Sunday Special: What Makes a Restaurant Great?

This month, The Times released a list of the 50 best restaurants in America. The Food desk’s reporters, critics and editors crisscrossed the country from Portland, Ore., to Deer Isle, Maine, to scout places formal and casual, big and small, experimental and classic. Their survey is an evocation of what it’s like to dine out, right now, in America. On today’s episode, Gilbert sits down with the Food reporters Priya Krishna and Brett Anderson, two contributors to the list, for a veritable feast of dining wisdom. They discuss what makes a restaurant worthy of the 50 best list, how they go about finding those restaurants, and the dining trends they’re loving and hating in 2025. On Today’s Episode: Priya Krishna, reporter and video host for New York Times Food and Cooking Brett Anderson, reporter for New York Times Food and Cooking Background Reading: America’s Best Restaurants 2025 Photo: Chase Castor for The New York Times Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.