The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Reveals its List of Runners Up—With a Few Surprising Results

It’s that time of year where fine dining becomes a competitive sport. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list has begun its rollout of its hyped-yet-flawed rankings, which will culminate in the revelation of what it deems the world’s best place to eat. But don’t let the name fool you, the World’s 50 Best actually ranks 120 restaurants around the world, and today it unveiled the ones falling short of the more prestigious list.

Some of the surprising results include restaurants that have long made a home in the top 50 falling down the rankings, like Alex Atala’s D.O.M. in Brazil dropping from 30 to 54 and Arzak in San Sebastian sliding from 31 to 53. Christian Puglisi’s Relae in Copenhagen stopped its slide, climbing back up the list from 71 to 56.

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This year the organization touted how female-forward the list was, but it appears they’ve graded themselves on a curve. Only six of the 70 restaurants listed are led by women, which is an improvement, but not a significant one. The organization itself saw the lack of representation in its list as a failing when it announced last year that it would change the composition of the 1,040 voters to introduce more gender parity in the voting body.

The U.S. has the most restaurants on the long list with seven, but apparently, there are no world class restaurants in that tiny little California coastal town Los Angeles—which failed to be represented yet again. Making its debut on the list at 119 was Atomix in New York, which we recently crowned the best new restaurant in America. Kyle and Katina Connaughton’s Michelin three-star SingleThread jumped 20 spots up to number 71; Per Se took a big fall from 81 to 115; Saison dropped out of the top 50, landing at 70 just two weeks after it lost its third Michelin star; David Chang’s Momofuku Ko slid 14 spots to 76; Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare fell from 69 to 77; and Ignacio Mattos’ Estela in New York climbed from 83 to 80.

The French Laundry, which is preparing to celebrate its 25th Anniversary this summer, is no longer eligible for the list because it has previously been ranked No. 1*. The same goes for all past No. 1 restaurants from Osteria Francescana to Eleven Madison Park. We’ll find that out next week who will take the crown, when the list is announced at a gala in Singapore on Tuesday, June 25.

Here’s the full list:

51. Reale, Italy
52. Mikla, Turkey
53. Arzak, Spain
54. D.O.M., Brazil
55. Maeemo, Norway
56. Relae, Denmark
57. Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Germany
58. Sud 777, Mexico
59. Burnt Ends, Singapore
60. Indian Accent, India
61. Uliassi, Italy
62. Nihonryori Ryugin, Japan
63. Florilège, Japan
64. The Ledbury, U.K.
65. Selfie, Russia
66. Core by Clare Smyth, U.K.
67. Astrid Y Gastón, Peru
68. Fävikin, Sweden
69. Nahm, Thailand
70. Saison, U.S.
71. SingleThread, U.S.
72. Aqua, Germany
73. Maní, Brazil
74. Lasai, Brazil
75. Diverxo, Spain
76. Momofuku Ko, U.S.
77. Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, U.S.
78. Lido 84, Italy
79. Mingles, South Korea
80. Estela, U.S.
81. Quique Dacosta, Spain
82. Enigma, Spain
83. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, U.K.
84. Attica, Australia
85. Amass, Denmark
86. Tegui, Argentina
87. Martin Berasategui, Spain
88. Lung King Heen, China
89. 108, Denmark
90. Alo, Canada
91. Sushi Saito, Japan
92. Harvest, Russia
93. La Cime, Japan
94. Aponiente, Spain
95. Gaa, Thailand
96. Belon, China
97. Vendôme, Germany
98. Anne-Sophie Pic, France
99. The Jane, Belgium
100. Oteque, Brazile
101. Brae, Australia
102. Amber, China
103. Jade Dragon, China
104. Cococo, Russia
105. Kadeau, Denmark
106. Restaurant David Toutain, France
107. Il Ristorante Luca Fantin, Japan
108. L’Astrance, France
109. Alcalde, Mexico
110. Neolokal, Turkey
111. Chambre Séparée, Belgium
112. St. John, U.K.
113. Vea, China
114. La Colombe, South Africa
115. Per Se, U.S.
116. St. Hubertus, Italy
117. Epicure, France
118. Ernst, Germany
119. Atomix, U.S.
120. Sugalabo, Japan

*This article originally stated that the French Laundry and Fat Duck had fallen off the list, but may be back in the top 50. It has been updated to clarify that they are no longer ranked because as former No. 1 restaurants, they are now in a separate class of restaurants called “Best of the Best.”

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