Asador Etxebarri in Spain's Basque Country named world's best restaurant for 2026

A first for the Basque Country

Asador Etxebarri, a grill in the village of Axpe in Biscay (Vizcaya), was named the best restaurant in the world on The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 list, announced at a ceremony in Lima, Peru, on the night of 4 November. The gala was held in Lima for the first time, and it marked the 24th edition of the list. The restaurant, run by chef Bittor Arginzoniz, had finished second in 2025 behind Maido, the previous year's winner. It has spent more than a decade in the top ten, and it is the fourth Spanish restaurant to reach number one and the first from the Basque Country, after elBulli (five times, in 2002 and from 2006 to 2009), El Celler de Can Roca (2013 and 2015) and Disfrutar (2024). Gaggan in Bangkok took second place and Alchemist in Copenhagen took third.

Arginzoniz on stage

Arginzoniz, who is 66 according to EL PAÍS, walked onto the stage with the wine director and head of service, Mohamed Benabdallah, known as Moha, who received the world's best sommelier award last year. Arginzoniz has long tried to downplay prizes of this kind, yet he has attended the ceremony every year since 2011, when he made his debut at an awards event run by William Reed Business Media. In his acceptance speech he thanked the people who had helped him keep cooking over fire, and he praised the mothers and grandmothers he described as great cooks who passed on cultural and gastronomic value that cannot be measured.

“It is a true honour to receive this award, which would not have been possible without all the people who have helped me keep working with fire, an ancestral technique.”

He closed by dedicating a tribute to Rafael García Santos, a former food critic whom he described as the visionary who taught him through his judgement. Etxebarri also received the award for best restaurant in Europe. Maido, the Peruvian restaurant that held the title last year, moves into the Best of the Best group, which also includes elBulli, El Celler de Can Roca and Disfrutar.

The rest of the Spanish entries

DiverXO, the Madrid restaurant of David Muñoz, dropped from fourth to ninth after three consecutive years among the top four. Enigma, the Barcelona restaurant of Albert Adrià, climbed from 33rd to 29th, while Elkano in Getaria fell from 24th to 33rd. The ranking is based on votes from more than 1,100 culinary experts, including writers, critics and restaurateurs. The table below shows where the four Spanish restaurants on the list now sit.

Asador Etxebarri1

DiverXO9

Enigma29

Elkano33

Asador Etxebarri

1 position

DiverXO

9 position

Enigma

29 position

Elkano

33 position

Data from the article text

Australia's first entry in nearly a decade

In Australia, Saint Peter in Sydney, run by the wife-and-husband team Julie and Josh Niland, placed 50th, the first Australian restaurant on the list in nearly a decade. The last Australian restaurant in the top 50 was Melbourne's Attica, led by Ben Shewry, which peaked at number 20 in 2018. Saint Peter debuted at 98th in 2024 and placed 66th on the longlist last year. Josh Niland also won the best restaurant in Oceania award, and Hugh Allen took the one to watch award for Yiaga in Melbourne. Speaking in Lima before the ceremony, Niland said his team had spent the past year focused on service.

“Saint Peter turned 10 this year, and in the last 12 months we've really tried to analyse every service touch.”

Niland argued that Australian dining deserved more attention abroad and said the result was about Australia as much as his restaurant. Saint Peter is known for cooking fish head to tail, using parts that are usually discarded, and its menus have included pasta made from fish bones and tuna aged for 20 days.