19 SCC Restaurants Among Wine Spectator's 2023 Award Winners

SAN JOSE, CA — When it comes to fine wine and dining, Bay Area residents don't have to travel far to enjoy some of the best the country has to offer. In Santa Clara County alone, 18 restaurants were ranked among the best places to enjoy good wine and good food.

Wine Spectator recently unveiled the 2023 Restaurant Awards winners, which honor the world's best restaurants for wines. This year's awards program recognized 3,500 dining destinations from all 50 states and in more than 70 countries worldwide.

Since 1981, the Restaurant Awards have had three distinct levels: The "Award of Excellence," the "Best of Award of Excellence" and the "Grand Award."

The Plumed Horse in Saratoga nabbed a Grand Award, which it first earned in 2015. Restaurants in San Jose, Los Gatos, Campbell, Mountain View and Santa Clara were honored for superior wine and cuisine with a Best of Award of Excellence.

This restaurant was named the Grand Award Winner for 2023:

• The Plumed Horse (Saratoga)

These restaurants won the Best Of Award Of Excellence this year:

• Adega (San Jose)
• Be.Steak.A (Campbell)
• Chez TJ (Mountain View)
• Forbes Mill Steakhouse (Los Gatos)
• LB Steak (San Jose)
• Mastro's Steakhouse (Santa Clara)
• Tasting House (Los Gatos)

Restaurants that earned the Award of Excellence are:

• 20Twenty Cheese Bar (San Jose)
• Birk's Restaurant (Santa Clara)
• Dry Creek Grill (San Jose)
• Fogo de Chao (San Jose)
• Left Bank Brasserie (San Jose)
• Meso Modern Mediterranean (San Jose)
• Morton's, The Steakhouse (San Jose)
• Steamer's The Grillhouse (Los Gatos)
• Terun Pizzeria (Palo Alto)
• iTalico (Palo Alto)
• Sundance the Steakhouse (Palo Alto)

Then there's the Award of Excellence, given to restaurants that carefully choose their wine lists to have 100 or more selections, containing both quality and diverse wines, according to the magazine. There were 2,001 Award of Excellence winners this year.

The Best of Award of Excellence is given to restaurants that "go the extra mile," with lists of 350 or more selections from top producers, with a wide variety of regions and vintage depths. These restaurants might also carefully design the presentations of the list, train their staff to assist diners with the list and have curated wine dinners, according to Wine Spectator. Worldwide, 1,411 restaurants received the Best of Award of Excellence award.

Find more info on all 2023 Restaurant Award Winners from Wine Spectator.