Here’s your New Year’s resolution to beat better in 2026.
Yelp just dropped its Top 100 US Restaurants 2026, revealing the top restaurants in the nation, highlighting the highest-reviewed restaurants, diners, fast-casual spots, food halls and so-on, ranked by the Yelp community.
New York City restaurant Ci Siamo topped the list out of five New York state placements — but it was the state of Texas that took up the most real estate on the ranking with an impressive 17 nods.
To put the list together, Yelp ranked restaurants using factors such as total volume and ratings of reviews.
Italian cuisine was unmatched this year, with Ci Siamo in NYC’s Hudson Yards taking the No. 1 spot.
Yelp noted that if diners want to relive a trip to Italy or be inspired to book one, Ci Siamo “is THE place to have that experience.”
“Yelpers crave the dishes Executive Chef Hillary Sterling lovingly re-creates from her travels through Italy,” the company said.
The restaurant’s bestseller — and the most reviewed dish here on Yelp — is the Rigatoni Alla Gricia, which “delights with simple, peppery, cheesy goodness infused with flavorful Italian guanciale (cured pork cheek).”
The gricia is the lesser-known of four classic Roman pasta dishes, along with cacio e pepe, carbonara and amatriciana.
For the beloved dish, Chef Hillary uses a specific blend of peppercorns from a specific purveyor, along with a special pepper mill, in order to get the exact right cracks of pepper in the meal.
“I sound like bananas here,” she joked to Yelp about her attention to detail.
“But any pasta or pizza on the menu will transport you to an Italian trattoria,” Yelp shared — and it’s not just the food people rave about here.
“Food was out of this world, the ambiance was beautiful, but what really set them apart was the service,” one Yelp user wrote, adding that the service “went above and beyond to make us feel like we were part of the family there. They were also very accommodating for gluten-free and NA options for my wife. We went for our 6 year wedding anniversary and we will never forget it!”
Someone else shared, “gorgeous space for italian dishes! the ambience is really top notch and the service is excellent. our server made us feel so comfortable and welcome the whole time – and was very attentive.”
The second-place spot went to Taste of Texas in Houston, Texas — just one of 17 restaurants from Texas that made the list.
Taste of Texas is a 50-year-old steakhouse where patrons can walk into the kitchen and hand-pick the cut of beef they’ll be eating for dinner.
“We like customers to see what they’re eating,” Edd Hendee, who founded the Texas institution with wife Nina, in 1977, told Yelp.
The restaurant’s certified Angus Beef steaks are the main attraction, which Yelp users have claimed “melt like butter in your mouth.”
Rounding out the top three is NAM Kitchen in Gardena, California, a Vietnamese-Peruvian spot with more than 1,600 5-star reviews and “lines out the door.”
Other New York spots that made the list include L’industrie Pizzeria (No. 27), Charoen Krung Thai (No. 35), Gurumé (No. 38) and Da Andrea — Chelsea (No. 45).
While putting the list together, the team at Yelp noted some major trends emerging. One of these trends found that “grandma-core” — sometimes referred to as “nonna-stalgia” — has jumped off social media and came to live at the dinner table as people opt for old-fashioned, slow-cooked family recipes made with simple ingredients.
They also discovered that some foods don’t have to stick to a schedule. Sandwiches have become a “round-the-clock staple,” particularly after dark. Plus, cafes and all-day brunch spots took 9 slots total on the 2026 list.
Japanese spots were a hot commodity, too, with sushi restaurants, handroll bars and Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) fusion restaurants taking up 10 spots on the list. Yelpers are also loving spots for special-occasions that allow them to get all dressed up.
Top 10 restaurants in the US for 2026, according to Yelp
- Ci Siamo, New York, New York
- Taste of Texas, Houston, Texas
- NAM Kitchen, Gardena, California
- Waffle and Berry, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Comfort Cafe – San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
- Adela’s Country Eatery, Kaneohe, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Broken Mouth, Los Angeles, California
- GW Fins, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Slackwater — Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Pepp & Dolores, Cincinnati, Ohio
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