Top 50 Restaurants for Foodies in the U.S.

As restaurants around the country gear up for the bounty of fall and a busy dining season, OpenTable, Inc., a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants, is pleased to announce the Diners’ Choice Awards for the top 50 restaurants that are “fit for foodies.”  The list of winners is derived from more than 10 million reviews submitted by OpenTable diners for more than 12,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The San Francisco Bay Area, home to scores of innovative chefs, such as Daniel Patterson (Coi), Melissa Perello (Frances) and Thomas Keller (The French Laundry), made a strong showing, earning 14 places on the list. Chicago chefs Stefanie Izard and Graham Elliot helped the Windy City grab six awards, for second place. Meanwhile, New York City trailed with five wins, including Amanda Cohen’s Dirt Candy. Seattle and the greater Boston area each boast five recipients, including a win for Boston’s Barbara Lynch. Farther west, the Twin Cities scored a hat trick with three standout spots on the list: Hauteland, Heartland Restaurant and Piccolo. Arizona, Colorado, Philadelphia, Oregon and South Carolina, among others, are also represented.

“With great reviews from scores of foodies comes great responsibility, and these restaurants embrace that responsibility in powerful and creative ways,” says Caroline Potter, OpenTable’s Chief Dining Officer.   “These restaurants have been singled out for being able to satisfy the folks for whom dining is practically sport — those avid, passionate eaters, often armed with cameras who take careful notes and relish every bite. While the restaurants on this list specialize in different cuisines and styles of cooking, each winner is pushing a boundary, maintaining an ethic, and practicing perfection with each dish.”

Based on feedback collected from OpenTable diners between September 2010 and August 2011, the following 50 restaurants, listed in alphabetical order, received the highest scores for late night dining from OpenTable diners. For more information about this list, please visit http://www.opentable.com/foodies.

Abattoir – Atlanta, Georgia
Ad Hoc – Yountville, California
Aldea – New York, New York
Annisa – New York, New York
Bergamot – Somerville, Massachusetts
Bibou – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Blackbird – Chicago, Illinois
Blue Hill – New York, New York
Bonsoiree – Chicago, Illinois
Camino – Oakland, California
Canteen – San Francisco, California
Cascina Spinasse – Seattle, Washington
Coi – San Francisco, California
Commis – Oakland, California
Commonwealth – San Francisco, California
Craigie on Main – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dirt Candy – New York, New York
FIG – Charleston, South Carolina
Fond – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Forage – Salt Lake City, Utah
Frances – San Francisco, California
Frasca Food and Wine – Boulder, Colorado
The French Laundry – Napa, California
Gather – Berkeley, California
Girl & The Goat – Chicago, Illinois
Graham Elliot – Chicago, Illinois
Hatfields – Los Angeles, California
Haute Dish – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Hungry Mother – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Local 127 – Cincinnati, Ohio
Menton – Boston, Massachusetts
Mistral Kitchen – Seattle, Washington
noca – Phoenix, Arizona
o ya – Boston, Massachusetts
Osteria Mozza – Los Angeles, California
Park Kitchen – Portland, Oregon
Piccolo – Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Publican – Chicago, Illinois
Range – San Francisco, California
Saffron Restaurant & Lounge – San Francisco, California
Saison – San Francisco, California
Sprout – Chicago, Illinois
Spur Gastropub – Seattle, Washington
Staple & Fancy Mercantile – Seattle, Washington
The Tasting Kitchen – Venice, California
Tilth – Seattle, Washington
Ubuntu – Napa, California
wd-50 – New York, New York
Wexler’s – San Francisco, California

Diners can also find additional information on the Diners’ Choice Awards for the Top Foodie Restaurants in the U.S. by visiting the OpenTable “Dining Check” blog at http://blog.opentable.com.