The Best Restaurants For World-Class Dining In 2026, According To Reviewers

Recently, it has become harder and harder to run a restaurant — with restaurateurs fighting inflation, rising food and employee costs, and ever-changing dining habits. In the past six years alone, food and labor costs have risen by 35%, and nearly 40% of people have said they go out to eat less. Still, the greatest culinary minds are trucking on in 2026, bringing us cutting-edge cuisine, inventive techniques, and methods to make food both delicious and more sustainable for diners who are on the hunt for something different. 

While it's easy to find the best restaurants when traveling to a new city by following a handy tip, we took it a step further and rounded up the best, must-try restaurants around the globe in 2026. Combing through editorial rankings and industry lists, we selected 11 standout restaurants that have earned top praise from  publications like Forbes, Condé Nast Traveler, the Michelin Guide, and The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Along with this, we also made sure to include restaurants that have garnered the most praise from past visitors on platforms such as Google and Tripadvisor, ensuring a well-rounded and reliable list.

At Alchemist in Copenhagen, the idea of food as art takes on a literal meaning. Located inside a nearly 60-foot dome at the former Royal Danish Theatre, it's considered one of the most unique restaurants in the world, hidden behind two bronze doors, and is accessible by purchasing a "ticket." Once inside, diners are served courses in five "acts" over four to six hours alongside projections and sound. Just a few of the dishes you might be lucky enough to try — all cooked by head chef Rasmus Munk — include canapés topped with caviar, pigeon aged in beeswax, a real eye filled with caviar, and grilled cod served on edible plastic made from cod skin.

Located in a quieter part of Copenhagen that adds to the restaurant's ethereal feel, it's no surprise that Alchemist snatched the No. 5 spot on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025. It's also no surprise that a visit here will cost you, as tickets cost nearly $872 per person, and a deposit is required. Drinks-wise, wine pairings come at an additional cost, ranging from $312 to $1,479. 

However, according to past visitors, Alchemist is definitely worth the hefty price — which is probably why reservations sell out in mere minutes. Plus, just 52 spots are available each night, making snagging a seat all the more difficult. "Alchemist undoubtedly deserves 5 stars — and more," wrote one past visitor on Tripadvisor. "An extraordinary journey through the senses that all food lovers should indulge in at least once in their lives."

Although restaurants in Latin America frequently score high marks from acclaimed culinary organizations, Bolivia was often left out of the crowd — until now. Marsia Taha Mohamed, Latin America's best female chef of 2024, is giving Bolivia the culinary recognition that it deserves with Arami. Located in the Achumani neighborhood of La Paz, the restaurant serves iconic and uniquely Bolivian ingredients in its dishes, including alligator with banana paste, fig tart with mountain peanut, and grilled piranha with coconut and chives. "I was amazed by the flavours, the creativity in each dish, the story it tells with all these amazing quality products from Amazonia," wrote a past visitor on Google.

But it's not just about the taste here — although that's certainly part of the draw. Instead, Mohamed seeks to show her guests, through the plate, how every Bolivian region — from the Amazon River to the Andes Mountains — is intertwined, influencing everything from ethos to the environment. That's why the restaurant is co-owned by sociologist Andrea Moscoso Weise, who doubles as a sommelier and ensures the restaurant serves Bolivian wines still undiscovered by the masses. 

Mohamed and Weise's commitment to showcasing Bolivian excellence doesn't end there. In 2018, Mohamed also co-founded the organization Sabores Silvestres, which encourages conservation practices alongside 50 Bolivian indigenous communities so chefs can easily and ethically source local ingredients. Despite the restaurant's ambition, it serves its fine cuisine in a minimalist space, providing the food an empty canvas to shine.

Chilean fare, marked by straightforward eats with ingredients from both the land and sea, is another type of cuisine that seems to have gotten lost in the world of fine dining. But thanks to Araya, in Singapore, it's finally secured a rightful spot. Housed inside the Mondrian Singapore Duxton, the Chilean-Japanese fusion eatery is the first Chilean restaurant on the planet to earn a Michelin star, which it garnered in 2024. It was also named one of the 10 Coolest Restaurants for 2026 by Forbes.

