Among 50 picks from the New York Times for the best U.S. restaurants of 2026, one North Carolina location stood out.
A team of 16 critics traveled the country to choose this year’s best restaurants, which are unranked and consist only of locations that were not included on previous lists. About 10 locations on the list were located in the southern region of the U.S., including one restaurant in North Carolina.
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Here’s what the New York Times found in this year’s search.
New York Times: Best restaurants in the South
Among New York Times picks for best restaurants of 2026 were the following locations in the southern region of the U.S.:
- BIG CAT – Raleigh, N.C.
- Tin Tin – Miami, Florida
- The Tides Market – Safety Harbor, Fla.
- Merci – Charleston, South Carolina
- So. Fox – Atlanta, Georgia
- Perennial Restaurant – Montgomery, Alabama
- Little Bird – Fairhope, Ala.
- Dolfy’s – New Orleans, Louisiana
- Paprika ATX – Austin, Texas
- Junior – Nashville, Tennessee
New York Times best restaurant in North Carolina
New York Times named one N.C. restaurant among America’s best of 2026. BIG CAT, a global southern food restaurant opened in March 2026, is located at 1000 Brookside Drive, Suite 119, Raleigh.
“Five of the city’s best chefs, restaurateurs and bar owners came together and created a sly, inviting neighborhood restaurant and bodega complete with cat kitsch and a deceptively familiar menu,” the New York Times said of BIG CAT.
In particular, the New York Times praised dishes including chicken wings fried in duck fat, caramelized wedges of charred cabbage in lime leaf and ginger dressing over tofu pesto, cornbread with curry leaf butter, coconut-milk soft serve with toasted coconut and fresh lime zest and more.
“WHOAH! We’re incredibly honored to be included on this year’s @nytimes Top 50 and even more encouraged by @kimseverson’s kind words about her visit,” read a post from BIG CAT on Instagram. “Opening a restaurant is incredibly hard. Running a restaurant is even harder, so it means THE WORLD to us when someone comes, enjoys themselves, and leaves excited to return.”
Reporting by Iris Seaton, Asheville Citizen Times / Asheville Citizen Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
