What are the best restaurants? These 6 California spots made New York Times list
Love checking out unique restaurants with “delicious food and a mastery of craft”? You can’t go wrong with these six California spots that made the list of the 50 best places to eat in the U.S., according to the New York Times.
To find the best spots to eat in the country, 14 reporters and editors “took 76 flights to eat more than 200 meals in 33 states” in order to “get a true picture of what’s happening in restaurants across the country,” the outlet reported.
Here are the 6 California spots that made the list:
Baby Bistro in Los Angeles
This “bistro of sorts” is “inside a Los Angeles bungalow, hedged by banana trees and bougainvillea” — and the Times writers urge you to order one of everything off the “frisky little menu” before any of the dishes vanish.
“The chef Miles Thompson swaps in new dishes often, which means a great one could disappear at any moment (like the cucumbers and raw squid, aged to the texture of a gummy candy, prickling with yuzu kosho),” NYT Chief Restaurant Critic Tejal Rao wrote. “The upside is that he and the co-owner Andy Schwartz have built a restaurant that feels inviting, unpredictable and alive, and where all of the wine bottles are under $100.”
The restaurant, which opened in May, posted about the honor of making the list in a post on its Instagram account, starting off by saying those at the bistro “aren’t particularly good at taking compliments.”
“It’s a sort of dark corner in the psyche of the people that work in this restaurant, who all find the role of providing ‘the warmth’ far more natural than the one of receiving it, so its taken us a few days to process the honor of being selected for this list,” the restaurant said in the post. “And this is still very much a new restaurant! That said, it’s also a collection of people that have spent basically their entire professional careers doing this thing, and who have given so much of their time, consideration, drive, body, patience, intellect, learned wisdom, I could go on, into making this place distinct and (we hope) wonderful for the guest. So we’re just beaming for them!”
The recognition from their peers and from the revered institution made the workers want “to kinda sheepishly blush, congratulate each other over and over again, thank those that stick their necks out for this place, and get back to it,” the restaurant said, thanking Rao for her review, the Times for the story, “and all the people from farmer to producer to maker to artist to cook to server for working hard toward something small that exists strictly as an expression of passion for food, wine, and taking earnest care of each other.”
“It is a very special job, and we’re happy to do it,” the bistro added. “See you soon.”
Lilo in Carlsbad
Despite the restaurant’s minimalist feel, the food at Lilo “goes all out,” Eleanore Park wrote in the NYT review.
And the chef and co-owners “are doing their part to transform Carlsbad, a beach town preserved in amber, into a dining destination,” Park said.
“Served out of the original Morey Boogie Board factory from the 1970s, the 12-course tasting menu sticks every landing, starting with sips and bites in the garden, including a glass of delicate clarified tomato water that immediately piques the senses,” Park wrote. “Lush lumps of rock crab arrived in a flying saucer made of ice and covered with kohlrabi shaved thin as a layer of frost. It’s just one stop on a tour of global coastlines — wild-caught turbot blanketed in a sabayon of Pineau des Charentes takes you to Brittany, while later on pops of yuzu and roses conjure Japan.”
The restaurant describes itself as “a lively and immersive dining experience that welcomes you to celebrate life’s special moments” and “harnesses the untamed spirit of the California coast and the world’s shorelines through a curated, multi-course tasting menu rooted in a thoughtful connection to nature, served around a 22-seat chef’s counter.”
It felt “pretty surreal” for chef and co-owner Eric Bost to see Lilo “land on the New York Times list of the 50 best restaurants in America alongside so many incredible tables across the country,” he said in a post on Instagram. “So much love for this team and our community. Proud. Grateful. Wild!!”
Mori Nozomi
Next up on the list is Los Angeles sushi spot Mori Nozomi, which Rao wrote is not “your typical sushi omakase.”
“Nozomi Mori shops at the Santa Monica Farmers Market to make her excellent pickles, and turns the first vegetables of the season into juicy tempura with a neon flutter of bottarga,” Rao wrote. “Each morning, she makes mochi filled with sweet red bean paste, serving these tender wagashi at the end of meal with the matcha that she whisks.”
