The World 's 50 Best restaurants - wikipedia The World 's 50 Best restaurants The World 's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the British magazine Restaurant, based on a poll of international chefs, restaurateurs, gourmands and restaurant critics. In addition to the main ranking, the Chef 's Choice list is based on votes from the fifty head chefs from the restaurants on the previous year 's list. The top restaurants are often forerunners of molecular gastronomy. Most of the restaurants serve haute cuisine, which is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food. The first place on the list has been dominated by elBulli and Noma. In 2002 and 2006 -- 2009, elBulli was determined to be the world 's best restaurant, winning more times than any other restaurant. In 2010, Noma received the first place award. It was maintained in 2011 and again in 2012. After defending its title for the third time, chef René Redzepi said that 1,204 customers were wait - listed for the evening, compared to 14 customers from two years before. However, in 2013 El Celler De Can Roca took over the first position and Noma regained it in 2014. Eleven Madison Park in New York City is the current top restaurant, the first American restaurant to top the list since Thomas Keller 's The French Laundry in 2004. Contents 1 History 2 Best restaurants by year 3 Chef 's Choice restaurants by year 4 Other 2012 awards 5 Criticism 6 See also 7 References 8 External links History The list originated as a one - off stunt by the staff of Restaurant magazine, who came up with the idea at the Shaston Arms public house in London 's Carnaby Street. It was more successful than they expected and soon became established as a major event in the culinary world. The World 's 50 Best Restaurants list is compiled from the votes of the `` World 's 50 Best Restaurants Academy '', a group of 27 panels established to make the ranking. The world is divided into regions, with a chairperson in each region appointed for their knowledge of their part of the restaurant world. These chairs each selected a voting panel of 35 members, who cast a total of 5,859 votes. There is no list of nominees ; each member of the international voting panel votes for their own personal choice of seven restaurants. To ensure that there are winners from many regions, judges are encouraged to vote for up to three restaurants in their own region, with the rest cast outside their home region. No voting member is allowed to vote for their own restaurant, or one in which they have an economic interest, and voters must have eaten in the restaurants they nominate within the past 18 months -- although it is not possible to ensure that they have. The criteria are different from those of the Michelin Guide or other guides, which has allowed restaurants like Momofuku Ssam Bar, Asador Etxebarri and St. John to hold their own among the molecular or traditional cuisine of restaurants such as The Fat Duck, Les Ambassadeurs or The French Laundry. Best restaurants by year elBulli Noma 's storefront World 's Best Restaurant Year 1st 2nd 3rd 2002 elBulli Gordon Ramsay The French Laundry 2003 The French Laundry elBulli Le Louis XV The French Laundry The Fat Duck elBulli 2005 The Fat Duck elBulli The French Laundry 2006 elBulli The Fat Duck Pierre Gagnaire 2007 elBulli The Fat Duck Pierre Gagnaire 2008 elBulli The Fat Duck Pierre Gagnaire 2009 elBulli The Fat Duck Noma Noma elBulli The Fat Duck 2011 Noma El Celler de Can Roca Mugaritz 2012 Noma El Celler de Can Roca Mugaritz 2013 El Celler de Can Roca Noma Osteria Francescana 2014 Noma El Celler de Can Roca Osteria Francescana 2015 El Celler de Can Roca Osteria Francescana Noma 2016 Osteria Francescana El Celler de Can Roca Eleven Madison Park 2017 Eleven Madison Park Osteria Francescana El Celler de Can Roca Chef 's Choice restaurants by year 2004 : Tetsuya 's, Sydney, Australia ( 19 ) 2005 : elBulli, Roses, Catalonia, Spain ( 2 ) 2006 : Pierre Gagnaire, Paris, France ( 3 ) 2007 : The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire, England ( 2 ) 2008 : Mugaritz, Errenteria, Gipuzkoa, Spain ( 4 ) 2009 : Noma, Copenhagen, Denmark ( 3 ) 2010 : The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire, England ( 3 ) 2011 : Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy ( 4 ) 2012 : Mugaritz, Errenteria, Gipuzkoa, Spain ( 3 ) 2013 : Alinea, Chicago, United States ( 15 ) 2014 : D.O.M., São Paulo, Brazil ( 7 ) 2015 : Eleven Madison Park, New York, United States ( 5 ) 2016 : El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain 2017 : Central Restaurante, Lima, Peru Other 2012 awards La Grenouillere, France -- `` One to Watch '' award. Overall it placed at # 81. Elena Arzak from the Arzak restaurant, Spain -- Veuve Clicquot World 's Best Female Chef. Thomas Keller from the French Laundry, US -- S. Pellegrino Lifetime Achievement Award. Criticism The World 's 50 Best Restaurants list has been criticised ; writing in The Guardian in 2003 Matthew Fort described the list as `` humbug ''. The French food writer and critic François - Régis Gaudry says the ranking lacks reliability, while the Spanish chef Martín Berasategui spoke of `` rigged '' ranking, manipulated by an `` important international food company '' in order to `` cause damage '' to the Michelin guide. The list has also been criticised as lacking female representation and being overly Eurocentric. See also Companies portal Food portal List of Michelin 3 - star restaurants Lists of restaurants References Jump up ^ `` Spain 's El Bulli named best restaurant in world ''. The Economic Times. India. