The Best Hotel Restaurants In The US

With summer travel season in full swing, and COVID-19 restrictions continuing to wane in the U.S. (via Politico), it's easier than ever to hit the road — or the airport — and find your next food-filled adventure. Whether traveling by car on a snack-fueled road trip, or jet-setting to your next destination, hotels are there to provide familiar comforts, decadent amenities, and dining options that go well-beyond breakfast in bed or outstanding room service.

Hotel restaurants are a far cry from the stereotypical mediocrity of yesteryear, and with travel back to its pre-pandemic frenzy, they're ready for a rebound (via FSR Magazine). Nowadays, hotels have become havens of fine dining and chef-driven creativity. With Michelin stars aplenty, hotel restaurants have become destinations in and of themselves, whether or not guests are staying on property, passing through town, or living locally, and from the quaint coast of Maine to the bumping nightlife of Miami Beach, they can be found in every corner of the country. As you head out on summer vacation, these are the best hotel restaurants in the U.S.

For those seeking exoticism, the Encore Boston Harbor is the closest you'll get to far-flung travel without passports. The massive property, clocking in at 671 rooms and 27 floors, has been a game-changing addition to Boston's hotel scene, bringing Las Vegas-style luster to the town of Everett. A mirror image of the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, the sleek hotel is tricked-out in topiaries, a 210,000-sq.-ft. casino, and a revolving Ferris wheel in the lobby. That extravagance applies to its myriad restaurants too, which run the gamut from clubby pan-Asian and a charcuterie-clad wine bar to glam all-day Garden Cafe and even the rare Dunkin' that's 21+ (due to it being on the casino floor).

Then there's Red 8, a dazzling Chinese restaurant with enough flavor and crimson-red color to transport you to Macao. Located next to the casino floor, the ornate restaurant sports elevated cuisine in an equally high-end dining room bedazzled with super-sized pottery, pink flowers, and fiery red chandeliers. On the menu, you'll find familiar Chinese comforts — e.g. crab rangoon, hot & sour soup, and chow mein — as well as Cantonese noodles, Hong Kong-style barbecue, and Peking duck for two, crispy skin glistening and golden-brown. Made with the highest quality ingredients, and authentic recipes and techniques, Red 8 offers a shareable Chinese feast of steamed shu mai, pork wontons, Kobe beef potstickers, wok-tossed pork belly, Chinese sausage fried rice, and lots more, with a full slate of bracing cocktails, sake, and more.

Nestled in the thick of the Short North, a bustling neighborhood in downtown Columbus filled with shops and restaurants, Lumin Sky Bar & Kitchen is full of surprises. From its eighth-floor perch atop the AC Hotel Downtown Columbus, the wide-open restaurants provide a panorama of one of America's most underrated skylines, with extensive seating both indoors and out — with food and cocktails that are just as worthy of your attention.

Borrowing inspiration from Spain, as well as international influences as widespread as the Middle East and France, Lumin serves a tapas-centric spread of small plates and flavors bold and bright. An ideal spot to hunker down for sunset, a nightcap in hand, the dynamic menu runs the gamut from pesto chicken bruschetta and poached octopus with baba ganoush to smoked duck flatbread and tahini cookies with buttercream. To drink, cocktails are Lumin's bread and butter, with classics and novelties equally represented. Pick your tipple from espresso martinis, negronis, smoked Manhattans, and gin & tonics.

Located aptly, a stone's throw from the beach, Stones Throw is a charming boutique hotel and restaurant whose oceanic proximity makes for a supremely scenic feast of seafood, cocktails, wine, and fresh vegetables. The pint-sized inn itself feels like a cottage-style beach house, with a handful of rooms upstairs, perched over the always-popular restaurant and patio.

