9 Best Restaurants in USA

Top-notch craft beer and plenty of food options makes 49th State Brewing Company a must when passing through Healy. Committed to using local ingredients whenever possible, they offer plenty of Alaska-grown dishes, the keystone being the Alaskan-raised, all-you-can-eat pig roast on Friday nights. More than ten in-house beers are on tap to go along with the outdoor beer garden. Gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options are also available.

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.

Owner-chef Frank Stitt is a James Beard Award winner and an American culinary icon. Using farm-fresh ingredients and applying French technique to his native Southern cuisine, Stitt became a sensation when he opened his restaurant in 1982. Straightforward but sophisticated dishes such as pan-seared scallops with butter-braised fennel or the kitchen’s famous stone-ground baked grits with Parmesan, mushrooms, country ham, and fresh thyme are served in a romantic, candlelit atmosphere. Seats are so coveted that reservations are accepted a month in advance.

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).

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).

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.

A couple of blocks from Arcata's festive plaza, this hip seafood restaurant inside a beautifully converted old machine shop offers seating in an airy dining room and on a large side patio. Specialties include classic panko-crusted cod and chips and seared-rare steelhead, but you could also make a meal of small plates from the raw bar—shrimp cocktail, ceviche tostadas, and raw or grilled Pacific oysters among them.

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.