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2012. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014. Jump up ^ Richard Vines ( 30 April 2012 ). `` Noma Keeps World 's Best Restaurant Title, Fat Duck Sinks ''. Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 April 2012. Jump up ^ `` Eleven Madison Park Tops List of World 's 50 Best Restaurants ''. New York Times. Retrieved 5 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` These Are the World 's 50 Best Restaurants ''. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 5 April 2017. ^ Jump up to : Lauren Collins ( 2 November 2015 ), `` Who 's to Judge ? -- How the World 's 50 Best Restaurants are chosen '', The New Yorker, retrieved 10 April 2017 Jump up ^ `` About The Academy ''. Retrieved 6 April 2017. Jump up ^ Restaurant, Osteria Francescana 2011 ^ Jump up to : `` Noma Keeps World 's Best Restaurant Title as Fat Duck Slumps ''. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 1 May 2012. Jump up ^ Fort, Matthew ( 2003 - 04 - 29 ). `` Questionable taste ''. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008 - 04 - 02. Jump up ^ `` Que faut - il penser des World 's 50 Best Restaurants 2013 ? ''. Lexpress.fr. Jump up ^ `` `` Restaurant ' es un montaje '' ``. El País ( in Spanish ). 2 May 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2017. Jump up ^ Bull, Marian. `` The World 's 50 Best Restaurants List Is Also a Bad Bucket List ''. GQ. Retrieved 9 April 2017. External links Official website 2017 list of 50 best restaurants Lists of restaurants By city Barcelona Hong Kong Lagos Las Vegas Valley London New York City Paris Portland, Oregon Singapore Tokyo Vienna By company Burger King franchises KFC franchises McDonald 's restaurants By country Restaurant districts and streets Australia chains Pizzerias in Australia Canadian chains Canadian pizza chains Fast - food chains in Canada China Hungary Hong Kong Iceland India chains Ireland chains Israel Mexico Philippine chains Scotland South Africa Sweden Switzerland Wales United States chains Pizza chains of the U.S. U.S. restaurant districts and streets Hawaii By cuisine Bakery cafés Barbecue restaurants Coffeehouse chains Doughnut shops Fast - food chicken restaurants Fish and chip restaurants Frozen yogurt companies Hamburger restaurants Hot dog restaurants Ice cream parlor chains Noodle restaurants Ramen shops Oyster bars Pancake houses Pizza chains Pizza franchises Seafood restaurants Steakhouses Submarine sandwich restaurants Vegetarian restaurants By ethnicity Chinese restaurants French restaurants Greek restaurants Italian restaurants Japanese restaurants Mexican restaurants Russian restaurants Thai restaurants By owner Owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay By rating Michelin 3 - star restaurants Michelin starred restaurants in Chicago Michelin starred restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau Michelin starred restaurants in Ireland Michelin starred restaurants in the Netherlands Michelin starred restaurants in New York City Michelin starred restaurants in San Francisco Michelin starred restaurants in Scotland Michelin starred restaurants in Singapore Michelin starred restaurants in the United Kingdom Michelin starred restaurants in Washington, D.C. The World 's 50 Best Restaurants By type Buffet restaurants Cafeterias Casual dining restaurant chains Delicatessens Diners Dinner theaters Drive - in restaurants Floating restaurants Kosher restaurants Restaurant chains Fast food restaurant chains Defunct fast - food restaurant chains Revolving restaurants Supper clubs Theme restaurants See also List of restaurateurs List of American restaurateurs Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_World%27s_50_Best_Restaurants&oldid=801192528 '' Categories : Restaurant guides Food and drink awards Hidden categories : CS1 Spanish - language sources ( es ) Use British English from May 2012 Use dmy dates from May 2012 Articles with specifically marked weasel - worded phrases from August 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Català Deutsch Italiano עברית Polski Português Русский Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 18 September 2017, at 06 : 41. 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Question: what's the number 1 restaurant in the world
Answer: Eleven Madison Park