Dave Watts
This year, there was no shortage of beautiful restaurants to feast our eyes on. From Los Angeles to New York, with stops in Austin, Washington, D.C., and more cities along the way, we went on a visual roadtrip, satisfying our vision when we couldn’t satisfy our sense of taste. For us, these are the most stunning restaurants that opened in the United States in 2024.
-
Ash, Tampa
Image Credit: Seamus Payne Ash is a study in shapes and textures. The playfully designed restaurant, courtesy of Gin Design Group, aims for a sense of whimsy via the use of organic curves, serpentine upholstery, and terrazzo elements. A canopy trimmed with chrome hints at Tampa’s nearby waves, and the subtle lighting lends an even stronger sense of warmth to the space. If you’re looking for something a bit moodier and energetic, step into the cocktail bar Alter Ego, which features backlit forms, cement block walls, and deep-red hues.
-
Bungalow, New York City
Image Credit: Bungalow Drawing inspiration from members-only clubs in India, Bungalow is meant to feel like you’re in a rather exclusive space. Designer Shaila Rizvi has brought in rich hues of amber, ruby, and emerald, and a few design elements can’t be found anywhere else in New York: Black stone carvings from Udupi, India, greet guests as they walk in, and hand-carved single stone marble peacocks were created by an artist who descends from the original Taj Mahal artisans. Stepping into Bungalow, you’re sure to feel transported from the city streets of New York.
-
Chez Mia, West Hollywood
Image Credit: Maxime Lemoine Chez Mia makes the most of the Southern California weather, with one of the largest outdoor dining spaces in Los Angeles. There, Fettle Design has paired bold, patterned banquettes and elaborate pleated umbrellas with lush landscaping and nine-foot fountains. If you’d rather sit inside, the design is just as delightful—take the custom Italian-style chandeliers or the gold mohair banquettes. It’s a little bit quirky, a little bit whimsical, and a whole lot of eye-catching.
-
Coqodaq, New York City
Image Credit: Jason Varney for Rockwell Group Coqodaq has become well known for its fried chicken and Champagne, but it should be just as lauded for its design. Rockwell Group has created a true cathedral to fried chicken, with illuminated “ghost” arches lighting the way to culinary nirvana. The dark dining room may feel like another New York “clubstaurant,” but the addition of luxe colors and materials—like hunter-green leather and dark walnut wood—keep Coqodaq from veering in an unsavory direction. And upon entering, you have to stop by the hand-washing station, with a suite of soaps from high-end brands like Loewe.
-
Crane Club, New York City
Image Credit: Adrian Gaut The Crane Club space has been many things over the years: The building was originally a Nabisco factory, and it’s been home to several other restaurants in the past couple of decades. None, however, may be as striking as Crane Club. Designed by Susan Nugraha, the head of Tao Group Hospitality’s in-house design team, and Laseu Studio, the restaurant is a grande dame with Art Deco touches. There’s custom Gucci wallpaper in the private dining room, custom-designed $50,000 chandeliers, rich ruby velvet drapery, and a red marble bar. No expense was spared, and it was well worth it.
-
Dear Strangers, New York City
Image Credit: Andrea Grujic Situated below a West Village brownstone, Dear Strangers may not seem like much from the outside. But step into the bar and restaurant and you’ll be greeted by Dutch East Design’s homey atmosphere. Warmth comes across in polished wood and brass detailing, while velvety textures and deep midnight-blue tones add sophistication. The patterned red tile floor is an unexpected but charming touch.
-
Knife Italian Steak, Las Colinas
Image Credit: Don Riddle Knife Italian Steak doesn’t look like your typical steakhouse. Rather, Thomas Schoos of Schoos Design has created a colorful take on the American classic. When you enter the restaurant, you’re greeted by a magenta sofa and palm trees. The Pink Champagne Bar, as its name suggests, includes even more of that hue while the main dining room features a black-and-white striped table, caramel banquettes, and papier mache lanterns. A second dining room with an exposed kitchen once again draws in pink tiles, along with ribbon-like wood paneling. Think of a Fellini movie but in bright color, as Schoos himself puts it.
-
La Cave, Charleston
Image Credit: Andrew Cebulka Let La Cave transport you to the south of France. Designer Leslie Landrum and architect Dan Sweeney have created a space reminiscent of a very chic cellar, which is what the sipping lounge’s name translates to in English. Faux stone walls and archways are complemented by natural wood finishes, herringbone parquet floors, and oversized crystal chandeliers. Plus, there’s a gallery wall of family portraits painted by the owners’ daughter.
-
La Grande Boucherie, Washington, D.C.
Image Credit: Rachel Paraoan The capital’s La Grande Boucherie benefits from something that not all restaurants can come by: It’s housed in the Federal-American National Bank building, which is included in the National Register of Historic Places. Dating to the 1920s, the space has been reimagined by Legeard Studio and Emil Stefkov, with a grand marble staircase and a life-size bronze statue atop a travertine stone fountain. The massive space is tastefully divided by mahogany wood and glass partitions, and the 20-foot bar was imported from Paris—a true touch of brasserie style.
