The entrance on San Juan Plaza. Photo: Ryan Snyder, CC BY 2.0
Asador Etxebarri: The World’s Best Restaurant 2026 and How to Request a Table
14 November 2026
On 4 November 2026, a grill restaurant in a Basque mountain village was named the best restaurant in the world. Asador Etxebarri had come close for years. This is what sets it apart, what lunch there involves, and how a table is requested.
Asador Etxebarri, in the village of Axpe in the Basque municipality of Atxondo, is No. 1 on The 50 Best Restaurants 2026, the ranking formerly known as The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The list was announced in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday 4 November 2026, and Etxebarri also holds the title of The Best Restaurant in Europe 2026. Its chef and owner, Bittor Arguinzoniz, cooks on grills he designed himself, and everything on the menu is touched by the grill, dessert included. The restaurant serves lunch only, lists a price of 300 euros before drinks, takes payment in advance for every guest and gives its tables by request, with a waiting list behind them.
- No. 1
- on The 50 Best Restaurants 2026, announced in Lima on 4 November.
- 8
- tables in the dining room.
- 14+
- courses on the tasting menu.
- 300 €
- the listed price, tax included, before drinks.
- 1990
- the year Bittor Arguinzoniz opened the restaurant.
How did Asador Etxebarri become the world’s best restaurant?
It had been close to the top for years. Etxebarri first entered the ranking in 2008 and, according to The 50 Best Restaurants, has been off the list only once since 2009 and in every top ten since 2016. It was third in 2019 and 2021, sixth in 2022 and fourth in 2023, then second twice in a row: behind Disfrutar in Barcelona in 2024 and behind Maido in Lima in 2025. Both of those winners have since joined the Best of the Best, the group of former No. 1 restaurants that can no longer be voted onto new editions of the list. In 2026, the vote went to Etxebarri.
The ceremony had originally been announced for Abu Dhabi before it moved to Lima, the home city of the 2025 winner. Arguinzoniz had already been honoured by his peers: in 2021 he received the Chefs' Choice Award, under the name Victor Arguinzoniz.
See every edition as a table
| Edition | Asador Etxebarri | No. 1 that year |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | No. 3 | Mirazur, Menton |
| 2021 | No. 3 | Noma, Copenhagen |
| 2022 | No. 6 | Geranium, Copenhagen |
| 2023 | No. 4 | Central, Lima |
| 2024 | No. 2 | Disfrutar, Barcelona |
| 2025 | No. 2 | Maido, Lima |
| 2026 | No. 1 | Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo |
What makes the grilling at Etxebarri different?
The grills are his own. Bittor Arguinzoniz is self-taught, and Grub Street, which published a book about the restaurant in 2018, describes him as having only ever worked in his own kitchen, where he designed and built the adjustable-height grills he is known for, with utensils of his own design and specific woods. The kitchen is tiny: according to The 50 Best Restaurants, it fits just a handful of chefs, and 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.”
Bittor Arguinzoniz, to The 50 Best Restaurants
The list describes a cooking style without molecular techniques or deconstruction, in which the produce leads and everything on the menu is touched by the grill, from the anchovy on toast to the milk ice cream with beetroot that ends the meal. For Arguinzoniz, the point of the fire is to show the quality of the produce.
The fire goes back to his childhood. He grew up around the corner from the restaurant, in a house without electricity or gas, where his mother and grandmother cooked on the hearth. He opened Asador Etxebarri in 1990, in a building in the centre of the village that he bought and rebuilt with his family.
What do you eat at Asador Etxebarri?
The 50 Best Restaurants recommends the tasting menu, more than 14 courses, served in a dining room that looks onto the village square and, according to the list’s announcement, has just eight tables. There is also an à la carte, but the choice applies to the whole table, and the menu is built on meat and fish: the restaurant has no vegetarian or vegan menu.
The wine list runs to some 400 bottles, chosen by Mohamed Benabdallah, the restaurant’s sommelier and manager, who was named The World’s Best Sommelier in 2025.
The menu follows the seasons. These are the dishes the list singles out:
Anchovy on toast 
House-made chorizo 
Red Palamós prawns, grilled and served on their own 
Fresh mozzarella from the chef’s own buffalo, with a slice of tomato 
Baby eels and sea cucumber with green beans, in season 
The charred beef chop, which the profile calls the star of the show 
Milk ice cream with beetroot, which ends the meal
Plates served at Asador Etxebarri in 2013 and 2014. Photos: Ryan Snyder, Jeremy Keith and Leon Brocard, CC BY 2.0
How do you book a table at Asador Etxebarri?
The restaurant takes booking requests through its website; its contact form does not accept reservations. Dates are released progressively, with new ones added daily. This is the process as the restaurant describes it:
First, the request.
Choose an open date and send a request. The reservation notes are the place for alternative dates, in case the first choice is full.
Within seven days, the answer.
If there is room, the restaurant confirms by email within seven days and sends bank details for the prepayment. If no confirmation arrives in that time, the requested date is not available; the booking form adds that the request then goes onto the waiting list. The restaurant says openly that it cannot answer every request.
Then, the prepayment.
Pay in advance for every guest at the table, within the deadline given. Only then is the booking final.
Up to five days before, changes.
Change or cancel at least five days ahead. Later cancellations, no-shows and a party smaller than confirmed are not refunded.
| Asador Etxebarri at a glance | As of November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | Lunch only, starting at 12:30 or 13:00 |
| Days | Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays |
| Annual closure | 24 December to 10 January, and the whole of August |
| Table size | 2 to 6 guests; children are recommended from the age of 12 |
| Price | 300 euros, tax included, drinks extra; prepaid for every guest |
| Menu | Tasting menu or à la carte for the whole table; meat and fish, no vegetarian or vegan menu |
| Address | San Juan Plaza 1, 48291 Axpe, Bizkaia, Spain |
Can a concierge get you a table at Asador Etxebarri?