Here, former elBulli chef Francisco Araya and pastry chef Fernanda Guerrero serve dishes like Chilean merkén with French pigeon and caviar, and kinki and cod milt with ají amarillo. Only tasting menus are available — ranging from a roughly $45 business lunch menu to the $230 five-course Andes menu, and the $285 Costa option. "On each occasion, everything about the experience was magical," reads a review on Google. "The menu is an educational journey through so many unique South American ingredients, but with the upside of every single course tasting fantastic, with a riot of flavors, textures, and temperatures."

The mix of Japanese and Chilean ingredients comes naturally to Araya, as chef Francisco lived in Tokyo for more than a year — where he opened a Michelin-starred restaurant — and both chefs were born in Chile. The intimate, 30-seat restaurant's ambiance reflects its inspiration, as it's adorned with brown, beige, and burnt orange tones that are reminiscent of Chilean mountain ranges and deserts.

Korean cuisine is a hot one, but nowhere is it hotter than at Atomix, in the NoMad neighborhood of New York City, where snagging a reservation will take careful planning. At this modern Korean eatery, diners can enjoy ever-changing Korean-inspired dishes with cutting-edge touches — such as black banana with monkfish liver, puffed buckwheat and perilla leaves, and Norwegian langoustine with truffle gel and honey nut squash foam. It's all presented in an underground dining room by chef Junghyun Park, who also founded the acclaimed restaurant Atoboy on an otherwise nondescript residential street.

Atomix is so wow-worthy that it was named the top restaurant on the first-ever North America's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025, and also earned the No. 12 spot on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list that same year. The restaurant, with a name inspired by the early Korean word for "gift," also boasts two Michelin stars. 

Customers can reserve a spot at the 14-seat U-shaped chef's counter at either 5:30 p.m. or 8:45 p.m. to sample dishes from the 12-course tasting menu for $385 per person. The meal finishes with a set of unique cards that explore each item served that evening. Alternatively, customers can also opt for the $285 bar tasting menu. "Wow. One of the top meals anywhere in the world," wrote a past diner on Google. "The food is delicious & soulful. It's inventive yet honest. If you're looking for technique or creativity or a general sense of pleasure + abundance, this kitchen has you covered."

Seafood restaurants are as common as a plate of seared salmon along the Adriatic Sea, but one spot in Rimini, Italy is storming the seafood world by treating sea ingredients more like how meat is traditionally handled. Da Lucio, named for chef and owner Jacopo Ticchi Da Lucio, uses every part of a fish — even highlighting organ meats in dishes, such as raw red mullet liver with sea urchin. But that's not the only unheard-of practice that Da Lucio is spearheading. The restaurant also dry-ages some of its seafood, handling it similarly to how most restaurants would dry-age a steak. 

Almost solely serving up large Adriatic fish, which are grilled or wood-fired in an open kitchen, the restaurant creates an ever-changing menu that utilizes timely ingredients. From there, each dish is presented in the minimalist dining room, which features floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of a pier — a design detail that makes it feel like diners are in the sea itself.

Da Lucio's inventive efforts have earned it a Michelin star, as well as a spot on Forbes' coolest restaurants for 2026 list. It's also earned the respect of diners: "Superb experience, amazing flavours, innovative food combinations that would make you rethink your preferences: prepare to be impressed !" wrote one past visitor on Google. As for pricing, visitors can order fare à la carte, or enjoy the best of what Da Lucio has to offer by ordering from the $145 tasting menu, which even includes seafood incorporated into a dessert.

Chicago is known for its personal takes on Italian cuisine in dishes such as deep-dish pizza and Italian beef sandwiches. But at Il Carciofo, in the Fulton Market district of the city's West Loop neighborhood, Chicago native chef Joe Flamm — the "Top Chef" season 15 winner — makes it even more personal. At this restaurant that highlights Roman dishes, a nod to Flamm's love of Rome, the chef serves iconic plates of gricia, cacio e pepe, carbonara, and amatriciana. 

