Hot 10

After we spent months traveling the country and eating ourselves into a state of jaded, overfed delirium, these 10 restaurants were the places that snapped us out of it. They reminded us that tasting menus can still inspire awe; that a classic steak tartare can taste brand-new alongside the right glass of cloudy Chenin Blanc; and that an egg salad sandwich lunch can be so damn good that you think about it while you’re eating dinner, and long after you’ve left town. These are the restaurants that reminded us just how special dining out can be.

From the rich bowls of boat noodles to the crazy charcuterie boards to the spicy strawberry sotol, one thing is clear: Texas’ oft-skipped city is no longer skippable.

It was a night of seriously cool vibes and seriously good food.

When else can you eat fried bread and call it a salad?

Meet the saucy condiment we're swooshing under roast vegetables, tossing with noodles, and more.

Olive Garden is an inspiration, vegetable juices are your friends, and more.

But if you make the chicken at home, you can skip the scuba diving part.

Dip for dinner is the best thing to happen to Monday nights.

What we ate, drank, and got really into.

Impeccably sourced fish, perfectly seasoned rice, and relentless attention to detail define every bite at this transcendent sushi bar.

How did a 22-seat tasting-menu spot in Oklahoma City from three chefs whom no one has ever heard of, in a city that no national critic has ever paid attention to, become America's best new restaurant?

It took a trip halfway around the world to design the live-fire hearth at the center of this Middle Eastern restaurant. But it takes only one meal—and a couple hours staring longingly at the huge hearth and all the charred meats and puffy bread coming off it—to realize why it was so worth it.

The hottest restaurant in New York? It’s quite literally the hottest. The chef, Sirichai Sreparplarn, is a chile whisperer who doesn’t care if you can’t stand the heat. And the food he cooks is habit-forming: You’ll crave the fiery but purposeful heat of his Technicolor Thai dishes

Does America need another Italian restaurant? If that restaurant is Che Fico, the answer is a definitive yes. From practically the moment it opened, this place has been humming like a restaurant in its second decade. Every employee wears a smile, the servers know the menu back to front, and the exacting chefs have mastered pizza, pasta, and the world’s most flawless rustic desserts.

Genius is when you take a timeless concept, turn it on its head, and redefine it. That’s what sibling restaurateurs Jonah and Amanda Freedman have done for the classic Jewish deli: They improved an already perfect thing.

There’s no better place on the planet to drink natural wine than right here. How did Brooklyn transplants Orenda and Peter Hale go from running a little bottle shop to transforming their town, glass by glass and dish by dish?

At her deeply personal restaurant in the East Bay, Nite Yun reimagines the Cambodian food of her childhood, from soulful bowls of Cambodian noodle soup to flavorful marinated pork chops, all set to a psychedelic Khmer playlist.

From fiery homemade chili paste to an impossible-to-stop-eating chocolate budino, these are the recipes from our 2018 Hot 10: America's Best New Restaurants.

The best meal of all time is the accidental long, boozy lunch. And the best new place to have it is at this all-day hang, with its crimson-red spritzes and endless selection of snacky things. Don’t be surprised if you arrive at 10 a.m. and are still there at 2 p.m.

Behind a small, spare counter hidden in a college food court, Tsuyoshi Nishioka prepares a single dish: the best niku (beef) udon you’ll ever eat, made with the silkiest noodles you’ll ever slurp.

From the butteriest croissants to outstanding pho, it’s never been a better time to hit up Portland, Maine.

From a natural wine–fueled French restaurant in New York to a temple to all things masa in Austin, these are the contenders for this year’s Hot 10.

Including whatever mystery "chicken powder" is.

Can't make it to all the spots on our Hot 10? You can make the recipes at home instead, from sesame tarts to clam toast to stuffed shells.