Best Top Chef Restaurants (2024)

Top Chef: Chicago victor Stephanie Izard kept in touch with fans via a blog, an enthusiastic Twitter account, and behind-the-scenes videos before opening Chicago's Girl & the Goat in 2010 and earning her spot as an F&W Best New Chef 2011. Izard emphasizes a bold mix of Mediterranean and Southeast Asian flavors in dishes like grilled octopus with guanciale and pistachio-lemon vinaigrette, and wood-oven-roasted pig's face with tamarind and red-wine–maple sauce. Her second venture, Little Goat, opened in November 2012, and is modeled after the East Coast diners she frequented as a child. The menu features items like a patty melt, a club sandwich with house-cured bacon, and malted milk shakes. The location expands the Goat empire with a demo kitchen, classroom, and more space for Izard’s already stellar bread program. girlandthegoat.com

Less focused on fame and book deals than most, Top Chef's first winner, Harold Dieterle, recently opened his third New York restaurant. His first project, Perilla, became a neighborhood favorite thanks to the satisfying New American menu with global accents. Dieterle brought a contemporary interpretation of Thai flavors to his second Greenwich Village outpost, Kin Shop (left), where he makes curry pastes from scratch. At The Marrow, which opened last fall, Dieterle looks to his heritage for a menu that's "meat-focused, with strong Italian and German influences," he says.perillanyc.com; kinshopnyc.com

For a taste of the modernist cuisine that won Michael Voltaggio Top Chef: Las Vegas — dehydrated potatoes, burnt-wood ice cream, yogurt curds — head to his new Melrose Avenue hot spot, ink. There, the tattoo-loving chef crafts playful, stunning dishes. His take on the Canadian comfort food poutine trades the traditional ingredients for chickpea fries and lamb's neck gravy. Just a few doors down is ink.sack (left), where sandwiches are served in 4-inch "taste" portions. Options include a Reuben with corned beef tongue and tangy Swiss Appenzeller cheese, and "The Spanish Godfather," an ode to chef José Andrés, with a selection of cured imported meats. mvink.com

Inspired by his family's Filipino heritage and a former gig cooking upscale Chinese at Buddakan, Dale Talde (of seasons 4 and 8) serves Asian dishes with a homey spin at his new Park Slope restaurant. Dumplings come wrapped in crispy-salty pretzel dough, and crunchy Korean fried chicken is served with sweet cherries and spicy kimchi. His second project with partners David Massoni and John Bush is the food-lovers' dive bar called Pork Slope, which has a pool table, an extensive whiskey list, more than 30 kinds of beer, and an unapologetically lowbrow menu of pork cheeseburgers, Tater Tots, and everything-bagel spring rolls. Talde just took over the kitchen as chef-partner of Massoni's first restaurant, Thistle Hill Tavern, expanding his reach into the Park Slope market with an American pub menu. taldebrooklyn.com; porkslopebrooklyn.com

Inside a nautical-themed space, Top Chef: All-Stars winner Richard Blais mans an open kitchen, serving wood-fired dishes that fuse nostalgic elements (English muffin pizza) with mad-scientist showmanship (tableside smoke-infused pork belly). Blais also runs the popular casual burger joint Flip Burger Boutique and a hot dog spot called HD1, with a little help from molecular gastronomy: His addictive milk shakes, in flavors like Nutella and burnt marshmallow, are frozen with liquid nitrogen. thespenceatl.com

After snagging the Top Chef title in Miami, knife whiz Hung Huynh headed to New York's Meatpacking District to open the Asian-inspired seafood house Catch. Diners come for dishes like Cantonese-style whole lobster (fried crispy and then pan-roasted), but the neighborhood’s party crowd loves a glass-enclosed rooftop lounge, DJ’d club music and sprawling lounge-style dining room. Huynh opened a second location in Miami's new James Royal Palm Hotel and recently unveiled another Asian behemoth called The General — with 300 seats and a menu that skips from sushi to peking duck — on New York's Lower East Side. emmgroupinc.com/restaurants/catch