These pastas — difficult to find authentically outside of Rome — are hand-rolled every day in Flamm's pasta lab, which is designed to control humidity for the best results possible. With nothing lacking when compared to restaurants serving up the best pasta in Rome, Il Carciofo truly holds its own. For a more intimate experience, the pasta lab can also be reserved as a private dining room.

With a name that directly translates to "the artichoke," customers at Il Carciofo can also dine on Roman-style pizzas cooked to perfection in a custom wood-fired oven. Better yet, diners can even watch Flamm in action thanks to the restaurant's 10-seat chef's counter, surrounded by handmade tiles, tin ceilings, and cozy dark woods. "Sitting at the chef's counter, watching the guys sling pizzas into the oven, I felt like I had been transported to Italy for a hot second," wrote a visitor on Google. During the warmer months, diners can also eat outside on the floral-lined patio that looks like it was plucked right from Rome.

Most people would agree that you didn't really visit Boston unless you dined on the city's seafood. These days, however, that definition of New England seafood also includes Greek touches thanks to Kaia. The restaurant — which made Condé Nast Traveler's list of the best new restaurants in the world in 2025 — serves up New World Greek cuisine with Old World twists in the city's South End.

Just like they do in Greece, many of the menu's items are shareable — like the $22 per person daily Gift of the Sea, which includes the day's crudo, oyster, and crab claw; the daily whole fish; and the $98 whole-roasted two-pound lobster with brown butter-Metaxa sauce, olive oil, sea beans, and pasta. Many of these plates also utilize Greek coastal ingredients, such as tomatoes, capers, legumes, and potatoes. Despite Kaia's dedication to being a Greek home away from home, it also features Japanese fusion touches in its dishes, like its use of the soy sauce-like, housemade bread amino, and Japanese-style charcoal grills.

The restaurant's shareable plates give it a friendly, warm feel, which is only accentuated by the fact that, even though it's an upscale spot, there are always first-come, first-served tables available. "The atmosphere was relaxed yet elegant, and every detail made us feel like valued guests rather than just customers," a previous patron wrote on Google. Tables are surrounded by a stone bar — which also offers non-reservable seating — as well as sandy tones and flowing curves.

With a blend of European and Asian influences, Peruvian cuisine features a delicious combination of flavors that uses native ingredients from throughout the country. At Maido, in Lima, this fusion is on full display. Created using Japanese techniques, the restaurant's 10-course tasting menu is so cutting-edge, delicious, and technically accomplished that it earned the eatery the No. 1 spot on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025. The highest honor has been a long time coming, as Maido has been on the list for more than a decade.

Maido's Japanese-Peruvian fusion is a natural offering for Chef Mitsuharu "Micha" Tsumura, who is of Japanese descent and learned Japanese cooking techniques in Osaka. Some of the dishes on the tasting menu — which starts at about $385 per person — have included boneless Peruvian guinea pig fried in duck fat with cold yuca cream; a potato cracker topped with bonito tartare, quail yolk, and shaved flakes of two-year-old dried bonito; and Peruvian short rib stew braised for 50 hours in a nitsuke-style sauce of soy, mirin, and sake. "Legitimately one of the best meals we have ever had," reads a recent Google review. "Every detail was done so well. An incredible variety of flavors and techniques used across Peruvian and Japanese cuisines."

Anyone who still thinks Mexican cuisine is just meat-heavy tacos and burritos is missing out. At Quintonil, in Mexico City, chef Jorge Vallejo and his wife, Alejandra Flores, make that abundantly clear by serving fine, modern takes on traditional Mexican fare that use seasonal herbs, chilies, fruits, vegetables, and meats. Most of the ingredients are grown in Quintonil's own garden, an unlikely setting in the bustling city, while the rest are sourced sustainably from nearby farmers and foragers who seek to elevate local ecosystems. What resulted is a 10-course tasting menu that features palate-provoking dishes like stone crab in pipián verde with sunflower seeds, makrut lime, Thai basil, and blue corn tostadas; and butternut squash with tomato salad, rice horchata, and pumpkin seeds. Prices per person start from around $328.

