Matthew Kang
Disfrutar in Barcelona takes the top spot, while Spain’s Asador Etxebarri and Table by Bruno Verjus round out the top three
The World’s 50 Best Restaurants List was announced tonight at an awards ceremony in Las Vegas, with Disfrutar in Barcelona, Spain, named to the top spot in the annual restaurant ranking. Rounding out the top five: Asador Etxebarri in Atxondo, Spain at No. 2; Table by Bruno Verjus in Paris at No. 3; Diverxo in Madrid at No. 4; and Maido in Lima at No. 5.
Chefs Eduard Xatruch, Mateu Casañas, and Oriol Castro opened Disfrutar in December 2014, and it’s held spots on the 50 Best list in several years since. According to Eater’s own 2021 guide to Barcelona, the restaurant is considered one of the city’s “most lauded fine dining destination[s] for good reason,” featuring a “elaborate brand of molecular cuisine is packed with pomp and circumstance.” The restaurant’s march to the top was a steady drumbeat in recent years: It took the No. 2 spot on the 2023 list, and was No. 3 in 2022.
Of note stateside were two entrants: NYC’s Atomix climbed two spots from last year’s placement to land at No. 6, while Healdsburg, California’s Single Thread re-entered the list this year at No. 46.
As ever, the 50 Best list aims to evaluate and subsequently rank the entire world’s global culinary output. Since 2019, any restaurant that ascends to the top of the list is subsequently ineligible and removed from contention in following years, ending the onetime grip that restaurants like Noma and elBulli (which have both since closed or announced closures) once had on the top 10. the first time.
Here’s the full 2024 World’s 50 Best Restaurant list:
1. Disfrutar, Barcelona
2. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain
3. Table by Bruno Verjus, Paris
4. Diverxo, Madrid
5. Maido, Lima
6. Atomix, New York
7. Quintonil, Mexico City
8. Alchemist, Copenhagen
9. Gaggan, Bangkok
10. Don Julio, Buenos Aires
11. Septime, Paris
12. Lido 84, Gardone Riviera
13. Trèsind Studio, Dubai
14. Quique Dacosta, Dénia
15. Sézanne, Tokyo
16. Kjolle, Lima
17. Kol, London
18. Plénitude, Paris
19. Reale, Castel di Sangro
20. Wing, Hong Kong
21. Florilège, Tokyo
22. Steirereck, Vienna
23. Sühring, Bangkok
24. Odette, Singapore
25. El Chato, Bogotá
26. The Chairman, Hong Kong
27. A Casa do Porco, São Paulo
28. Elkano, Getaria
29. Boragó, Santiago
30. Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin
31. Belcanto, Lisbon
32. Den, Tokyo
33. Pujol, Mexico City
34. Rosetta, Mexico City
35. Frantzen, Stockholm
36. The Jane, Antwerp
37. Oteque, Rio
38. Sorn, Bangkok
39. Piazza Duomo, Alba
40. Le Du, Bangkok
41. Mayta, Lima
42. Ikoyi, London
43. Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Berlin
44. Mingles, Seoul
45. Arpege, Paris
46. Single Thread, Healdsburg
47. Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau
48. Hisa Franko, Kobarid
49. La Colombe, Cape Town
50. Uliassi, Senigallia
