To prevent stagnation and give new culinary destinations a chance to shine, the organization made a pivotal structural change in 2019. Under the policy, former No. 1 restaurants are retired into a dedicated "Best of the Best" hall of fame, opening up the crown to new contenders. Since this shift, the top ranking has been awarded to Geranium in Copenhagen in 2022, Central in Lima in 2023, Disfrutar in Spain in 2024, and Maido in Lima in 2025. Noma notably qualified as a winner once more in 2021 following a high-profile closure and subsequent reopening.<\/p>\n Over the years, the brand has expanded far beyond its flagship global list, introducing a robust portfolio of regional rankings including Latin America\u2019s 50 Best, Middle East and North Africa\u2019s 50 Best, and Asia\u2019s 50 Best. The organization has also launched dedicated lists for bars, hotels, and wineries. Today, the entire brand rivals the global influence and reputation of the Michelin Guide, though it remains a frequent subject of intense industry debate regarding its polling methodology and perennial criticisms of commercial influence. <\/p>\n These criticisms have occasionally spilled into the public eye. Earlier this year, prominent Slovenian chef Ana Ro\u0161 of Hi\u0161a Franko announced she would skip the ceremony entirely, a protest that earned public praise from industry figures such as Top Chef<\/em> judge Tom Colicchio.<\/p>\n Despite the controversies, the organization relies on a rigorous voting structure designed to capture a broad international perspective. The polling is conducted anonymously among more than 1,100 industry professionals, food writers, and well-traveled gourmets, with at least 25 percent of the voting body turning over annually to ensure fresh perspectives. Each voter casts a ballot for 10 restaurants in order of preference\u2014up to six within their home region and at least four outside it\u2014resulting in a direct tabulation of votes. <\/p>\n In recent years, the organization has made concerted efforts to clarify its voting and ranking policies, emphasizing that any establishment can qualify and that the definition of "best" remains entirely up to the individual voter. The 50 Best has also broadened its award categories to highlight sustainability, hospitality, and community impact, including the Champions of Change initiative, which celebrates unsung heroes driving positive change within their local food systems.<\/p>\n The release of the top 50 list follows last week’s unveiling of the "back half" of the rankings, covering positions 51 through 100. In that bracket, Healdsburg, California\u2019s SingleThread represented the United States at No. 93. Recognizing the shifting geographical representation, the organization launched North America\u2019s 50 Best Restaurants in the fall of 2025, where Atomix similarly claimed the top spot, followed by notable spots like Montreal’s Mon Lapin and Ontario’s Restaurant Pearl Morissette.<\/p>\n The culinary world turned its eyes to Lima, Peru, on Tuesday evening as the highly anticipated results of the World\u2019s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 were unveiled. Taking the ultimate crown this year is Asador Etxebarri, the renowned temple of open-fire cooking nestled in the Basque Country of Spain. The coveted top spot marks a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[734],"tags":[2954,86,2957,2956,736,2955,735,737,1533,738,40],"class_list":["post-1882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-tourism-culinary-travel","tag-asador","tag-best","tag-ceremony","tag-crowned","tag-culinary-tourism","tag-etxebarri","tag-food-travel","tag-local-food","tag-restaurant","tag-street-food","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/platform.eater.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/11\/T50BR26-Group-shot_high-res-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.752607989199%2C100%2C78.494784021602&w=1200\")
<\/figure>\nThe World\u2019s 50 Best Restaurants 2026:<\/h2>\n
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