Atomix named No. 1 restaurant at North America’s 50 Best awards in Las Vegas

Atomix, the superlative Korean restaurant from New York City, has been named the No. 1 restaurant in North America — and the best restaurant in the Northeastern U.S. — for 2025. The recognition came Thursday evening at the awards ceremony for North America’s 50 Best Restaurants at Wynn Las Vegas.

The 50 Best organization returned to Vegas and Wynn to present the awards after hosting the World’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony at the property in 2024. 50 Best, based in London, celebrates global trends in food, drink, travel and other areas of hospitality.

“This is the best night of my life! Thank you, everyone! Thank you!” chef Junghyun Park of Atomix shouted at the end of his acceptance speech in which he praised his team, thanked his parents in Korea and expressed his deep love for Ellia Park, his wife and the co-owner of the restaurant.

Atomix is lauded for its 12-course tasting menu served on custom ceramics, with each course accompanied by a card explaining the dish’s inspiration, origin and ingredients.

The ceremony marked the first time 50 Best had held restaurant awards for North America as a separate region, one encompassing the U.S., Canada and parts of the Caribbean. The 50 Best list is compiled from the votes of an anonymous 300-member academy consisting of chefs, restaurateurs, journalists, educators and experienced diners.

“With this launch, we are deepening our commitment to North America within the 50 Best family,” William Drew, director of content for North America’s 50 Best, said in welcoming remarks the day before the ceremony.

A host of red scarves

Rounding out the top five were Mon Lapin of Montreal at No. 2 (also Best Restaurant in east Canada), Restaurant Pearl Morissette of Lincoln at No. 3 (also Best Restaurant in central Canada), Smyth of Chicago at No. 4 (also Best Restaurant in the Midwest), and Tanière3 of Quebec City at No. 5 (also winner of the Art of Hospitality Award).

Restaurants from the U.S. completed the top 10: Dakar Nola of New Orleans at No. 6 (also Best Restaurant in the South); Kalaya of Philadelphia at No. 7; SingleThread from Healdsburg, California, at No. 8 (also Best Restaurant in the West and winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Award); Le Bernardin of New York City at No. 9; and Le Veau d’Or of New York City, dating to 1937, at No. 10.

The chefs and owners of the 50 Best restaurants wore red scarves, donned before the ceremony, to indicate they were being honored. No Vegas restaurants were named among the top 50.

The majority of the winners (37) came from the U.S. (mainly New York City and San Francisco), followed by Canada (11) and two from the Caribbean, including the highly regarded Stush in the Bush (No. 49) in Jamaica. Wild applause greeted owners Lisa and Christopher Binns when they stood to be recognized.

Special awards

The evening also saw Canadian chef and author Normand Laprise receive the Icon Award and Michael Cimarusti of Providence in Los Angeles (No. 47) receive the Chef’s Choice Award.

Asmeret Berhe-Lumax, founder and CEO of One Love Community Fridge of New York City, won the Champions of Change Award. One Love installs fridges that community members stock with fresh, healthy food for anyone to take. Legendary chef Alain Ducasse presented the winner with her award.

Another legend, San Francisco chef Dominique Crenn, presented North America’s Best Female Chef Award to Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon of Kalaya. Suntaranon worked for decades as a flight attendant for Thai Airways before opening her Thai restaurant at age 50.

Awards were also given for North America’s Best Sommelier (Vanya Filipovic of Mon Lapin) and North America’s Best Pastry Chef (Susan Bae of No. 17 Moon Rabbit in Washington, D.C). Ladder 4 in Detroit received the One to Watch Award.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.