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When food writers dine together, sharing is the norm. Before anyone digs into their own order, plates are placed around the table so everyone can try a bite or two.
That love of sharing is what fueled the creation of our 2024 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year list.
We know there are other “best restaurants” lists out there. This idea is not new. So what makes ours stand out? While other organizations deploy teams of writers to parachute into locations and sample the food, our journalists live in the communities they cover.
The restaurants on our list are places we recommend frequently, places we take friends and family to. These places are so adorable that we often plan our next visit while sitting at the table finishing dinner there.
“Our food writers live here, work here, eat here,” said project leader Liz Johnson, senior editor of The Record and northjersey.com and a former food writer. “They know their groove. These may not be the fanciest restaurants in the U.S., although some are. These are the restaurants we want to eat at again and again.”
How many have you been to?Check out USA TODAY’s 2024 Restaurants of the Year.
You’ll notice that our list does not omit flyover countries, as many do. Yes, you can enjoy great food in Los Angeles or New York (by the way, we have restaurants from those cities on our list), but you can also have great dining experiences in Goshen, Kentucky and Shreveport, Louisiana.
With more than 200 sites in 42 states, USA TODAY Network’s roots run deep. We took advantage of that experience and asked our writers to share their favorites, the best of the best from the towns and cities they cover. We received more than 150 nominations.
A team of experienced editors and writers then narrowed the list down to 47, looking for places with consistently excellent service, unique atmospheres, and food that never fails to delight.
We also looked for a rich buffet of flavors and found it: from a third-generation counter-service seafood shack in Cortez, Florida, to a Laotian restaurant in Oklahoma City run by a James Beard Award finalist chef.
Our criteria forUSA TODAY Restaurants of the Year for 2024
“For me, reading this list was a delightful journey across America,” said Todd Price, who writes about restaurants throughout the Southeast and was a member of the James Beard Award nomination committee. He is one of the writers who helped choose and edit our Restaurants of the Year. “Restaurants from places large and small show how varied food is today in this country. Many other national lists rarely do more than dip outside of the largest cities, and miss a lot of how and how well people eat. people. today in the United States.”
Most of the restaurants we’ve featured are located in the communities we cover, although we do have a few out-of-town entries. When they’re not covering their own territory, our writers love to travel in search of food. If we didn’t, how would we know how good our hometown places really are?
Now, we invite you to dig in and enjoy our 2024 USA TODAY Restaurants of the Year.
Suzy Fleming Leonard He is a noted journalist with more than three decades of experience. Find her on Facebook:@SuzyFlemingLeonard or on Instagram: @SuzyLeonard.