Celebrating the bounty of Maine's fish, seafood, and produce, the ground-floor restaurant peddles requisite summertime staples like lobster rolls and haddock cakes, steamed mussels, and clam chowder with a bevy of eclectic originals. On any given evening, the oft-changing menu may include Nashville-spiced grilled halloumi, watermelon-feta salad, panko-fried fish & chips, and halibut moqueca, a locally sourced riff on the traditional Brazilian seafood stew (via Feasting at Home). Behind the bar, local Maine beers, crisp wines, and quenching cocktails (try the rum-soaked Stones Punch) are the order of the day. On a nice evening, the front patio is the prime spot to soak in the sunset over York Beach while soaking up the last drops of buttery mussels broth with grilled sourdough.

No matter where you're seated at Salt, the French-inflected fine dining bastion inside The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, you're in for a spectacle. This is true of the main dining room, where massive windows overlook the Atlantic coast from Florida's most northeastern island, and it's especially true of the elite chef's table, a cozy wine-stocked nook right in the middle of the kitchen. Of course, it's all par for the course at this ritzy property, where a sprawling spa and turquoise-tined pool are just the tips of the amenity iceberg. Of all the destination-worthy restaurants at this castle-sized beachfront property, though, Salt is the crown jewel.

The most high-end of the property's restaurants, Salt earns its name from the prominence of seasonings and sea salts on its menu, sprinkled and infused throughout French-inspired dishes by a chef who's as well-seasoned as his cuisine: Okan Kizilbayir. Under his helm, the restaurant features always-changing, always-exciting tasting menus showcasing the best and brightest of meat, seafood, fish, and vegetables, with intricate sauces and flourishes (ahem, edible gold atop ice cream) to round it out. Rooted in seasonality, the handsome restaurant is constantly swapping in fresh new flavors, from blackened skate with Nickelodeon-orange butternut escabeche to a squid ink paella with lobster soffrito. For dinner with a show, try and snag the two-top chef's table, a private room inside the kitchen that provides a front-row seat to all the culinary action.

What's old is shiny-new again, as a former bank tower in downtown Oklahoma City has been lavishly restored into a soaring hotel and residence. The National, under the Autograph Collection umbrella, is a newly opened hotel that's added a fresh sheen to what was once a bank in 1931. Today, the luxe property boasts swanky guest rooms, sweeping city views, and truly staggering dining and drinking spaces in and around the lobby. These include the Great Hall lobby bar, which looks more like a dining hall in Hogwarts, and a basement bar in a massive bank vault called the Library of Distilled Spirits. Then there's Tellers, an Italian-influenced restaurant so named for the bank teller stations that once stood in its place.

Flanked by soaring columns and pastoral artwork, the date night-worthy restaurant employs a wood-fired grill for much of its regionally inspired menu, including Neapolitan-style pizzas and seared steaks. Start with appetizers like charred eggplant dip with yogurt and chili, or plump beef meatballs nestled over silken polenta, then tuck into heartier portions like spinach lasagna with pork and veal ragu or veal Parmigiana with molten marinara and gooey mozzarella. Tellers is also open for breakfast and lunch, with killer cocktails and an Italian-focused wine list. But don't overlook the robust dessert selection, with options like chocolate-pistachio cannoli cake and salted caramel sundaes with popcorn, toasted peanuts, and hot chocolate sauce.

Come for the views, and stay for the epic Italian eats at Monarch, a high-flying restaurant in downtown Dallas whose ritzy atmosphere befits its regal moniker. Located on the 49th floor of the Thompson Dallas, a dapper hotel with luxury bathtubs and skyline vistas through floor-to-ceiling windows, the pageantry starts before you arrive at the restaurant. Upon check-in by the lobby elevators, guests are greeted with a complimentary glass of champagne before being whisked to any number of window-side tables with sprawling views of the Texas metropolis.

