America's Essential Restaurants

Last year, Eater's restaurant editor Bill Addison clocked in almost 100,000 miles on the road, zig-zagging across America on a quest to explore, define, and shine a light on America's essential restaurants. He visited 48 cities, from obvious destinations (San Francisco, Austin, Charleston) to more unexpected locales (hello, Montana). We're pleased now to present the culmination of those efforts, this America's Essential Restaurants package, anchored by the second ever National 38 list.

Ahead, readers will find superlatives (including the best burger in America), a summation of the trends that have risen the past year (Granny plates are in, so are tuna melts), a look at why breakfast is now the most important restaurant meal of the day and, crucially, Addison's list of the 38 most essential restaurants in the nation. It's our guide not to what is newest or trendiest, but to what defines and anchors us. The restaurants on the list are young and old, upscale and accessible, and together, they go a long way toward cohesively defining the food scene of our great nation and its multifaceted, ever-changing dining landscape. We hope you enjoy what he's discovered. Dive in. — Amanda Kludt, editor-in-chief

Features 13 Comments

The National Eater 38: Where to Eat in 2016

by Bill Addison, January 13, 2016 When I set out last year to compile the first-ever National 38 list, a roundup of the restaurants that shaped and defined American dining, I faced a thrilling...

Features

The Coolest Thing You'll Eat This Year Is Breakfast

Brioche toast lacquered with mulberry jam and lemony, pesto-speckled rice bowls are sunrise sensations at Jessica Koslow’s Sqirl in Los Angeles. New York's food obsessives decry and then...

Features 1 Comment

The Best of the Best: 2016's Restaurant Superlatives

Even though my life centers around seeking restaurants to fill out the National 38, inevitably there are plenty of additional dishes, meals, and experiences that strike me as profound: a poetic...

Features 3 Comments

Eight Essential Trends Sweeping American Dining

As I wander the country ceaselessly, I often watch in real-time as fashions in eating, drinking, dinnerware, and restaurant decor really solidify as genuine trends. Sometimes they stay isolated to...

Features

A Year of Great-Looking Food

Bill Addison's best photos from twelve months eating around America

Features

Here's a Bunch of Photos of Pie

Bill's kryptonite is pie

San Francisco

The Artistic Genius of In Situ

At the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Corey Lee acts as both chef and curator

America's Best Restaurants

L'Etoile Is the Chez Panisse of the Midwest, and It's Wonderful

After 40 years, a Madison restaurant is still the crown jewel of Midwestern farm-to-table cuisine

Features 1 Comment

The Road to the Best New Restaurants: Nine More Standouts

Seek these restaurants out

Features 6 Comments

The 21 Best New Restaurants in America

From Seattle to Miami, the hottest, coolest, most delicious restaurants that have opened in the last year

America's Best Restaurants 1 Comment

The 12 Most Utterly Gorgeous Plates of Food Bill Addison Ate This Year

A dozen dazzling dishes from our national restaurant critic's travels across the country

New York City 2 Comments

Del Posto Is ​America's​ High Church of Pasta

In a culinary landscape veering toward Italian overload, New York’s most elegant establishment still sets the standard

Features 9 Comments

The 21 Best New Restaurants in America

Rising stars, every single one

Longform 32 Comments

The National Eater 38: Where to Eat in 2015

The restaurants that define American dining in 2015

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