The World's 50 Best Restaurants, According to ‘The 50’ Best List

This year’s list was announced at a ceremony in Lima, Peru.

November 4, 2026

Victor Arguinzoniz chef and owner of Asador Etxebarri stands with his award at The 50 Best Restaurants Awards ceremony...

A view of Plaza San Juan in Atxondo location of Asador Etxebarri nestled in the Basque Mountains of northern Spain.

Asador Etxebarri from the Spanish Basque Country won the title of world's best restaurant Wednesday night when The 50, the organization formerly known as 50 Best, announced its annual ranking during a ceremony in Lima, Peru. It was the first such event for The 50 in South America.

Victor Arguinzoniz chef and owner of Asador Etxebarri.

Situated between Bilbao and San Sebastián, Etxebarri claims some of the world's most famous chefs as major fans of Bittor Arginzoniz, who matches the characteristics of the wood in the grill with the plants and proteins sizzling over the flames. It was No. 2 on The 50 in 2025 and maintains one Michelin star. Tasting menus are around $337.

Junghyun Park and the Atomix team in New York City.

Wednesday was also a big night for Atomix in New York, which came in at No. 11 and was named Best Restaurant in North America. Junghyun Park took home the Chef's Choice Award.

Junghyun Park wins Estrella Damm Chef's Choice Award 2026 in Lima Perú.

A spot on The 50 is among the highest honors a restaurant can receive. (Disclosure: Bon Appétit editor in chief Jamila Robinson is a 50 Best Academy Chair.) The list favors some of the most expensive, elaborate cooking in the fine-dining world. It often rewards tasting menus that employ molecular gastronomy, but also celebrates the simple elegance of a Spanish grill, the sourcing mission of an Argentine steakhouse, or the laidback cool of Parisian neo-bistro.

This year’s ceremony ran into controversy earlier in the year when it was announced that it would be hosted in Abu Dhabi, which has faced criticism for human rights violations. In June, it was announced that the ceremony would instead be hosted in Peru, home to Maido, the Lima restaurant that won No. 1 last year. Maido is not eligible for this year’s list. After winning the top spot, it moves to the organization’s Best of the Best list alongside other past number ones like Barcelona’s Disfrutar and New York’s Eleven Madison Park.

Jump to The 50 best restaurants list

Who were the other contenders?

Chef and owner Jorge Vallejo of Quintonil in Mxico City.

Quintonil landed at No. 4. The two-Michelin starred restaurant in Mexico City led by Jorge Vallejo and Alejandra Flores, serves dishes that revolve around local, pre-Hispanic ingredients, which come together in energized and unexpected ways throughout its multi-course prix-fixe menu. A November menu listed on its website was priced around $327 per person for a meal that included lobster in a pipián verde with makrut lime, and an heirloom white corn tamal made with ayocote beans and young corn cream.

At Alchemist in Copenhagen (No. 3), chef Rasmus Munk oversees a meal that skews sci-fi with dishes that mimic brains and eyeballs and a show that advertises “up to 50 impressions,” both edible and “purely experiential.” It holds two Michelin stars and was ranked fifth on The 50 last year.

Gaggan in Bangkok (No. 2) claimed the title of Asia's Best Restaurant behind the creative, genre-bending Indian cooking of Gaggan Anand.

How does a restaurant get on The 50 best?

Lettuces from Tepotzotla In Sikil PakCuadro Cheese and Celeriac Bush at Quintonil in Mxico City.

Critics of the World’s 50 Best have raised questions around its voting practices, which do not demand that voters pay for their own meals. The organization, for its part, explains that the list is voted on by more than 1,100 voters across 28 regions, a quarter of whom are new each year. The voting body is made up of equal parts chefs and restaurateurs, food writers, and “well-travelled gourmets,” as the The 50 website puts it. Aside from the Academy Chairs, voters must remain anonymous.

There is no set criteria for what makes a restaurant the best, and “every style of restaurant in the world is eligible,” though the list skews completely towards high-end dining even as other best-of links have begun to include street food venues, for instance.

Who is the chef sitting out of the awards?

Ana Ros, the chef at three Michelin-starred Hisa Franko in Slovenia, published a statement on Instagram last month explaining why she would not attend the ceremony in Lima. “Success within the ranking has come to depend increasingly on visibility within the system,” she wrote. “…When visibility becomes the currency, the ability to promote a restaurant in this system risks becoming as important as the work happening inside it.”

Slovenian chef Ana Ros who runs the twostar Michelin restaurant Hisa Franko poses in Kobarid on May 12 2023.

Ros, who won the award for best female chef from The 50 in 2017, told Bon Appétit that restaurants and tourism boards “more or less” know who the anonymous voters are, and they often have to make decisions about whether to pay for travel, meals, and other entertainment to try and boost their standing.

“With more rules and a little bit more control, this list can really shine again,” she said in an interview.

Hisa Franko was No. 60 on the ranking of 51-100 this year. It was 69th last year and No. 48 in 2024.

Ros said seeing her restaurant at any place on the list was “a fantastic result” and she would be wishing everyone all the best at the ceremony.