These 4 CA Restaurants Serve The Country's Best Dishes: New Ranking

Menu items at four California restaurants are among the best dishes in the country, according to a new list from the New York Times.

Times' staffers visited 33 states and ate more than 200 meals in their bid to compile a list of the best restaurants in the country. From that, they chose specific dishes to create another list — "The 23 Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2025."

• Read more: These 5 CA Restaurants Are Among America's Top 50, NYT Ranking Says

In California, that included dishes at four restaurants up and down the coast — all are under $25:

Kalbi Kal Guksu at Daeho Kalbijjim & Beef Soup
San Mateo
$24

"At this location of the kalbijjim chain, there are knife-cut noodles, nested in a ferociously comforting bowl of beef soup, that I crave whenever the temperature dives. Slightly thick and chewy, this tangle of noodles wrestles with ribbons of eggs, so you can’t tell where a noodle ends and a bite of egg begins. The slightly viscous beef broth lightly lacquers your mouth, and can be seasoned to your own taste with the small clay pot of sea salt on the table."

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Taco al Pastor at Taqueria Frontera
Los Angeles
$3.75

"This simple Tijuana-style taco is an exhilarating and satisfying snack that I’ve gone back to several times off duty. The tortilla is toasted in the dripping fat from the vertical spit, filled with thinly sliced pork that’s lavishly spiced and frizzled at its edges. Two salsas move through it — one creamy, white and mellow, the other theatrically, radiantly hot — and as they mix in places, they animate each bite a little differently."

Guaca-mol With Tortilla and Asiento at Popoca
Oakland
$17
"The guaca-mol here is lush with herbs, seasoned ever so sharply, then covered with smoked egg yolk. It’s a marvel on its own, but part of the magic of the dish is the wonderfully pudgy Salvi tortilla that accompanies it, still hot from the comal and shining with crispy beef asiento."

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Khanom Krok at Tanzie’s
Berkeley
$12

"Khanom krok, the popular Thai street food staple, is the best way to kick off breakfast at Tanzie’s. It arrives at the table looking like five halved, jiggly eggs topped with thinly sliced scallions, sweet potatoes or corn. These squidgy pancakes possess a sweet enough undercurrent, and a texture play like no other: Coconut milk imparts a creamy center, and the whole thing somehow still manages a light crust on its exterior. Served warm, and requiring fewer than three bites, the dish has been described on the restaurant’s Instagram account as “small sizes with a big hug.'"

View the full list of 23 dishes at the New York Times.