Our Best New Restaurants list is more than a collection of "it" places to eat; it's a snapshot of American culture right now. We're presenting unmistakable places that are pushing food forward creatively, and finding new ways to gather people around a chef's counter. For us, "best" means your bomb-ass meal comes with a riveting story, white tablecloth not required -- and there’s no shame in carrying the leftovers home in a bodega bag.

We wanted the most local and credible perspective possible, so we hired a diverse panel of food writers and experts from around the country to nominate and profile these selections. Our criteria? Memorable, spectacularly tasty food, for one. But we also asked our panel to take in the spaces themselves, the spell cast by the decor, an original menu presentation. Are we seeing the chef’s stamp? What about the back-of-the-house talent? The regulars? And finally, what does this restaurant say about food culture in 2019?

As for the panelists racking up culinary currency eating these meals? We're Black, Asian, Latinx, everything mixed together. We live in Charleston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles. We're willing to lavish unwise sums of money on a dining experience that takes us out of ourselves and lingers in our memory long afterward. But we also know that kind of experience doesn’t have to blow your budget. Our Best New Restaurants list is for those of us who bring our whole selves to the table, our family backgrounds, our lived experiences, and our hunger for an extraordinary meal.

Whether it’s in the style of restaurant (lunch counter cafes!), the evolution of the tasting menu (cheaper!), the expansion of the American palate, the Instagramification of food, or the more thoughtful ways restaurants are embedding in their communities, we hope this list transforms 12 distinct places into a coherent, interlocking American culinary freeway. 

But enough small talk, let's get to it.