Plus “the rice is clean and light, and the fish is high quality and masterfully cut, but the real thrill is in the way Ms. Mori builds on the structure and flow of the omakase in her own distinct style, moving you from one captivating bite to the next,” Rao said.
“What an incredible honor!” the restaurant said in a post on Instagram. “I’m so grateful for our amazing team who makes this magic happen every single day.”
The restaurant opened in March 2024.
“We are just at the beginning of our journey and hope to continue earning your support for years to come,” the restaurant said in the post.
RVR in Venice
Pronounced as “river,” the “very Los Angeles izakaya” Japanese restaurant “is on the cool, commercial strip of Abbot Kinney,” — and “the food and drink are both powerful draws,” Rao wrote in the review.
“It’s all warmth inside when you’re communing with the sweet, vivid clam ramen or grilled duck tsukune,” Rao said.
Chef Travis Lett also “opened nearby Gjelina and defined its sensibility of effortless seasonality and abundance,” and the kitchen at RVR “is focused, technically precise and, this being a Lett joint, particularly focused on vegetables — this section of the menu holds the most surprises and delights, and goes longer than some restaurants’ entire menus,” Rao said.
Sun Moon Studio in Oakland
The New York Times described Sun Moon Studio as a “tiny jewel box of a restaurant with a tasting menu in the Bay Area.”
The “12-seat wonder” is “hidden on an industrial block in West Oakland,” — making it “one of the most competitive reservations in the Bay Area,” Park wrote.
“Though, if you’re lucky enough to cross through the woven noren into the intimate dining room, you’ll find only hospitality,” Park wrote. “Sarah Cooper and Alan Hsu, who met in the kitchen at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in the Hudson Valley, bring levity to the 12- to 14-course menu — whether it’s a soulful housemade water kimchi paired with halibut crudo and discreetly ornamented with puffed buckwheat and kumquat, or lap cheong snuggled inside a cloud of steamed brioche. (Spoiler: This is actually the most perfect hot dog in disguise.)”
Then “bolts of dopamine strike with dessert,” Park said. “Shiso and perilla ice creams transform with each crunch of cacao nibs, and a ‘triple delight blueberry pie’ reminds you of what the right chefs can do with access to California’s bounty.”
The restaurant describes itself as “farmer and producer-driven cuisine.” The spot also earned a Michelin star in July, according to its Instagram.
“We’re over the (sun) moon about last week’s @michelinguide announcement awarding The Studio one star. We are grateful and honored to have our efforts recognized and to be listed among peers and mentors whom we admire greatly,” the restaurant said. “We are humbled to be just a part of the Oakland restaurant community which has a deep, long-standing tradition of serving excellent food spanning many cuisines. Biggest thanks to our team past and present for your dedication to providing outstanding hospitality. Y’all are awesome.”
Verjus in San Francisco
French restaurant Verjus first opened in 2019 but “was shuttered by the (COVID-19) pandemic” before reopening last November, Brian Gallagher wrote in the review.
“Version 2.0 is exactly the restaurant the city needs: cosmopolitan, grown up and delightfully non-tech,” Gallagher said.
The restaurant highlighted the quote in its post about making the list on Instagram. “We’ll take it,” the restaurant said.
“Michael and Lindsay Tusk, the hit-making restaurant couple behind nearby Quince and Cotogna, call it a wine bar, but that’s really up to you,” Gallagher wrote. “You could easily pop by the buzzing Jackson Square bistro for an after-work gibson at the bar. Or meet a date at the window counter for a glass of grower Champagne and oeufs manteiko, a Pacific version of the classic oeufs mayonnaise spiked with spicy pollock roe. Or make a meal of perfectly executed bistro classics like leeks vinaigrette, boudin blanc and steak au poivre. The food, the wine, the room, the city, all vibing.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What are the best restaurants? These 6 California spots made New York Times list."