The contemporary yet authentic Mexican menu has earned Quintonil two Michelin stars, as well as the No. 3 spot on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Judging by its reviews, diners seem to agree with that assessment. "The experience at Quintonil was exceptional," wrote one past visitor on Tripadvisor. "It is no accident that it is considered one of the great references of contemporary Mexican haute cuisine: the product, technique, creativity and service are at a very high level, as reflected in many other reviews."

As one of the great culinary destinations on earth, Paris loves tradition — including at spots like Le Dôme Café, hailed as one of the best restaurants in the foodie city by Anthony Bourdain. But Septime, which boasts one Michelin star and ranks No. 40 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, serves classically delicious French cuisine with a renewed, playful edge. 

In contrast to a raw, rustic space that's a breath of fresh air in a city filled with stuffy Parisian restaurants, chef Bertrand Grébaut serves up hyper-seasonal fare such as veal tartare with smoked pike roe, and almond cream flower tartelette with elderflower, acacia, begonia, and blackthorn. Considering that Grébaut is a former graffiti artist, it's no surprise that his food is just as beautiful, and unexpected, as it is tasty.

The menu, which changes daily, is so beloved that the restaurant has helped bring renewed dining attention to the city's 11th arrondissement. Just ask past diners, one of whom wrote on Tripadvisor: "Minimalist but soulful. The tasting menu flows beautifully with seasonal ingredients and delicate textures ... Hard to get a table persistence pays off. Honest, elegant, and refreshing." Unfortunately, however, Septime is so beloved that reservations are often booked up just seconds after being released.

At Tate, in Hong Kong, chef Vicky Lau doesn't just serve ingredients — she regales diners. The award-winning chef, one of the few high-ranking female chefs on the planet, does so with a tasting menu that has included odes to bees, Hong Kong, vegetables, and nostalgia. The menu also includes some Japanese nods — a reflection of Lau's culinary training — each with inventive touches like a custom-made wooden beehive with buzzing noises.

It's only natural, then, that the restaurant's ambiance is just as unique. Rather than going with the minimalist, neutral tones that permeate so many modern eateries, Lau uses her artistry to serve fare in a bright, feminine, pastel pink space that makes no apologies for its beauty — whether on the plate or on the walls. Well-deserving of a spot on the list of the prettiest restaurants in the world for foodie travelers, Lau's efforts have earned Tate two Michelin stars.

This approach has also earned Tate acclaim from diners everywhere. "A lovely dining experience from start to finish," wrote a past visitor on Google. "The service was top notch and each course was a delight to taste the unique flavors combining Chinese and French cuisine."

Out of the countless restaurants that line the planet — from forgotten alleyways in Copenhagen to hip New York City streets — Planetware rounded up those that are the most worth fighting to snag a reservation at. To do so, we first evaluated which restaurants are pushing the most outside-the-box, talked-about, and delicious concepts praised by reviewers and food publications alike. This included eateries that range from a complete sensory experience that involves music and theater to spots dedicated to redefining seafood by serving aged, whole large fish. 

Hyped by food experts like The World's 50 Best Restaurants, Condé Nast Traveler, Forbes, the Michelin Guide, and more, these restaurants have captured global attention. To bring all of these perspectives together, we took to Tripadvisor and Google to read what diners are saying about these cutting-edge concepts. This also helped us identify the spots with the most consistent reviews, highest ratings, and enthusiastic praise. 

The result was a list of 11 restaurants worth planning a trip around — if you can make it in, that is. If not, there's always a chance you might find a spot at one of the weirdest restaurants in the world for a truly unconventional experience.