The Best Places to Eat in Newport Beach, by the Record
The best places to eat in Newport Beach, by the professional record: Michelin Guide, Eater, and Los Angeles Times have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Fable & Spirit comes out on top.
Sushi Ii and Mario's Butcher Shop hold the next two places. Eater shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Michelin Guide next.
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Rank 1. Fable & Spirit
Modern New American
The dining room looks straight out over the water at Newport Beach, which would be enough for most restaurants to coast on. This modern New American spot holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and earns it by pairing that view with a menu that swings from inventive vegetable dishes to an ambitious slow-roasted porchetta. The crowd comes for the scenery and stays because the food keeps surprising them.
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Rank 2. Sushi Ii
Sushi
An upstairs omakase spot above Pacific Coast Highway where the fish comes from Japan and the menu follows the seasons like it has somewhere to be. The kaiseki-style progression moves from delicate cold bites through sashimi and nigiri to dessert, each course composed with the kind of precision that makes you slow down mid-bite. Newport Beach casual this is not, but the room is chic without being stiff about it.
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- Eater The 38 Essential Orange County Restaurants
- Los Angeles Times #91 · The 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles
- LAist Smashburger · Best Bites
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Rank 4. Bello by Sandro Nardone
Italian
Low lighting and large paintings set a chic tone at this upscale Italian spot in Newport Beach, where the open kitchen pulls the room's attention without trying too hard. The chef comes from a lineage of cooks and farmers in southern Italy, and the menu moves between wood-fired pizzas and house-made pasta, with tiramisu to close things out. Fine dining prices, but the mood is more candlelit dinner than white-glove occasion.
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Rank 5. A Restaurant
New American
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