Asador Etxebarri is The World's Best Restaurant 2026

The platonic ideal of a destination restaurant took the No.1 spot at The 50 Best Restaurants 2026. 

Chef Bittor Arguinzoniz's Asador Extebarri has been named The World's Best Restaurant 2026, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. A mainstay on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list since making its debut in 2008, it has featured in every single top 10 since 2016, and in 2025, reached the No.2 spot. Now, this remarkable run has reached its apex. 

Asador Etxebarri first entered the ranking of The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2008

Located between San Sebastián and Bilbao, Asador Etxebarri's menu celebrates local produce, transforming simple ingredients over flames into world-leading dishes that have diners from around the globe flocking to this verdant corner of the Basque Country. Signature dishes include Palamós prawns, grilled and served on their own, and the iconic charred beef chop.

The Palamós prawns are flash-cooked over custom-made, oak-wood coals

"Cooking over flames is an ancestral technique but even today, it's so important," says Arguinzoniz. "It allows you to showcase the quality of the produce."

Asador Etxebarri is also remarkable for the size of its team: the tiny kitchen, which features grills designed by Arguinzoniz himself, fits just a handful of chefs, and the front-of-house team is similarly small, making the experience feel intimate.

The chef recognised the many people outside Asador Etxebarri that have played a major role in his success, including family, friends and colleagues. "I want to share this moment and this recognition with all the people who have helped me in the many years I have been in this profession."

In 2025, Asador Etxebarri's sommelier and restaurant manager, Mohamed Benabdallah, was named the winner of The World's Best Sommelier Award 2025. The Algerian-born Benabdallah has curated a 400-bottle list and is celebrated for his ability to select wines that complement the fire-forward dishes.

Set within an intimate farmhouse conversion, the dining room has just eight tables

In the end, it's all about the guest. "I hope I can transmit the happiness I feel when cooking through my food, so that the diners can feel it too," says Arguinzoniz. 

More than 30 years have passed since Arguinzoniz opened the restaurant in 1990, but he is still motivated to make each service better than the last. 

"We want to improve day after day so that we can continue to make our diners happier and happier."

Bittor Arguinzoniz is self-taught Basque chef and the owner of Asador Etxebarri 

The 50 Best Restaurants 2026

Asador Etxebarri is one of four Spanish restaurants to make it onto the list of The 50 Best Restaurants 2026: Elkano, a fellow Basque grill house, came in at No.33, while Madrid and Barcelona are represented respectively by Diverxo (No.9) and Enigma (No.29).

Asador Extebarri's signature beef chop is typically sourced from seven-to-11-year-old Rubia Gallega or Galician old cows known for rich fat marbling and deep flavour

Five other restaurants on the list specialise in wood-fired cooking: Modena's Al Gatto Verde (No.24), which offers a smoke-licked take on Emilian cooking; Elkano (No.33) in Getaria; Don Julio (No.44), Buenos Aires' shrine to steak; Kausali's Naar (No.49), which makes the most of produce from the Himalayan foothills; and Saint Peter in Sydney (No.50), which specialises in fish cooked over flames.

The 50 Best Restaurants 2026 was announced from Lima, Peru on 4 November. Discover the full 1-50 list, extended 51-100 list and special award winners.