Remember when the hottest place in town was a club with a line wrapped around a street corner or a fancy bar frequented by Hollywood celebrities or Wall Street bigwigs?
Restaurants have become hot not only for their food but also for the exclusivity they have to offer. Thanks in part to what the New Yorker described as With the gamification of restaurant reservations through platforms like Resy and OpenTable, getting a reservation at a popular establishment is almost impossible.
As a result, the desired reservation can be secured showing social capital, a way to impress friends or business partners with hard-to-reach places they can get into.
With social media, it’s easier than ever to broadcast glimpses of your lavish life to the general public. Millennials and Gen Z are also turning to their For You pages, the part of TikTok and Instagram where content is recommended based on your interests and engagement, to find the next desirable food establishment to add to their bucket lists.
Although inflation has made restaurants feel more financially burdened, dining out remains the biggest spender category among all generations, according to a McKinsey report on consumer sentiment.
The consultancy giant’s ConsumerWise Global Sentiment Survey of 4,003 people in May 2024 found that 39% said they planned to spend money at bars and restaurants – the most compared to any other type of expenditure, including expensive items such as travel, vehicles and home electronics.
These findings are supported by the latest US Census data on consumer spending, which shows that household spending on food outside the home increased by 20.1% between 2021 and 2022.
Part of the increase is a return to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions closed many restaurants. Still, the wave of demand for hotter, buzz-worthy restaurants is spurring new players to enter the field. In January, Yelp reported that more than 50,000 new food and beverage establishments opened in the U.S. in 2023, a 10% jump from the previous year.
With our social media algorithms throwing up endless possibilities, it’s not easy to stay informed about which places are hot and actually worth the splurge, especially in a big city.
Here, a high-net-worth travel concierge and hotel concierges share their recommendations for the buzziest and best restaurants to visit for any occasion in seven of the most popular US cities, from the perfect restaurant for a romantic evening to the ideal establishment to impress customers.
Browse, presented alphabetically by city.