14 Best Restaurants in USA

Chef James Boyce started his career at New York's famed Le Cirque, where he worked under Daniel Boulud, one of the world's best-known chefs. Boyce has been featured on the Today show and other national programs. Upscale comfort food describes the menu—catfish arrives grilled rather than the usual fried and the buttermilk-fried chicken comes with Dijon-seasoned collards. Southern Street Tacos feature fried okra, green tomato chimichurri, and pickled jalapenos. Sunny windows brighten the minimalist but cozy setting.

You're going to think you're lost, but resist the urge to turn around because the tiny speck of sand that is Flamingo Heights really is that far out there, and this gastronomical goldmine—a roadside diner elevated by a lesbian couple who came to the desert for their honeymoon and never left—will likely be the best meal you'll eat this side of the Little San Bernardinos. Expect seasonally inspired brunch and lunch plates served without pretense and made using farm-to-fork ingredients and bits of culinary wisdom cribbed from the South (fried chicken), France (buckwheat ham galette), the Middle East (citrus and beets, a labneh-doused burger), and Philly's top kitchens (where the chef once toiled).

Gaze at Yosemite Falls through this dining room's wall of windows—almost every table has a view—as you nosh on steaks, seafood, and classic California salads and desserts. The Mountain Room Lounge, a few steps away in the Yosemite Valley Lodge complex, has about 10 beers on tap.

Rave reviews about The Ahwahnee hotel's dining room's appearance are fully justified—it features towering windows, a 34-foot-high ceiling with interlaced sugar-pine beams, and massive chandeliers. Reservations are always advised, and the attire is "resort casual."

Fireplaces, beamed ceilings, and spectacular views provide a visual feast to match this fine-dining restaurant's ambitious menu. Dinner entrées include salmon, free-range chicken, filet mignon, and seasonal vegetarian dishes; breakfast is also served here. Try the signature prickly-pear margarita, or head to the pool bar for casual fare. 

One of the newest players at the table of Little Rock's fine dining landscape, chef-owner Payne Harding, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, puts a contemporary spin on old-fashioned flavors, as, for instance, in his prosciutto-wrapped rabbit with gnocchi and braised apples. A good-value lunch menu includes interesting salads, small plates, sandwiches, and pizzas. From the bar, try a Kicking Mule, a craft cocktail concoction of whiskey and cayenne pepper.

If it's martinis and jazz you're after, come to this casually elegant space (larger and snazzier after a move to the historic Baur's Building), which features comfort foods with a twist and small plates. Live music most nights makes this a laid-back spot. The cocktail roster, printed inside old jazz albums, is one of the most intricate around, and the Sunday jazz brunch swings.

Chefs cycle in and out as often as guests breeze through the adjoining Ritz-Carlton, so this dining room is anything but staid or predictable despite its shopping-mall environs. Warm tones of red and orange accentuate the autumnal notes of butternut squash soup or the unexpected duo of roasted beets and crisped chickpeas. Other standout dishes include the lemon ricotta pancakes at breakfast and the grilled shrimp ravioli, its succulence balanced by sweet pomegranate preserves. Head to the lounge for a cheaper menu of quick bites.

A thriving oyster farm north of San Francisco in Tomales Bay serves up its harvest at this raw bar and restaurant in the Ferry Building, where devotees come for impeccably fresh oysters and clams on the half shell, even though it closes early (by 7 pm most nights). Other mollusk-centered options include a first-rate seafood stew, grilled oysters, clam chowder, and “steamer” dishes, but the bar also turns out one of the city’s best grilled cheese sandwiches,made with three artisanal cheeses on artisanal bread.

Catering to a broad range of tastes, Local Flavor is a real crowd-pleaser—light eaters will appreciate a selection of healthy salads and small plates; vegetarians get a generous nod; and burger buffs can wrap two hands around hearty half-pounders. Kids get their own menu at lunch and dinner, and it's more sophisticated than most. Doing Sunday brunch? Try the gingerbread waffle topped with seasonal fruit, toasted pecans, and real maple syrup. Reservations are taken by phone only, by a live person, during regular business hours—no voice-mail or email reservations.

A taste of the islands in landlocked Huntsville is served in this café where the food is as colorful as the sunny decor. Bright-orange mangoes liven up chicken, and star in salads. Braised oxtail is akin to homey beef stew. Meatless "meatloaf" and curry "chicken" are among many vegetarian options. Lighter selections include the seafood served escovitch style (marinated in a pickling sauce and then fried).

The husband-and-wife team behind this upscale, weekends-only restaurant likes to mix and match culinary cultures, resulting in a world tour for your tastebuds that might include dishes such as ahi tostadas with kimchi slaw or penne slathered in salsa verde. The menu changes monthly, but you'll consistently find attentive service, large portions of high-quality food, and an intimate low-lit atmosphere.

Cool as the other side of the pillow, South on Main serves sophisticated Southern cuisine at an accessible price, wrapped in a comfortable architectural design of French bistro with a drawl. What's more, it's kissing cousins with Oxford American magazine, a literary buffet of Southern culture. When the two families get together, which is often, they dish up an eclectic entertainment menu of musical performances, literary readings, and anything else that brings the magazine "from page to stage."