Asador Etxebarri is the world's best restaurant for 2026
The 35-seat Basque grill restaurant run by Víctor Arguinzoniz tops The 50 Best Restaurants for the first time, after finishing second two years running.
Asador Etxebarri, a 35-seat grill restaurant in the Basque village of Atxondo, is the world's best restaurant for 2026, topping the new The 50 Best Restaurants list.
The ranking, formerly called The World's 50 Best Restaurants, revealed its top 50 at a ceremony in Lima on Wednesday 4 November. It was the first time in the list's 24-year history that the event was held in South America.
Why judges picked the world's best restaurant
A one-star grill in a Basque village now outranks every tasting menu on earth.
Chef Víctor Arguinzoniz designed the restaurant's charcoal grills himself. He cooks nearly every dish, including desserts, over embers from oak, vine cuttings and other local woods, adjusting the height by hand rather than with gas or electric heat. The dining room seats 35 to 40 guests and serves a single 14-course tasting menu, priced around €300, booked only by direct request.
Etxebarri climbed from second place in 2024 and 2025, third in 2019 and 2021, and sixth in 2015. It holds one Michelin star. Alongside the No. 1 title, the panel also named it Best Restaurant in Europe.
More than 1,100 industry voters across 28 regions compiled the list. Organisers replace at least a quarter of the panel each year and keep it evenly split by gender.
Lima hosts the awards for the first time
Lima's Maido, last year's winner, retired from the ranking under the list's own rules and joined the "Best of the Best" group of past champions. Its sister restaurant Kjolle still placed seventh.
Spain placed two restaurants in the top 10: Etxebarri at No. 1 and Madrid's DiverXO at No. 9. Bangkok's Gaggan took second, Copenhagen's Alchemist third and Mexico City's Quintonil fourth.
The organisation rebranded from The World's 50 Best Restaurants in September, folding its restaurant, bar and hotel rankings under the single The 50 name. Dubai's Tresind Studio, which kept its three Michelin stars this year, was the only Gulf restaurant on the list, placing 28th for a fourth straight year in the top 50. Next year's host city has not yet been announced.
