Why Burdell in Oakland Is the Finest Restaurant in America

To swing by means of the door of Burdell on a Sunday night time appears like strolling straight right into a grandma’s sitting room from the Nineteen Seventies. The area has a heat golden glow that radiates numerous ambers and pinks. You’re greeted by a group of smiling elders, featured in framed household images of mamas, aunties, and extra. 

Sit down on the avocado inexperienced bar, and a bartender rocking a floral apron will supply a cocktail named after one among them. How concerning the Gussie (a sort of pomegranate highball), or the Gertrude (sherry and spices on the rocks)? 

Welcome to the extremely acclaimed Burdell, a restaurant that might solely exist in Oakland. It received Meals & Wine’s 2024 Restaurant of the 12 months after impressing our restaurant editor with its massive “grandma power.” 

I’ve swung again in, because the 2025 F&W International Tastemakers panel of consultants agreed. Burdell tops our record of the perfect eating places to go to throughout America proper now. Greater than 400 cooks, sommeliers, writers, and journey execs advocate a visit to Oakland should you like to eat and journey. And your first reservation must be at Burdell. 

Chef Geoff Davis has that quiet depth from advantageous eating, having labored throughout the Bay Space and wine nation, from Michelin-starred Cyrus to chill cocktail bar True Laurel. And but, he’s usually remarked on feeling like one of many few Black cooks in these kitchens. 

When Davis went to open his personal restaurant, he reconnected along with his heritage. He grew up within the middle of California, within the agricultural area of the Central Valley, and named the restaurant after his maternal grandmother, Burdell, a woman who liked to have the entire household over for supper. 

Whereas he’s digging into the slow-simmered nostalgia of soul meals, Davis can be folding in native and seasonal produce. He’s the sort of chef who religiously retailers on the farmers market a number of days per week. 

From that seat on the bar, you’ll be able to watch buddies and households hug and giggle into the eating room, together with a child who cheerfully kicked whereas being carried to his seat, on my go to. The followers are again to snack on the boiled peanuts, a labor of affection simmered in miso and spices for eight hours. 

The large, head-on barbecue shrimp come drowned in an outrageously wealthy crimson gravy, with buttery-soft milk bread to chase it throughout. In fact, don’t miss a reimagined basic with creamy hen liver mousse and bits of crispy pores and skin alongside a lacy and crisp cornmeal waffle. 

Particularly on Sunday nights, the transfer may be the Household Dinner, which options 4 programs dropped down family-style, together with fried petrale sole with hush puppies and greens. When the scene begins bumping, Davis himself would possibly run out your plate of brown sugar cookies, nonetheless heat from the oven. 

Many dishes come on classic Corelle plates trimmed in flowers and butterflies, and the examine arrives in a mini Pyrex casserole with a few items of exhausting sweet. One of many servers retains singing alongside to Erykah Badu, which rolls on and on by means of the retro sound system, together with playlists of soul, funk, and hip-hop. 

Burdell has raked in awards and accolades, receiving a rave evaluate from the San Francisco Chronicle, whereas Eater SF referred to as it the “restaurant the place we need to be regulars.” Davis was honored as a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist for Finest Chef: California, and Burdell slid into the Michelin Information over the summer time.

The restaurant is a must-visit within the vacation spot celebrated for its extremely numerous meals scene. Many locals contend that the Bay Space’s finest eating is within the East Bay, however this neighborhood of Temescal has seen many thrilling flavors come from latest openings, like hand-rolled bagels at Poppy Bagels, pure wine at Snail Bar, and the new canine and martini scene at Tallboy. 

For his half, Davis has lived in Oakland for greater than a dozen years, and says he couldn’t think about opening his restaurant anyplace else. 

To uncover the perfect foods and drinks experiences for vacationers, Meals & Wine polled over 400 cooks, journey consultants, meals and journey writers, and wine execs from throughout the globe for his or her high culinary journey experiences. We then turned the outcomes over to our International Advisory Board, who ranked the highest nominees in every class. For the total record of all 165 winners, go to foodandwine.com/globaltastemakers.