8 Best Restaurants in USA

Los Gatos is home to one of the country's finest restaurants, David Kinch's three-Michelin-starred Manresa, which serves an exceptional nightly tasting menu of Northern California dishes that features the freshest local ingredients ($225; $198 wine pairing).

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.

Mediterranean cooking and Asian influences drive the creative menu that changes seasonally and taps sustainable ingredients. Selections might include duck breast with with a strawberry reduction, seared sea scallops with creamy pesto rice, or lamb chops. The fixed-price menu includes an appetizer, salad, and main course; you can add dessert à la carte. Exposed brick and rustic wood pillars add to the dining room’s warm feel. Patio seating is available, too.

Both the remodeled building and the interior space designed to house this modern grill, named after Vesta, the Roman hearth goddess, have won national architectural awards, and it's easy to see why: the sensual swirls of fabric and copper throughout the room make diners feel as though they're inside a giant work of art, and the clever, secluded banquettes are among the most sought-after seats in town. The menu is clever, too, and the competent grill masters in the kitchen put out expertly cooked meats, fish, and vegetables, all of which can be paired with some of the more than two-dozen dipping sauces that get their inspiration from chutneys, salsas, mother sauces, and barbecue. The wine list is as cool as the clientele.