Billing itself as a modern, wood-fired Italian restaurant focused on steaks, seafood, and pasta, there's a lot more intricacy and detail than meets the eye. Although high-end, this is the kind of fine dining place that still knows how to have fun — where suave servers make jokes and cocktails are so whimsical and contemporary that some, like the Cognac King, are infused with foie gras. It's an apt sipper as you peruse an indulgent menu of Texas Wagyu carpaccio, wood-fired meatballs, caviar service, black truffle risotto, and a whopping 40-oz. porterhouse, charred over coals and served simply with lemon, arugula, olive oil, and sea salt. For the royal Monarch experience, opt for The Royale, an off-menu omakase where the chef prepares a spree of surprise dishes for $290 per person. The wine list, in particular, is elaborate and incredibly well-curated, with resident sommeliers ready to guide you through pairings or after-dinner digestifs.

In 1890, Olympic athletes and Chicago bigwigs like Marshall Field and William Wrigley were frequenters of the legendary Cherry Circle Room, a kind of gussied-up supper club slinging martinis and oysters within the coveted Chicago Athletic Association members' club. Today, those well-appointed pastimes live on, and you don't even need to join a members' club to get a taste. Cherry Circle Room 2.0 re-emerged within the new Chicago Athletic Association hotel in 2016, offering elegant confines and gilded age architecture across the street from Millennium Park. While new and re-imagined, the hotel's main restaurant still retains its bygone glory through classic American cuisine and decor that looks like the Titanic inspired it.

Nestled in the back of the second floor, under the neon glow of a cherry-shaped light, the dining is a handsome haven filled with dimly lit lamps, dark wood panels, curved walls, intimate booths, and a tableside cocktail service. From plump shrimp cocktail and bubbling crocks of French onion soup to Wagyu steak frites and duck à l'orange for two, the menu reads like a ritzy time warp, along with historically inspired cocktails like the Lemon Flip, made with tequila and mezcal, sherry, lemon, whole egg, and cardamom and celery bitters. Through its restored decor and historic menus, Cherry Circle Room is as impressive as it was in its members' club heyday.

On the heels of a recent property-wide renovation, the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown's final feather in its cap is the debut of Carcara, a restaurant rooted in the culinary traditions of the American Southwest. Inspired by the sun-soaked landscape surrounding the city, the dining room's modern motif is filled with earth tones and greenery, including a 14-foot tree in the middle of the restaurant. Outside, guests can dine on a patio shaded by orange trees, the namesake fruit of the restaurant.

Wherever you're sitting, prepare for a savorous meal of Sonoran-inspired dishes and Native American ingredients, paying homage to Arizona's desert terroir. Under chef Chaz Frankenfield, Carcara emphasizes local ingredients (especially cattle and citrus, part of the five C's of Arizona, per the USDA) for a seasonally changing menu that includes candied prickly pear ribs with jalapeño slaw, crispy eggplant tacos with goat cheese and citrus ratatouille, and beef rib-eye with roasted fingerling potatoes, fried garlic, lemony broccoli, and jalapeño-cilantro chimichurri. Citrus is even more central on the drink list, woven throughout housemade syrups and infusions, as with the Devil's Bridge cocktail (named after a well-known Arizona hiking trail, as seen on AllTrails), with pink dragon fruit-infused rum, stone fruit syrup, pineapple juice, lime, lemon, and orange bitters.

Bringing a taste of the African savanna to Savannah, Georgia, Baobab Lounge is the most exotic dining and drinking spot within the Mall of America-sized JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District. From South African wines to biltong, a kind of spiced jerky popular in countries like Zimbabwe and Malawi, the abundant beauty of the Mother Continent is on full display at this cozy lounge replete with animal prints, African art, and enough fake elephants and alligators to deck out a Rainforest Cafe.

In addition to a deep wine selection, many of which hail from Africa, menu items here are all about snacking and sipping. For the former, biltong and droëwors (a South African beef sausage, per Ember Snacks) are joined by cheese boards, spiced peanut chicken skewers, harissa steak flatbreads, and roasted beet hummus, while cocktails skew fruity and tart, like the Tamarind Martini, or the Savannah Dusk, with tequila, mango puree, lemon juice, Tajin, and peppadew pepper syrup.