-
La’ Shukran, Washington, D.C.
Image Credit: Hawkeye Johnson “Funky” may be the best word to describe La’ Shukran’s design. The Levantine restaurant wants to serve up fun in all its forms, from the food to the drinks to the music, and the decor simply adds to that mission. Fringed lamps hang from the ceiling, and a hot-pink Moroccan rug takes center stage on the floor. The restaurant isn’t afraid to play with color, and that only enhances the food on the plates and the cocktails in your glass.
-
Le Coq, La Jolla
Image Credit: James Tran A modern steakhouse, Le Coq brings together classic sumptuous restaurant vibes with a more industrial feeling, to beautiful effect. Designed by Christopher Puffer and Megan Power, the space boasts exposed brick walls, steel trusses, and a wood-clad barrel-vaulted ceiling. Those raw elements are paired with lush oxblood velvet booths, greenery, and lacquered birds-eye wood to warm up the room. You can’t miss the 25-foot-wide circular bar, an ideal place to cozy up for a drink.
-
Legami, Charleston
Image Credit: Peter Frank Edwards Each distinct space in Legami is a visual delight. Designed by owner Tyler Ropolo, the restaurant brings together the best of Italian culture with influences from historic Charleston. In the main dining room, you’ll find pastel-green banquettes and white Carrara marble tables, while upstairs there’s green-velvet seating and custom lighting from Torino. An outdoor patio includes jasmine vines and brick flooring, and an upstairs terrace showcases floral touches as you overlook the street below.
-
Locanda Verde, New York City
Image Credit: Adrianna Glaviano While the original Locanda Verde has a rustic feel, the team behind the Italian restaurant went a different route for the new Hudson Yards location. Inspired by Tokyo and Milan, Roman and Williams created a modernist yet glamorous hideaway in a rather commercial area. The main dining room is swathed in golden amber, orange, and velvet stripes, with expressionist drawings and paintings by Robert De Niro Sr., the father of the Robert De Niro, an owner of the restaurant. A Dean Barger mural adorns the walls, meanwhile, and a carpet in the café features the work of Pablo Picasso. It’s an art-adorned restaurant that’ll make you look at the walls as much as you look at your plate.
-
Manuela, New York City
Image Credit: Dave Watts Manuela takes the feeling of dining in a museum and turns it up to 100. The restaurant is the brainchild of Artfarm, a hospitality company owned by Iwan and Manuela Wirth. Designed by Russell Sage Studio, it puts art at the front and center: The tabletops, light fixtures, and wall coverings are all designed by world-class artists, with Mary Heilmann tables and Matthew Day Jackson chairs. The colorful bar comes courtesy of Mika Rottenberg, who also created a chandelier made of vines sourced from outside her upstate New York studio. Filled with bright colors and captivating art, it’s a wonderful setting in which to chow down.
-
The Marigold Club, Houston
Image Credit: Arturo Olmos “Fancy but not formal” is the ethos behind the Marigold Club’s London-inspired design. Fox Fox Studio worked with Goodnight Hospitality’s partners to bring the ethos of Mayfair supper clubs to Texas. That’s achieved through the use of de Gournay wallpaper in the hallways, Murano glass chandeliers with hand-blown marigolds and tulips, and art curated by the Houston-based Illa Gaunt. The standout design element may be the Bemelmans-inspired mural that wraps around the dining room, hand-painted by Pauline de Roussy de Sales. The work includes cowboys, tuxedoed waiters, and the restaurant’s partners dining with their families, kids, and dogs.
-
Milton’s, Houston
Image Credit: Julie Soefer When conceptualizing the design of Milton’s, Brittany Vaughan of Garnish Design decided to lean away from traditional trattoria inspiration. Instead, the Italian restaurant brings in hues of Irish green, golden yellow, and rich blue to evoke the 1950s and ’60s. The space retains original terrazzo floors and D’Hanis brick from when it served as a bank; and they’re joined by new bold brass light fixtures, luxe banquettes, and stained-glass windows that harken back to that same time period.
-
Mother Wolf, Miami
Image Credit: Michael Mundy Evan Funke now has a few locations of the Roman-inspired Mother Wolf, but that doesn’t mean he’s skimped on the design of the Miami outpost. Here, Martin Brudnizki Design Studio has dreamt up a lush space from the moment you walk in—you’re greeted by a fountain wall and custom artwork inspired by Rome’s fountains. With Bernadette Blanc lending a hand when it comes to styling, Mother Wolf also features custom antique mirrors, Italian terrazzo flooring, damask wall details, and an Art Deco fabric ceiling (a nod to Miami’s architecture). It’s over the top in all the right ways.
-
Orla, Santa Monica
Image Credit: Tanveer Badal Michael Mina’s Orla has views of the Pacific Ocean, so it only makes sense that the restaurant’s design is inspired by boating. More specifically, AvroKO has designed a space that evokes a luxury yacht voyage on the Mediterranean, via the use of yacht deck flooring that’s actually used on boats, plus high-gloss black paint and brass metal detailing. The floor of the dining room includes a custom fish and octopus mosaic made in Italy, mirrored by a hand-painted octopus mural inset in the ceiling. Thankfully, you don’t have to worry about getting your sea legs.