We would not promise one, because the table is the restaurant’s decision.
Etxebarri serves lunch only, is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and has eight tables, for parties of two to six.
What a concierge can do is the work around that decision. We can send the request in the form the restaurant asks for, with realistic alternative dates; follow it through the seven days; arrange the prepayment in time; and keep the journey flexible enough that a date which opens at short notice could still be taken. In practice, that may mean an aircraft that can be confirmed quickly, the drive into the valley and a hotel for the night, prepared so that a confirmation does not come too late to use. If the waiting list does not move, we can suggest a request at Elkano in Getaria, a fellow Basque grill house at No. 33, or at Txispa, also in Atxondo, at No. 80 on the extended list.
Restaurants belong to what we call Art de Vivre, alongside rare wines and private chefs; flights and ground arrangements run through our travel service.
How do you get to Axpe?
Axpe is a small village in the hills of Bizkaia, between Bilbao and San Sebastián; Grub Street puts it about an hour’s drive southeast of Bilbao. The restaurant stands on the village square, San Juan Plaza.
From Zug or Düsseldorf, where two of our offices are, lunch at Etxebarri could be planned as a day trip by private aircraft, flying from Zurich or Düsseldorf, because the meal begins at 12:30 or 13:00. From Dubai or Hong Kong, it works better as part of a few days in the Basque Country, with San Sebastián or Bilbao as a base; our guide to the longest-range private jets covers the aircraft for routes of that length.
Which other restaurants lead The 50 Best Restaurants 2026?
The 2026 top ten spans four continents. Bangkok has five restaurants in the top 50, more than any other city, led by Gaggan at No. 2. Hong Kong has two in the top ten, Wing at No. 5 and The Chairman at No. 6. Spain has four in the top 50, with Diverxo in Madrid at No. 9. In Dubai, Trèsind Studio is No. 28, and FZN is No. 88 on the extended list from 51 to 100; both hold three MICHELIN stars in the MICHELIN Guide Dubai 2026.
Our offices in Hong Kong and Dubai also take restaurant requests in their own regions and in Europe, and we approach a table in Hong Kong the same way as one in Axpe: we ask early, with precise dates and an alternative ready.
| Rank | Restaurant | City |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asador Etxebarri | Atxondo, Spain |
| 2 | Gaggan | Bangkok, Thailand |
| 3 | Alchemist | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 4 | Quintonil | Mexico City, Mexico |
| 5 | Wing | Hong Kong |
| 6 | The Chairman | Hong Kong |
| 7 | Kjolle | Lima, Peru |
| 8 | Kadeau | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 9 | Diverxo | Madrid, Spain |
| 10 | Plénitude | Paris, France |
If Etxebarri is on your list for 2027, plan before the dates you want are released, not after. Tell us when you would like to travel and with whom, and we will tell you honestly what is realistic. Contact us by phone or email, seven days a week.
Photographs of Asador Etxebarri and Axpe: “Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain” (doorway) and “Etxebarri, Axpe, Spain” (valley) by Ryan Snyder; “Across the square to Asador Etxebarri” and “Entrance of Asador Etxebarri” by Winniepix; “Asador Etxebarri” (village square) by moctavio; “Asador Etxebarri” (menu cover), “Menu” and “The grills” by WordRidden; “IXW_8504” (grills) and “IXW_8492” (beef chop) by Leon Brocard; “Chorizo” by Jeremy Keith; “Etxebarri Salted anchovy with toasted bread”, “Etxebarri Prawns from Palamos”, “Etxebarri Mozzarella of buffalo”, “Etxebarri Sea cucumber and green beans” and “Etxebarri Smoked milk ice cream with beetroot juice” by Ryan Snyder. All via Wikimedia Commons or Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0, cropped, toned or retouched for this page.
Straight answers.
Which is the best restaurant in the world in 2026?
Asador Etxebarri in Axpe, in the Basque Country of Spain, is No. 1 on The 50 Best Restaurants 2026, the list formerly called The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The ranking was announced in Lima, Peru, on 4 November 2026. Gaggan in Bangkok is No. 2 and Alchemist in Copenhagen is No. 3.
Who is the chef at Asador Etxebarri?
The chef and owner is Bittor Arguinzoniz, whose name also appears as Victor Arguinzoniz, as on the 2021 list, and as Arginzoniz. He is self-taught, grew up around the corner from the restaurant, opened it in 1990 and designed and built its adjustable-height grills himself.
How much does lunch at Asador Etxebarri cost?
The restaurant lists a price of 300 euros, tax included and drinks extra, as of November 2026. Payment in advance covers every guest in the booking, and cancellations made less than five days ahead are not refunded.
How do you get a reservation at Asador Etxebarri?
You send a request through the restaurant’s website for one of the dates it releases. If there is room, the restaurant confirms by email within seven days with details for the prepayment; without that email the date is not available, and the request goes onto the waiting list. Tables are for two to six guests, at lunch, except on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Where is Asador Etxebarri?
Asador Etxebarri stands on San Juan Plaza in Axpe, a village in the municipality of Atxondo in Bizkaia, between Bilbao and San Sebastián, about an hour’s drive from Bilbao. The restaurant is closed from 24 December to 10 January and throughout August.
Can Veltracon Lifestyle get me a table at Asador Etxebarri?
We cannot promise one, because the restaurant decides. We can make and follow the request, arrange the prepayment and plan the journey so that a date offered at short notice could still be taken. If the waiting list does not move, we can suggest a request at Elkano or Txispa, also on the 2026 list. Requests reach us by phone or email, seven days a week.
Anything. Anytime. Anywhere.
Please contact us with any VIP requests by phone or email, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.