If you know the ins and outs of Los Angeles’ sprawling food scene, you probably know and love Kato, Holbox and Providence. At a September 25 awards ceremony in Las Vegas, all three critically acclaimed L.A. restaurants were the awarded spots on the inaugural edition of North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list—a brand-new regional offshoot of World’s 50 Best Restaurants. They’re also, according to us over here at Time Out, some of the best restaurants in Los Angeles,
After being awarded the Resy One to Watch award by the World’s 50 Best organization last year, Kato was ranked the 26th best restaurant in North America—the highest ranked restaurant in L.A. and all of Southern California. Chef Jon Yao’s Taiwanese fine dining restaurant in the Arts District also possesses a Michelin star and, if you’re asking me, one of the best cocktail programs in Los Angeles, courtesy of bar director Austin Hennelly. The critically acclaimed tasting menu spot has also been named the No. 1 best restaurant in L.A. on the Los Angeles Times’ 101 Best Restaurants list for the last two years in a row.
Per the awarding body behind North America’s 50 Best Restaurants, the eatery offers “refreshingly original Taiwanese American fare with [an] elevated drinks offering.” The listing also describes Kato’s dishes as “some of the finest and most individual plates in North America” and praises Yao’s modern interpretations of beef noodle soup and stir-fried basil and clams. The judges also recognized sommelier and co-owner Ryan Bailey’s outstanding wine program, which includes a Kato-exclusive savagnin bottle in partnership with Sonoma’s Cole Ranch.
South L.A.’s Holbox, which also earned a Michelin star for the first time last year, came in at No. 42. The North America’s 50 Best judges describe Gilberto Cetina Jr.’s Yucatecan-style mariscos counter as “certifiably fresh Mexican seafood served in a flourishing market.” The listing also waxes poetic about the scallops “buoyed in tangy, house-made coctele sauce” and Cetina’s in-house dry-aged fish process, meticulous sourcing and head-to-tail approach to cooking. Also shouted out are the heirloom corn tortillas sourced from Komal, a Michelin-recognized masa-centric concept also housed within community-minded Mercado La Paloma. The restaurant and molino is run by two former Holbox employees, Fatima Juarez and Conrado Rivera.
“My team and I are incredibly grateful for the continued recognition of our commitment to excellence in both food and hospitality, especially on this inaugural list,” Cetina said via press release. “We’re proud to represent the South Central Los Angeles community on an international stage and amongst a group of esteemed chefs that we admire.”
Last but not least, newly three-Michelin-starred tasting menu Providence in Hollywood was recognized at No. 47 and named as a “pioneer of sustainable, seafood-centric American fine dining.” The North America’s 50 Best description nods to Providence’s newer renovations, completed in 2023, which the judges compare “to being enveloped in a luxe abalone shell.”
Nodding to Providence’s longtime status as a fine dining institution (it recently celebrated its 20th birthday), the organization says that the restaurant is just as “relevant today as it was in 2005.” The listing also notes the sustainably minded restaurant’s roof garden, which includes a beehive, herbs and flowers; house-processed Hawaiian cacao, courtesy of pastry chef Mac Dimla; and theatrical tableside cocktails made with rare spirits.
“For us, this is less a finish line than a promise to Los Angeles,” chef and co-owner Michael Cimarusti said via press release. “We’ve grown up with this city, and the credit lives with our partners, our dining room, and the people who bring us the very best of the Pacific. If anything, this moment deepens our commitment to the craft.”
Within California, seven other Bay Area restaurants made the list: SingleThread in Healdsburg (No. 8), plus six tasting menus in San Francisco: Benu (No. 13), Californios (No. 14), Saison (No. 21), Lazy Bear (No. 25), Atelier Crenn (No. 46) and Quince (No. 48). This makes the inclusion of Holbox, which primarily serves seafood à la carte, all the more notable; it’s the only non-tasting menu in California to be named to the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants.
At this point, you’re probably asking: Who was ranked the absolute best in North America? Atomix in New York City, of course. Previously, the modern Korean fine dining restaurant in Midtown Manhattan was already named No. 12 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2025 back in June, making it the highest-ranking restaurant in North America. (As such, being named No. 1 in North America earlier tonight was essentially a foregone conclusion.)