Known for its iconic, singular architecture, New Orleans has a knack for design, especially in its restaurants. From the hallowed halls of Commander's Palace to the whimsy of the revolving The Carousel Bar & Lounge, the decor is as central to the New Orleans dining experience as the storied cuisine. It's a sentiment on full display at The Elysian Bar at the Hotel Peter & Paul, a boutique property situated on the grounds of a former church and rectory in the Marigny.

The vast restaurant is located in the rectory, which means the dining room is in a vast, wide-open space with soaring ceilings, columns, and timeworn architecture, while the enchanting outdoor courtyard offers a place to slurp oysters under twinkling bulb lights and church bell towers. For food, the kitchen spotlights contemporary American and Creole flavors, upping the ante on familiar dishes like an heirloom tomato salad with fried shrimp and buttermilk aïoli, a meat-free smoked beet tartare, and grilled swordfish with cilantro and herb broth, root vegetables, and charred shishito peppers. The bar portion emphasizes boozy cocktails and classic drinks invented in New Orleans, like the rye-based Creole Cocktail, and daily brunch brings forth chicken liver toast, French omelets, and baked eggs with tomato, ricotta, and chimichurri.

Las Vegas is known for many things, but modesty is not one of them. In line with Sin City's penchant for over-the-top theatrics, Superfrico is the kind of restaurant that bridges the gap between dinner and theater, combining the two into one trippy, immersive experience you won't soon forget. At first glance, it might seem like a standard — albeit contemporary — Italian-American restaurant, but this art-filled concept inside the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is the furthest thing from standard.

For starters, Superfrico describes itself as "Italian American psychedelic," complete with a nightly all-vinyl DJ, so it's safe to assume this isn't your grandma's red sauce joint. Everywhere you turn in this expansive, labyrinthine restaurant, rooms pop with neon art, zany animal prints, disco balls, and four different bars slinging quirky cocktails like the Pizza Pie Negroni, with gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, tomato water, basil, and olive. The food is just as eccentric, like carne asada pizza, pesto gemelli pasta with scallion powder, and a special tableside mozzarella service that entails servers pulling and stretching 1 lb. of fresh curd right in front of you before plating it with tomato, basil, bread, salumi, olives, and peppers. For something even more transportive, check out Superfrico's speakeasy-style Ski Lodge, an aprés-ski-inspired nook complete with a stone fireplace, pizza, cocktails, and picture windows overlooking snowfall in a forest.

Any restaurant hidden away in a majestic national park, hours away from urban calamity and light pollution, is sure to enamor. Indeed, Creekside Restaurant at Kalaloch Lodge in Washington's Olympic National Park is one such mecca. Nestled on a craggy bluff overlooking the Pacific, the cozy inn and restaurant provide comfort for park-goers through its rustic-chic cabins and locally sourced cuisine.

The restaurant looks like a decked-out cabin, replete with lots of polished wood, lamps, and fake fish scattered across the walls, along with an outdoor patio providing a front-row seat to all the oceanic action. True to its national park locale, adhering to a philosophy of sustainability, the restaurant diligently sources from local farms, fisheries, and wineries — the drink list exclusively features wines from Washington, while seafood is sourced from within a 150-mile radius. Open all day long, the seasonal offerings include clam chowder, grilled salmon, elk burgers, and a particularly epic mac & cheese made with Dungeness crab and beer cheese.

In a city as trafficked and well-trod as New York City, it's hard to find real-deal hidden gems anymore, but Anything At All captures that ethos to a tee. Located on Roosevelt Island, inside the Graduate hotel, the restaurant provides a deserved dining destination on an island that's often overlooked and underrated. Well worth the stopover, Anything At All is as tasty as it is pretty, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows, retro Americana decor, a sleek white facade, and enough vintage books to fill a library.

