‘Tis the season for publications everywhere to release dozens of holiday “year-end” lists to showcase the best eats in America.
While such tallies offer helpful suggestions for where to find the best burgers, pizza, barbecue and even molecular gastronomy in America, it’s hard to figure out just how the rankings are decided.
Fear no more, critical reader. Thanks to data recently released by restaurant reservation site OpenTable, we now have a statistics-driven list of this year’s top 10 restaurants in the nation.
The site based its ranking on five million reviews, all submitted by verified diners, for nearly 19,000 eateries across the U.S.
The results?
California is a foodie champion. California restaurants appeared three times in the top 10 and a winery from the state took the number one spot.
“California is in the envious position of having a year-round growing climate,” OpenTable’s Chief Dining Officer, Caroline Potter, told Business Insider, “and the state produces much of the nation’s fruits and vegetables. Chefs and restaurateurs have amazing access to this 365 days a year.”
Without further ado, here are the top 10 restaurants of 2013:
1. St. Francis Winery & Vineyards in Santa Rosa, Calif.
2. Mama’s Fish House in Paia, Hawaii
3. n/naka in Los Angeles, Calif.
4. Halls Chophouse in Charleston, S.C.
5. Charleston in Baltimore, Md.
6. o ya in Boston, Mass.
7. Orchids at Palm Court in Cincinnati, Ohio
8. Fearrington House Restaurant in Pittsboro, N.C.
9. The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif.
10. Goosefoot in Chicago, Ill.
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