California’s celebrated culinary scene earned national recognition, with several restaurants securing spots on Yelp’s Top 100 U.S. Restaurants of 2026.
Yelp, a community-driven platform, announced its 13th annual list of the best eateries across the nation for 2026, according to a company release.
This year, California claimed the second spot with nine restaurants featured in the list, according to Yelp. Spanning from Southern to Northern California and ranging from innovative fusion kitchens to crowd favorites, these nine restaurants reflect the state’s culinary creativity and diversity.
The highest-ranked restaurant from the state was NAM Kitchen in Gardena, which also secured the third spot in the overall national ranking. The Vietnamese-Peruvian fusion restaurant has more than 1,600 5-star reviews on Yelp and was the most-reviewed business on this year’s list, according to Yelp.
NAM Kitchen is helmed by Chef Nam Lam, who was born in Vietnam to a family with Vietnamese, Chinese, and Khmer culinary roots. He opened NAM Kitchen to show guests “what real Vietnamese flavors are,” according to Yelp.
Some of the popular dishes include Nam’s spicy wontons, Pho Dac Biet, Pho filet mignon, tiger prawn garlic noodles, oxtail fried rice, and house chicken wings.
Another California standout was Broken Mouth, a Korean-Hawaiian restaurant located in a food hall in downtown Los Angeles. The restaurant placed seventh on the national list and marked its fourth appearance in Yelp’s Top 10.
Describing himself as “Korean by blood, Hawaiian at heart,” chef-owner Tim Lee created the menu based on his childhood in Oahu, family dinners, his uncle’s Honolulu restaurant, and the flavors he missed after moving to the mainland, according to Yelp.
Some crowd-favorite items include spam musubi, potato-mac salad, cucumber kimchi, and meat jun.
While NAM Kitchen and Broken Mouth featured in Yelp’s Top 10 list nationwide, the other Californian restaurants featured in the top 100 highlight the state’s broad culinary reach.
The other California restaurants include:
- Greek Bistro in Glendale
- Tsukiyo Sushi in Los Angeles
- Fat Of The Land in Santa Ana
- Than Tinh Chay in San Diego
- Zen Curry and Grill in Temecula
- Lapisara Eatery in San Francisco
- Board and Drink in San Francisco
This year, the honorees span 34 states, with Texas leading with 17 restaurants, including seven in Houston alone, according to Yelp. Ci Siamo, the modern Italian restaurant in New York City led by Chef Hillary Sterling, ranked first on the list.
Yelp’s Methodology
To determine the top 100 restaurants, Yelp identified businesses in the restaurant category and ranked them using factors such as total volume and ratings of reviews.
When available, all the restaurants in the list have a passing health score as of November 6, 2025.
Since 2014, Yelp’s Top 100 lists have recognized nearly 1,000 establishments across over 400 cities.
If you are traveling by train through downtown Los Angeles, consider stopping at Philippe The Original near Union Station / Olvera Street.
Try a Beef Dip sandwich with a slice of blue cheese. You’ll thank me.
Philippe originated the French dip sandwich (1918).
Open 24 hours historically (1927–1941), now 6:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. daily.
1908: Philippe Mathieu founded the restaurant.
1927: Mathieu sold the business to the Martin family, and has remained with the Martin/Binder/Downey family line since then.
Coffee is no longer a nickel, but they were famous for it until recently.