In terms of food, Anything At All keeps the Americana theme going with a menu of new American fare. Ideal for sharing and snacking or a traditional multi-course dinner, gussied-up comfort foods include sweet potato chips with pimento cheese, smoked trout dip with nigella flatbread, duck wings, smoked oyster chowder, curried mussels with coriander fry bread, and beef burgers topped with thick-cut bacon, American cheese, and pickled green tomato. There's also an all-day menu of sandwiches, pastries, salads, and a lineup of crafty cocktails, mocktails, cider, beer, and wine. Truly, anything at all.

In terms of big American cities, Houston tends to get overlooked by other metropolises like Chicago and New York, but if its influx of new restaurants is any indication, that's all changing. A prime example is Rosalie Italian Soul, a newer entry in downtown's boutique C. Baldwin Hotel, showcasing classic-inspired Italian cuisine from San Francisco-based celebrity chef Chris Cosentino.

Named after Cosentino's great-grandmother, Rosalie Cosentino, the beautiful and whimsical restaurant is a heartfelt love letter to his roots, served up in an Instagram-ready space bedecked in hot pinks and lots of lush plants. With classic Italian food at its core, the chef glams things up a bit to meet a more modern menu. The result is a medley of old-meets-new dishes that any great-grandmother would be proud of, like a New England-inspired bowl of clams and shells, basil-infused meatballs, and an oversized portion of whole chicken parmesan and gooey burrata. Rosalie also serves a mean weekend brunch, skewing contemporary and playful with plates like strawberry-Nutella pizza, Italian bread pudding toast, breakfast polenta, and a morning riff on chicken Parmesan, with the addition of eggs.

At The Confidante Miami Beach, you'll find mid-century vibes on mid-beach, plus a whole boatload of vibrant flavors, interactive cocktails, and a killer patio at on-site restaurant Ambersweet. The indoor-outdoor restaurant is Miami to the core, with tons of planters, natural light, and a romantic terrace that flickers with candlelight come evening. Then there's the food, an homage to South Floridian cuisine and seafood, plus neoteric takes on classic American staples.

The all-day restaurant and lobby bar is an all-occasion spot that's equally befitting date night or family dinner and equally appealing for travelers or locals. Dinner starters include aji-glazed pork belly with creamed corn, and sunchoke chips, steak tartare with black garlic smoked aïoli and beer vinegar, roasted sea scallops with asparagus and fermented lemon, and seared halibut with sweet onion soubise. Cocktails offer both classic interpretations (like an oak barrel-aged Manhattan with smoked apple bitters) and interactive originals, like the DropMe Lemon Drop — it's served with an orb of ice that's filled with more cocktail, which you smash open with the tiny wooden hammer the drink is served with.

Considering the Four Seasons brand has more Michelin stars to its name than any other hotel group, it's no wonder that the newly minted Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis has two restaurants helmed by one of the city's most lauded chefs. Mara and Socca are the two dining concepts within the hotel, overseen by Gavin Kaysen, an alum of New York City's revered Café Boulud (via Eater), and the Minneapolis native behind local heavy-hitters like Spoon and Stable. He's also a James Beard Award-winner (via James Beard Foundation), so he's bringing considerable cred to the Four Seasons name.

Both restaurants are inspired by the Mediterranean, including first-person trips the chef has taken through the South of France, with Mara being a full-service restaurant and bar and Socca acting as a casual street-side cafe. The beautifully designed dining room at Mara evokes images of the sea and countryside through trees, sea green, and light wood, providing a multi-sensory foray of flavors, sights, and smells. Dinner plates are just as beautiful: fresh ricotta tartines come strewn with slow-roasted tomatoes and rosemary on porridge bread, lamb gets the tartare treatment with ras el hanout spices and red lentil crackers, and salt-baked branzino gets brightened up with zesty tzatziki, fennel slaw, and green almonds. The Mediterranean also takes top billing on the wine list, joined by fig-infused Old Fashioneds and sparkling wine cocktails.

