Up front, I need to admit I hate the fetishism related to “best” in nearly every area, but especially with food. At the same time, it’s effective as clickbait, even as I’m pretty sure it’s a dubious claim to say this is the “best” anything. A prominent magazine recently used a dramatic headline: “These Are The 15 Best Restaurants in America!” You can feel the importance, right? (Or hubris.) What are the criteria? What was the method? Did you taste all the food side by side in blind tastings, or — obviously — taste them at different times and rely on your memory to tell you which was better? (There is a reason that the first and last things tasted in competitions often win.)

I don’t pretend these are actually the “best new restaurants” — whatever that means — but they are all excellent, and I’ve made multiple trips to all of them, and will continue to visit them in 2026, but the “best” thing really does draw attention, so we’re sticking with it and will continue to make fun of it. We’re also going full weird on this one and arranging it alphabetically just so no one assumes they’re ranked. Also, we’ve invited Mid-Del food influencer and good dude Greg Riley to join us on an upcoming podcast episode to discuss all our favorites. That one will drop the week between Christmas and New Year’s, just as your ears are tired of the family’s voices.

Bar None. Yes, I was sad to see The Den in nonesuch go away, but this new wine bar meets sando spot is exactly what Midtown needed. Run by the effortlessly awesome Kiki Mackey, Bar None is casual and quirky with an excellent wine list, a delicious egg salad sando, and seasonally, they’ll bring back the best tomato sandwich in the history of fruit (tomato being a fruit, after all).

Bar Sen. Chef Jeff Chanchaleune opened his bar/noodle house next door to Ma Der, and it’s a more than fitting sister concept. The fried chicken is magical, and the catfish is ridiculously delicious. I could eat the pandan cinnamon roll until my blood sugar calls the ambulance for me. The noodles are excellent, of course, and the khao piek sen is the best chicken noodle soup in town, but I can’t stop eating the glass noodle salad. Daniel Johnson put together a creative, delicious bar program, and he collaborated with Guthrie-based WanderFolk to create Lao Lao Gin, and yes, you need to try it.

Casa Freddy’s. This food truck turned brick and mortar on the West Side offers options that are very hard to find in OKC, notably quecas and tlaocoyos. The menu leans heavily Oaxaca, continuing the trend of more and better regionally specific Mexican food in the metro. Breakfast is excellent, and the place is just damn cute, and I don’t mean that condescendingly. They knew the “chips and salsa” crowd would pop in too, so they have that covered, but really you’re here for the Oaxacan food.

Elisabetta. Rachel Cope decided it was time to build a restaurant for a different (older) demographic, so she opted for casual fine dining over against her normal casual/fast casual motifs. The space adjacent to Nichols Hills is beautiful — go after dark to fully appreciate the light installation — but you’re here for the food, and it’s outstanding. The tartare is stellar, as is the lobster tortelloni, and she’s rightly proud of the house martini. This is also the first time she’s leaned heavily on wine for her bar, and Britton Stewart’s experience with Holloway Restaurant Group paid off in building the list.

Kanji. We’ve had a rash of new great Japanese food with more to come in 2026, but this one takes the prize for omakase. That’s all they do, and while original chef Midian Pratama has moved on, chef-owner Sonny Choy has maintained the same remarkable quality with what has to be the city’s best fish program.

Le Parisien. We waited seemingly forever to learn who would win the “who gets Cafe do Brasil?” sweepstakes, and thankfully, it’s Okie native turned L.A. restaurateur (Drumm Hospitality) Dustin Lancaster. He brought sommelier and operating partner Alain Jeu and executive chef Bryant Gallegos, who trained at Petit Trois, with him from California, and if you put a gun to my head, I’d admit I think this is the best new restaurant in OKC. Everything including the wine list is exceptional, and the escargot is the best I’ve had, as is the Parisienne gnocchi. Smart, very smart seating options and lovely design. You know you’re in uber competent hands the entire time you’re there.

Lorena. Chef Cally Johnson returned to Oklahoma to helm the kitchen for owner Lori Burson, and I’m so very glad she’s returned. The staff already makes fun of me for ordering the black pepper clam chowder every time I go, and I have no apologies for that. Fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese are the go-to appetizers, and the bologna sandwich is the best thing on that menu. You’re welcome to disagree and sit there in your being wrongness.

Malfi. So, I might be neurodivergent, so I don’t get offended when staff asks if I’m there for my “autism lunch.” Yes, I get the same two things every time — tomato toast and ricotta cake — and if I go with someone else, I try their food, and the bucatini with pesto, basil cream and whipped burrata is my favorite. But I stand by my choices, and there is no rational explanation of how those two dishes are that damn good.

My Place Sip & Savor. Great Thai food has been very difficult to find in OKC for as long as I’ve been here, and no, I don’t mean the Americanized Thai at all those spots people go for pad thai that is candy sweet. Thai food should be fresh, vibrant, flavorful, balanced, and spicy, not heavy, oily and sweet. I’d pretty much given up hope until Mob Thai’d arrived, and now they’ve been joined by this spot just off Midtown. The family moved from California, learned what we already knew about the Thai options here, and decided to bring their recipes to the dining public. We’re grateful they did. The tom yum is the best I’ve had, and the khao soi is spectacular. Bonus: the cocktails are damn good, and that’s rare for a Thai spot in OKC.

Noodleology. Edmond needed to up their Chinese food game, and this noodle spot gave them tons of bonus points. You have to know that if I’m driving from downtown OKC to the traffic madness of Broadway in Edmond for chili oil noodles and dan dan noodles, there is great reason for it.

Smokehouse Social. This is why you go to Okana. Chef Brandon Edwards has long loved barbecue, and Okana had the great good sense to turn him loose in the kitchen/smokehouse, and the results are delicious. Yes, you should start with brisket queso and deviled eggs, but the meats are up to you, and the good news is, he knows what he’s doing. The chicken is excellent, as is the massive longbone ribeye, and if you’re there for lunch, grab chili and a big-enough-for-two burger.

Notes: Food nerds will note a few places not on this list, and I’m offering this by way of explanation. First, switching it up this year to go calendar year means that Later Bye, The Crain, and Tayta didn’t make the list. If we’d done it this way last year, they’d definitely be on it. They’re phenomenal options. It’s very likely that Maht and Carletti’s will both be two of the city’s best restaurants, but having only eaten bites at Maht’s preview and done the soft open at Carletti’s, I don’t feel it’s appropriate to add them right now — the danger of opening in late fall. The same is true for two of my favorite second-location spots: Birrieria Calvillo on the West Side and ZamZam in Auto Alley. I’m pretty sure I spent more time at ZamZam than anywhere else this year, except for Barkeep, of course, but the menus are identical to the original locations, and so they’re not technically new. It’s also a good place to note that Vecina would have been high on my list, but alas, OKC is not ready for some things, and Vecina arrived too early in a terrible location. Fingers crossed that Chef James Fox and Jeff Dixon try again.

Bar Sen photos, including featured photo, by Quit Nguyen courtesy of Bar Sen.