Bay Area restaurants are once again being recognized for national excellence by both critics and the general public.
An algorithm of TripAdvisor traveler reviews determined that Berkeley's Chez Panisse is in the top 25 best restaurants in the country, landing at No. 8. Other locals on the list are Restaurant Gary Danko (No. 11), The French Laundry (No. 16), and Kokkari Estiatorio (No. 22).
Meanwhile, Esquire's November issue named San Francisco's The Progress as one of the best new restaurants in the country this year, praising the every changing checklist menu that's described as "choose-your-own-adventure": "The Progress feels like a large-scale pop-up in which the cooks aren't forcing submission to any formal experience but rather floating experimental dishes like soap bubbles."
The Progress also received a nomination in the Best New Restaurant category of this year's James Beard Foundation Awards.
