The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 awards were handed out in Lima on 4 November, and the top spot went to a restaurant with no city address at all. Asador Etxebarri, set in the village of Atxondo in Spain's Basque Country, took the number one ranking, which is sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna and spans 28 territories across six continents.
Chef-owner Victor Arguinzoniz has spent decades refining one idea: cooking everything over wood fire. His 14-course menu turns humble ingredients — grilled fish, vegetables, even butter and desserts — into dishes people fly in for. The restaurant also picked up the Best Restaurant in Europe title, meaning food pilgrims now have an even harder reservation to chase in a region already famous for San Sebastián's dining scene.
The rest of the podium has plenty of appeal for travellers. Second place went to Gaggan in Bangkok, the playful progressive-Indian restaurant that remains Asia's best. Third is Alchemist in Copenhagen, Denmark's theatrical, multi-hour dining epic. Latin America's crown went to Quintonil in Mexico City at number four, while Atomix in New York (11) leads North America, Trèsind Studio in Dubai (28) tops the Middle East, La Colombe in Cape Town (35) is Africa's finest and Saint Peter in Sydney rounds out the list at 50 as Oceania's best.
Individual awards offered some useful signposts too. São Paulo's Tuju, at 16, was the highest new entry and also won the Art of Hospitality Award — a strong argument for adding Brazil to a food-focused itinerary. Copenhagen's Kadeau claimed the Highest Climber Award, Jessica Rosval of Al Gatto Verde in Italy won Best Female Chef, and Ferran Adrià of El Bulli legend received the Icon Award. Other names worth noting: Junghyun Park of Atomix won the Chefs' Choice gong, Dej Kewkacha took Best Pastry Chef, Lesley Liu of Odette in Singapore was named Best Sommelier, and Naar in Kasauli, in India's Himalayan foothills, won the Sustainable Restaurant Award — an intriguing debut-adjacent entry at 49.
Eleven restaurants entered the list for the first time and five returned, so even list veterans will find something new to book. For anyone who plans trips around dinner reservations, this ranking is effectively a bucket list refresh: a wood-fire farmhouse in the Basque hills, a Bangkok tasting menu, a Copenhagen lab-dining marathon and a rising Cape Town star all now sit at the top of the food-travel agenda.
Credit: Laotian Times
