Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2026: Asador Etxebarri Is No. 1

Asador Etxebarri

The world’s most coveted dinner reservation just got a little more complicated. Asador Etxebarri, the Basque restaurant where chef-owner Victor Arguinzoniz has built an international following around his mastery of cooking with fire, has been named The World’s Best Restaurant 2026. If a trip to Spain wasn’t already on your agenda, consider this a very persuasive reason to rearrange it.

Photo Credit: Asador Etxebarri/Instagram

The announcement came November 4 at The 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony (the list you may still know as The World’s 50 Best) at Teatro Municipal de Lima in Peru, where the restaurant climbed from last year’s No. 2 position to claim the top spot. Bangkok’s Gaggan finished second, followed by Copenhagen’s Alchemist in third.

For a restaurant with such an enormous reputation, Etxebarri’s setting is wonderfully understated. Located in the village of Axpe in Atxondo, Spain, it is where Arguinzoniz has turned a lifelong fascination with fire into one of the most celebrated dining experiences on the planet. The draw is a 14-course tasting menu built around exceptional ingredients and the precision of his grill work. Here, the fire is every bit as considered as what goes over it.

That philosophy is what makes the win so compelling. A meal worthy of an international pilgrimage can begin with something as elemental as wood, heat and beautiful produce. Of course, the difference between a very good barbecue and the world’s No. 1 restaurant is the person tending the flames. Arguinzoniz has made that distinction his life’s work.

It’s a banner year for Spain generally (and, I’ll admit, a rather satisfying one from where I sit in Madrid). Etxebarri also takes the title of The Best Restaurant in Europe, and it’s one of four Spanish restaurants on the list, alongside Madrid’s Diverxo at No. 9, Barcelona’s Enigma at No. 29 and Elkano, in the Basque fishing town of Getaria, at No. 33.

Etxebarri succeeds Lima’s Maido, the 2025 winner, which now joins the organization’s Best of the Best hall of fame. Previous No. 1 restaurants retire from the annual ranking, a rule that places Maido alongside former winners including Disfrutar, Central, Geranium, Osteria Francescana and The French Laundry.

This year’s list spans 28 territories across six continents, with 11 restaurants making their debut and five returning to the top 50. It’s voted on by more than 1,100 restaurant industry experts around the world, with Deloitte keeping score. And while the headline belongs to the Basque Country, the rest of the ranking offers plenty of inspiration for anyone who prefers to build an itinerary around dinner.

Mexico City’s Quintonil landed at No. 4, followed by Hong Kong’s Wing and The Chairman at Nos. 5 and 6. Lima’s Kjolle placed seventh, Copenhagen’s Kadeau eighth, Madrid’s Diverxo ninth and Paris’s Plénitude tenth. Kadeau also earned the Highest Climber Award after moving up 33 places—a rather convincing argument for putting Copenhagen back on the calendar.

For American diners, New York’s Atomix led the way at No. 11, earning the title of Best Restaurant in North America. (It’s also the only U.S. restaurant on the list this year, which tells you everything about how global this ranking has become.) Its chef, Junghyun “JP” Park, also received the Estrella Damm Chefs’ Choice Award, the evening’s one honor voted on by fellow chefs.

The other regional crowns went to Gaggan as The Best Restaurant in Asia, Quintonil in Latin America, Dubai’s Trèsind Studio (No. 28) in the Middle East, Cape Town’s La Colombe (No. 35, back on the list after time away) in Africa and Sydney’s Saint Peter in Oceania.

São Paulo’s Tuju made the biggest entrance, debuting at No. 16 and collecting both the Highest New Entry Award and the Art of Hospitality Award. Another notable newcomer was Al Gatto Verde at Massimo Bottura’s Casa Maria Luigia in Modena, which entered at No. 24. Its head chef, Jessica Rosval, received the Best Female Chef Award, recognizing her wood-fired cooking and her work with Roots, the social enterprise restaurant she co-founded to provide professional culinary training for migrant women.

The evening also honored Ferran Adrià with the SevenRooms Icon Award, acknowledging the El Bulli visionary’s continued influence through culinary research and education. Bangkok’s Dej Kewkacha received the Best Pastry Chef Award, while Odette’s Lesley Liu in Singapore was named Best Sommelier. Ghana Food Movement, a youth-led organization reshaping Ghana’s food system, took the Champions of Change Award; Melbourne’s Yiaga was named the Visa One to Watch; and former food journalist turned chef Doris Lam won The 50 Best Restaurants Scholarship, earning stages at The Fat Duck and Cape Town’s Salsify at the Roundhouse. (As someone who has spent a career writing about kitchens rather than cooking in them, I can only salute the nerve.)

Naar in Kasauli, India, entered at No. 49 and won the Sustainable Restaurant Award for an approach rooted in Himalayan ingredients, the region’s six seasons and traditional preservation techniques. Sydney’s Saint Peter rounded out the list at No. 50.

But the reservation everyone will be talking about belongs to Axpe. A quiet Basque village, 14 courses and a chef who knows precisely what to do with fire: suddenly, the next trip is looking rather easy to plan. Getting the table is another matter.

Photo Credit: Diane Kang/50 Best

The Full List of The 50 Best Restaurants 2026

For those of us who plan our travels around where we’re eating, consider this your next 50-stop itinerary.

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See how last year’s winner made its case in Haute Living’s coverage of Maido’s 2025 win.

50 Best list Al Gatto Verde Alchemist Asador Etxebarri Atomix Atxondo Axpe Basque Country Basque restaurants Best of the Best