US Eateries Are Scarce In 2023's 50 Best Restaurants List

If you're a major foodie, then you might be aware of the World's 50 Best Restaurants list — which acquired the 50 Best Bars list — that is released every year. Some of the most renowned food critics and culinary experts get together to compile a list of where they believe the most immaculate food is served worldwide. The awards have been ongoing for the past 20 years, ever since the British magazine Restaurant compiled its first list of the world's best restaurants in 2002. The following year, those experts began releasing their annual lists of what they believed to be the world's best eateries, resulting in the first edition of the World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2003.

Though one remarkable feature of 2023's list was how the U.S. did overall compared to past years. For example, the 2016 50 Best Restaurant list included six from the States. This year, only two restaurants appeared on the list, and they were both from New York City. One of them was Atomix, a Korean restaurant that also won the award for highest climber after moving more than 20 spots upward compared to the 2022 list. La Bernadin, Eric Ripert's French seafood restaurant, was the other restaurant hailing from the States on the list, coming in at No. 44. This is a stark contrast from the first list in 2003, where a U.S. restaurant took the number one spot, and four other restaurants were also on the list. 

A major factor for why the United States did relatively poorly this year compared to previous lists is because the organization that compiles the final results has become much more inclusive over the last two decades. In 2002, the team that compiled the first list of the world's best restaurants was only composed of 150 people, but since then that has grown to 1,000+ members. In another move towards inclusivity, the organization has made stops in multiple cities around the world to hold the awards ceremony. This year, it was held in Valencia, Spain.

As the team has grown, so has the list of countries that are visited. Although many of the first lists were compiled primarily by European and North American restaurants, restaurants in South America and Asia have also made it on the list – though not a single restaurant from Africa appeared in this year's edition (though Fyn in Cape Town took the Most Sustainable on the Chef's Choice Awards). Although there are plenty of eateries in the United States that deserve recognition for their amazing foods, it's important to remember that rating food is subjective. So if your favorite American eatery didn't make the cut, that's alright. After all, the only person who can make a perfect list of restaurants for you is you.