At Disney World, dining and drinking are as much a rite of passage as the rides, and for some of the best restaurants in the Most Magical Place on Earth, you need to venture out of the parks and into the resorts. This is especially true of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, an under-the-radar resort that's so immersive you'll feel entirely transported to the African savanna. With some of the most authentic dining spots in Disney World, the resort stands out from the crowd of Mickey-shaped pretzels.

Chief among them is Sanaa, an artsy restaurant that's as flavorful as it is entertaining — a savanna is visible from the restaurant's windows, so you can eat African-influenced food while watching giraffes and zebras mosey around. Brimming with African art and kaleidoscopic banquettes and booths, there's a lot to marvel at here, but don't overlook the menu, which is so authentic and bold by Disney World standards that it's almost audacious — and a breath of fresh, curry-scented air. Start with the crowd-pleasing Indian-style bread service, a platter of fluffy naan with a smattering of dippable sauces and chutneys, then dig into lamb kofta, Zanzibari vegetable curry, Goan seafood curry, and turmeric-marinated fish with coconut gravy. For dessert, finish with coconut rice pudding with cashew streusel and saffron-poached fruit, and wash it all down with something off the wine list, which focuses on varietals from South Africa (via Disney Food Blog).

Surrounded by the pastoral paradise that is western Montana, an easy drive to Yellowstone National Park, and surrounded by ranches and farms, mountain cooking doesn't come any finer than that at Fielding's inside the Kimpton Armory Hotel in Bozeman. The polished, sophisticated restaurant provides comfy solace — and a good amount of pampering — after a day spent hiking the nearby mountains or skiing the slopes.

Along with local Montana beers, West Coast wines, and spirits from small distilleries across the U.S., menus at Fielding's peddle dishes are directly influenced by what's in season and what area purveyors are growing. For dinner, this may entail housemade ricotta with kale salsa verde and broccolini or sunchoke and leet velouté with za'atar crouton, while entrees capture the ethos of the burly and meaty Montana diet — think bacon-wrapped elk meatloaf, herb-roasted chicken with brown butter spinach and truffle jus, and rib-eye steak with buttered mushrooms and a loaded baked potato.

A prime spot for an all-American road trip, within an easy jaunt of iconic summertime destinations like Badlands National Park and the Black Hills, Rapid City is a small city in western South Dakota that serves as a convenient urban hub proximal to all the greenery, shimmering lakes, and mountain hikes. The star attraction is downtown's historic Hotel Alex Johnson, the tallest building in the area, easily distinguished by its giant neon sign glowing from the roof. Once you're done staring, head up there to lounge at Vertex Sky Bar, a bi-level rooftop haunt with indoor and outdoor seating, multiple fire pits, and beautiful Black Hills views.

Along with classic cocktails, wine, and beer, Vertex raises the bar on bar food with an impressive array of plates, both large and small, much of which celebrates local Dakotan ingredients like game and walleye. For example, ravioli comes stuffed with elk and swimming in roasted garlic cream, bison Osso Bucco is the ultimate meaty comfort food with veal demi-glace and six-bean cassoulet, and crispy deep-fried walleye fingers are like gourmet fish sticks with panko breading and Sriracha tartar sauce.

In the heart of downtown Denver, hidden inside the newly refurbished Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, Bezel is the hotel lounge of your dreams. The sultry lobby bar is a dimly lit corner spot filled with plush corner booths, gilded furnishings, ornate chandeliers, flickering candles, and roaring fire pits on the patio.

Altogether, it's a swanky spot that upgrades the concept of what a lobby bar can be, taking it from a pre-dinner stopover to a full-blown destination for drinks and food. For the former, the drink list dazzles with inventive and unique cocktails, like an espresso martini variation made with tequila and Amaro, and the Gangs of New York, a layered libation of Irish whiskey, lemon, thyme syrup, egg white, and beet-infused Madeira. And never mind that this bar-centric nook has a limited selection of small plates because you'll want to load up and make a meal of all of them, especially the fries with balsamic powder and duck fat aïoli, bison sliders with foie gras and Béarnaise, and char-broiled West Coast oysters with mignonette butter and candied habanero.