-
Osteria Mozza, Washington, D.C.
Image Credit: Rey Lopez The first East Coast location of Osteria Mozza pays homage to D.C. while also bringing a bit of California cool to the nation’s capital. Roman and Williams has imagined a multi-purpose space, with natural light flooding in through large arched windows and marble on the table and bar tops, plus integrated into the bright terrazzo floors. While outdoor seating isn’t possible year-round, the floor-to-ceiling windows in the Solarium bring the outside in, helped along by greenery like palms and cactus. It’s pretty enough to host Washington’s power-lunch set, that’s for sure.
-
Perle Mesta, Oklahoma City
Image Credit: Kacey Gilpin for Perle Mesta There’s a sense of warmth found throughout Perle Mesta, a feeling that Robinson Park Studio wanted to exude as an homage to the restaurant’s namesake—the original Oklahoma City socialite Perle Mesta. Drawing on her femininity, the design team brought in plush furniture, low seating, and a hearth meant to evoke a living room. Chandeliers were transported from Barcelona, while a local artist created two herb-inspired murals. The bar area is a bit darker and less dainty, offering a welcome counterpoint to the pastel color palette found in the dining room.
-
Serenade, Austin
Image Credit: Bailey Abadie At Austin’s Serenade, you’re meant to feel like you’re in a French garden café with touches that are distinctly Texas. Designed by Blur Workshop, the restaurant features a striking Italian-cowhide arch installation by a local artist, plus a custom full-wall mosaic that depicts birds local to the area, including golden-fronted woodpeckers and American robins. The more distinct elements are balanced by pink and orange granite flooring and a cristallo quartzite bar top.
-
Soso’s, New York City
Image Credit: Chelsea Kyle Sometimes retro design can feel stale, but Soso’s gets it just right. The New York tavern, designed and built by Jeff Lam and Eddy Buckingham, takes cues from psychedelic 20th-century design. That means there’s maple wood paneling, leather-bound banquettes, sunken round booths dubbed “hot-tub booths,” and an espresso-brown shag carpet. Color is added in via jewel-toned windows and tiles that are strewn throughout the space. Your standard N.Y.C. tavern this is not—thankfully.
-
Sparrow Italia, Miami
Image Credit: James Livingston It’s not every day that you see a restaurant with a sunken dining room, but Icrave and Kobi Karp have added just that at Sparrow Italia. The change in level adds an extra layer of grandiosity to the already grand space, which also includes textured Venetian plaster and carved wood paneling with inset bronze mirror and brass metal detailing. Blue velvets pair nicely with the more natural tones. And live entertainment takes center stage on an elevated platform, without drawing away from the food or the design.
-
Stella, West Hollywood
Image Credit: Jakob Layman Stella’s modern Italian menu is mirrored in the modern Italian design, courtesy of Wendy Haworth. Upstairs, the main entrance leads into a light, bright room, thanks to the sliding doors on the terrace. Downstairs, there’s a darker, moodier tone—think walnut-paneled walls and terrazzo floors. The private banquettes throughout allow for an intimate and cozy dinner experience, a clubby vibe that feels right at home in West Hollywood.
-
Sunny’s, Miami
Image Credit: Michael Pissari Rather than being built from the inside out, Sunny’s prioritizes its outdoor space. The brick courtyard is centered around a banyan tree, with interior designer Amy Butchko adding in an outdoor bar, plush upholstery, and white tablecloths. Inside, the design leans mid-century modern, with Murano glass light fixtures, roughly plastered walls, and marble floors. It’s a contemporary version of a steakhouse, with all the natural touches you would expect from a Miami-based restaurant.
-
Tiya, San Francisco
Image Credit: Neetu Laddha Decked out in green hues, Tiya draws inspiration from a rather interesting source: the symbolic green parrot native to eastern India. That comes across in the colors, certainly, but also the velvet booths, the loud wallpaper, and the mosaic flooring. Artwork comes courtesy of tIndian artist Saurav Das and brings an added layer of texture to the walls. With two dining spaces—one for à la carte dining and the other for the tasting menu—and a long, curved bar, you can choose whichever vibe strikes your fancy.
-
Twin Tails, New York City
Image Credit: Christian Harder Stepping into Twin Tails is a bit like stepping back in time. The AvroKO-designed space is influenced by New York’s Asian restaurants of the 1980s, a decade that lent itself to burl wood, glossy paint, and pink and amber hues—all found here. Raw materials like terra-cotta and rattan are pulled in to contrast with those excesses and nod to the Southeast Asian cuisine on the plates. The bar in particular is a standout, thanks to its curved shape and green veined marble top. Like the iconic Mr. Chow, Twin Tails also brings in art reminiscent of the neo-expressionist paintings found back then. You can’t actually time travel, but this is a pretty good backup option.