A finalist on the first season of Top Chef and on All-Stars, Tiffani Faison cooks her way through an impressive 1,500 pounds of meat a month for this Texas-style barbecue joint, working with sustainably raised Angus beef and Berkshire pork. (Faison is particularly proud of the pork belly, which she cures, brines, and smokes to achieve a meatier and less fatty texture.) Located near Fenway Park, Sweet Cheeks also has an expansive whiskey list and an outdoor beer garden. sweetcheeksq.com

Whitney Otawka returned to Athens after appearing on Top Chef: Texas. A former sous-chef at 5 & 10 for superstar Southern chef Hugh Acheson, Otawka now runs the restaurant Farm 255, which sources ingredients from its own co-ops, Full Moon Farms and Moonshine Meats. Otawka cooks sustainable comfort food like Farm Egg in a Jar: a Mason jar layered with potato puree, kale, chorizo, and a coddled egg. Her Farm Cart is a vintage trailer that stops by local markets with items like a veggie bahn mi and house-made sausages. farm255.com

Top Chef: Miami competitor Dale Levitski took over the kitchen at Sprout in 2009, reinvigorating the neighborhood restaurant with adventurous dishes like foie gras with watermelon, cucumber, and saba (grape must syrup) vinegar. At Frog n Snail, his new Lakeview bistro, Levitski is experimenting with revamping Euro dishes, like duck l’orange with a cinnamony duck confit pierogi. "It is a very fun and interesting challenge to look at the skeleton of a classic dish and play with it," he says. sproutrestaurant.com; frognsnail.com

Known to reference his Italian grandma's cooking on Top Chef: Las Vegas and All-Stars, Mike Isabella now pays tribute to her Sunday suppers at Graffiato. The minimalist spot serves pastas as small plates, including a version of nonna's hand-cut spaghetti with cherry tomatoes; it also turns out fantastic, wood-grilled pizzas. Isabella recently opened the Mexican-themed Bandolero, which nods to his experience cooking at Philadelphia's El Vez with a mescal-heavy co*cktail list and offerings like shrimp co*cktail with charred tomatoes, and crispy short rib nachos. graffiatodc.com; bandolerodc.com

Kevin Sbraga became an instant Philly hero after winning the title of Top Chef: Washington, D.C.. His prix fixe only Avenue of the Arts restaurant, Sbraga, combines global influences, like his Greek red-wine braised octopus with fiery African piri piri pepper sauce or pumpkin tortellini with Thai green curry sauce. The dining room itself is outfitted with 80 percent repurposed materials and reclaimed wood, but sustainability isn't the chef's only ambition. "Making sure this is one of the best restaurants in the country is the goal," says Sbraga. sbraga.com

Top Chef: Texas finalist Sarah Grueneberg rose from line cook to executive chef at this esteemed Italian restaurant owned by Tony Mantuano (Top Chef Masters, Season 2). She now works side by side with Mantuano, cooking a menu of handmade pastas and wood-roasted entrées. The duo regularly travel to Italy for inspiration (they're currently exploring Mantuano's roots in Calabria), bringing back ideas and ingredients. One of Grueneberg's favorite finds is a honey she helped pollinate in Venice last summer and recently used to glaze doughnuts filled with a grappa-infused cream. spiaggiarestaurant.com

Following turns at New York's Aureole, Washington, D.C.'s Charlie Palmer Steak, and a stint going head-to-head against brother Michael Voltaggio on Top Chef: Las Vegas, Bryan Voltaggio returned to his hometown outside D.C. to open Volt. The intimate spot serves only tasting menus and does some amazing vegetable dishes, like steel-cut oat risotto topped with earthy Japanese maitake mushrooms and salty sea greens. In addition to expanding his Fredrick empire with the more casual Lunchbox and Family Meal, Voltaggio is opening his first D.C. concept, Range, this year. voltrestaurant.com

Top Chef: Texas fan favorite Edward Lee opened 610 Magnolia inside a charming carriage house in the center of Old Louisville, offering a six-course prix fixe menu that combines Southern and Asian flavors, such as his edamame hummus served with parsnip root. The house-made charcuterie, including lamb-and-elk sausage, is also fantastic. 610magnolia.com