at this Cleveland Park bakery, where cruffins come filled with lychee and grapefruit and the matcha shows up in mochi rolls alongside lavender. The pastry case leans into seasonal and Japanese ingredients in a way that feels less like a gimmick and more like a genuine point of view. Weekend mornings draw a line worth joining, even if you tell yourself you're just stopping in for coffee.

A halal market in West Oakland where the grocery aisles give way to a dining room out back serving pita sandwiches, mixed grill plates, and a rotating spread of Yemeni specialties. The saltah, a lamb and fenugreek soup served in a stone bowl, arrives bubbling and practically orders the flatbread for you. Stock your pantry, grab lunch, or do both, which most people here seem to be doing.

Goth velvet paintings and band prints share wall space with a rotating bean roster at this laid-back coffee shop tucked inside the Freight Gallery in the Lone Star District. The specialty drink menu is long, and tea gets the same serious treatment as coffee, which is rarer than it should be. Community events spill in from the adjoining gallery, giving the place the feel of a neighborhood hangout that happens to take your cup seriously.

The name itself tells the story: "San" for San Francisco, "Jalisco" for the Mexican state where the family's roots are. This homey, generations-run breakfast and lunch spot on South Van Ness has been feeding the Mission's hangovers with chilaquiles and huevos rancheros for decades. The weekend birria special draws its own crowd, served either as a rich stew or dry with the broth alongside, which is the move.

Twenty-seven taps pour at the Beer Hall HQ, which is the anchor of a local brewing outfit with locations across Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Food comes from whatever truck is parked in the courtyard that day, ranging from barbecue to Cubanos, so check the website before you go. The sprawling outdoor lounge makes it easy to lose an afternoon, which is probably the point.

Sartiano's is a high-end Italian steakhouse on the Strip, with a patio that looks out over Wynn's private fairways and the Sphere glowing behind them. It sits next door to the celebrity-heavy members' club Zero Bond, and the room carries some of that hush. Expect an expense-account crowd, caviar cannoli to start, and meatballs that quietly steal the show from the steaks. It's polished without being stiff.

Saturn is a New Center coffee shop that opened recently and already has people camped at its tables with laptops and paperbacks. The room is sunny and quiet enough to hear yourself think, which in a coffee shop is practically a luxury amenity. The flat whites and iced matcha lattes are the draw, breakfast sandwiches on biscuits are cheap, and in summer your dog gets a 50-cent pup cup. Eater counts it among Detroit's best coffee shops.

A downtown Latin restaurant where the salsa section gets its own dedicated menu real estate, which tells you something about priorities. The chef, a Wilmington native, does BLT arepas and blackened tuna over cilantro-lime quinoa alongside tacos and tostadas at lunch. Sunday brunch draws a crowd large enough that you'd be wise to plan ahead. The vibe is casual and local, the flavors are bright, and the room moves.

Scotty Simpson's is a nautical-themed corner fish fry in Brightmoor that has apparently never been told the decor trend moved on, and that's fine by everyone in the booths. You order the cod in its light house batter with fries, slaw, tartar sauce, and soft dinner rolls, and the fish flakes apart in big, tidy pieces. The fried frog legs are thick enough to need a second opinion, and the pie goes fast, so ask early.

A cafe and pub in Troy Hill where no one has a job title because everyone is cross-trained to do everything, which somehow produces a vibe closer to a house party than a service industry shift. The brunch menu leans into local partnerships, and the beer and cider list stays tight and neighborhood-focused. Bring a weekend morning and no particular plans.

The Rufina Taproom sits a short walk from Meow Wolf, which tells you something about the crowd rolling in. This is a brewpub, casual and spacious, with house beers, burgers, and a Cuban sandwich that regulars treat as non-negotiable. The Cajun-leaning sides, spiced tater tots included, are a small surprise on an otherwise straightforward menu. Live music fills the room on weekends, and nobody seems to be in a hurry to leave.

A cozy Ethiopian lunch spot tucked into a San Jose shopping center, where regulars sip tea and read newspapers like they've been coming for years. The vegetarian combo is the move, with lentils done two ways and a shiro with a deep, bouquet-cube savoriness that's hard to place but easy to finish. The injera has a smooth, almost elastic pull to it. Pair everything with hot tea, because that's what the room does.

Sepia is a coffee shop and the first storefront for a Black-owned roaster that sources directly from Black and brown farmers across the Americas, Africa, and the Indian Pacific. The bags are named for the Detroit neighborhoods that once anchored Black life, so you can order a Paradise or Blk Bottom and learn some local history before the caffeine kicks in. The menu is hand-painted on the wall, and there's a pastry case, which saves you from a tragic breakfast.

The in-house stone mill sets Seylou apart from every other bakery in D.C., whole grains going from kernel to loaf under one roof. The team ferments the dough and bakes in a wood-fired oven imported from abroad, which explains the crust on those pain au levain loaves. Mornings bring whole grain croissants and an espresso bar, and on Wednesday nights the sourdough becomes the base for pizza, which is either a great idea or a threat to your routine.

Sift is a bakery-cafe with a giant stick of butter painted on its exterior, which is the closest thing to a mission statement you'll find on a building. Inside, the case runs to tiramisu brownies, apple crumb tarts, and cherry almond breakfast cakes, with a box of six getting you a sixth free. The coffee and tea come from the Dose people, so the golden chai arrives under soft whipped cream. The maritozzi is how you end up buying a second box.

A Vietnamese restaurant that gave the North Bay's food scene something to talk about, Simmer runs an expansive menu with serious attention to vegetarian and gluten-free options alongside the classics. The crispy tofu with lemongrass, herbs, and rice noodles is a reason to skip the meat entirely, and the filet mignon phở eases in anyone still finding their footing with the canon. Casual, affordable, and easy to bring everyone to.

Sine Wave is an Ocean Beach coffee shop that pours a chocolatey batch brew from a roaster based in Scottsdale, which is a long commute for a bean. The breakfast menu runs bigger than a coffee counter has any right to, and the tomato jam turns up on the sandwich and the calzone. There are chargers for everyone and a basket of local surf photos to flip through while you procrastinate. It's on The Infatuation's San Diego coffee shop list.

A two-story coffee shop a few steps off the Jackson Square, where the beans are roasted locally and the drink menu goes wherever you point it. The tea side holds up too, with a London Fog that arrives in a mug sized for lingering. Upstairs and down you'll find colorful dishware, bar seating for laptop people, and a pastry case from a local bakery that makes the donuts here rare for town: fresh. The Infatuation lists it among Jackson Hole's best.

The Huang family has been pressing organic artisan tofu here for decades, and the shop has quietly grown into a full hub for Taiwanese vegetarian cooking. Pick up frozen dumplings, house soy products, or pull up to the hot bar and have things ladled into a bento box. Not every item is vegan, but the staff will tell you exactly where anything lands. The San Francisco Chronicle named it one of the Bay Area's top vegetarian and vegan spots.

Soro Soro is a small Korean coffee shop on East Burnside where the drinks come layered like geology, with black sesame-pandan cream, crispy rice, and Okinawan brown sugar. Yuzu sodas and cherry blossom slushes sit alongside cat-face cheesecakes and dog-shaped cookies, so expect a line of people photographing their order before anyone takes a sip. The Infatuation put it on its list of Portland coffee shops.

A cioppino so loaded with Dungeness crab, mussels, scallops, and clams that the bowl barely closes is the reason most people show up to this old-school North Beach seafood house. The parklet on Green Street buzzes like the neighborhood's living room, and the Boston clam chowder travels home in quart containers for those who plan ahead. The San Francisco Chronicle named it among the Bay Area's top seafood restaurants.

Bacon-wrapped meatloaf with a tomato jam glaze is the signature at this Southern comfort food and craft beer spot just across the river from campus. The patio is the main event on game days, and the menu leans hard into the classics: prime rib rolls, collard greens, sweet potato tots, biscuits. It's the kind of place where the sides could carry the whole meal on their own, which in Alabama is not considered a problem.

Southern Sweets is a Decatur bakery where the display cases of tarts, pies, and cookies are basically a decoy for the giant layer cakes in the back, which come in 17 flavors. The old-fashioned chocolate has a slice-sized pound of melted chocolate in it, and the gluten-free and vegan crowd gets real options, including a plant-based strawberry cake that will have you eyeing the whole one on the way out.

Spella is a tiny downtown espresso bar built the Italian way: a marble counter, a narrow ledge to lean on, and no chairs, so nobody is writing a novel here. The menu sticks to the classics, macchiatos and lattes and espresso with a pleasant bitter edge, all of it ordered, drunk, and finished in about the time it takes to check your phone. It's a coffee break in the original sense, minus the laptop. The Infatuation put it on its list of Portland's coffee shops.