Spanish Asador Etxebarri named world's best restaurant

The World's 50 Best Restaurants has named Asador Etxebarri, the Basque grill house led by Bittor Arginzoniz in Atxondo (Bizkaia), as the best restaurant in the world for 2026. The announcement was made during a gala held in Lima, marking the ninth time Spanish high cuisine has topped this ranking.

Some lists read like war reports, others like menus. The World's 50 Best belongs to the latter category, even though it moves money, bookings and egos just like the former. In the 2026 edition, announced at the Municipal Theatre of Lima, the top spot went to a village grill: **Asador Etxebarri**, located in Axpe, within the municipality of **Atxondo**, between Bilbao and San Sebastián. Its chef, 66-year-old Basque **Bittor Arginzoniz**, has been leading the fire since 1990. This is not laboratory cooking. It is fire, product, and patience.

The victory has historical nuance. It is the ninth time a Spanish restaurant leads the list, and the first for an establishment in the Basque Country. Previously, elBulli, by Ferran Adrià, achieved this five times (2002 and 2006-2009); El Celler de Can Roca, by brothers Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, twice (2013 and 2015); and Disfrutar, by Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, in 2024. Etxebarri had been close before: it was second in 2024 and 2025. Its climb began at position 44 in 2013, rising to 34 in 2014, 13 in 2015, and entering the top ten in 2016. Since then, it has never left that group.

## From Axpe to first place: twenty years of fire

The restaurant holds one Michelin star and a fruta built slowly over the flames. World's 50 Best highlights its artisan chorizo and its aged beef chop, which the organization calls "the star of the show." Arginzoniz received the award with a speech that sounded more like a tribute than a victory: he remembered "our mothers, our grandmothers, great cooks, both men and women, who through their dedication and passion passed on to us an incalculable cultural and gastronomic value." The technique he champions is "the most ancestral of our ancestors": cooking over fire.

In the subsequent press conference, he was more down-to-earth. "I have always said I never worked thinking about being on any list; I only work thinking that the customer who comes to Etxebarri leaves happy," he stated. He added a warning that sounds like advice for industry navigators: "Working in the kitchen thinking about achieving a position on a list or star is a mistake; you must work thinking about the customer." He also acknowledged that "unfortunately" no one on his team will continue his work leading the grills, and that "all projects have a beginning and an end." An announced end for a project that has just reached its peak.

## The podium and the rest of Spain: DiverXO falls to ninth

Second place went to **Gaggan** in Bangkok, the experimental proposal by Indian chef Gaggan Anand, who also won the award for best restaurant in Asia. Third place went to the Danish **Alchemist**, by Rasmus Munk, which mixes cuisine, art, and theater. Fourth was Mexican **Quintonil**, serving contemporary local food, named best restaurant in Latin America. And seventh was Peruvian **Kjolle**, the only two from the region in the top ten.

Spain placed four restaurants on the list of 50. Besides Etxebarri, **DiverXO**, by Dabiz Muñoz, repeated but fell from fourth to ninth place, exiting the top five where it had remained for four consecutive years (three times fourth in 2022, 2023, and 2025, and third in 2024); **Enigma**, by Albert Adrià, rose from 33 to 29; and **Elkano**, by Aitor Agerri, in Getaria (Guipuzcoa), dropped from 24 to 33. The best restaurant in Europe was, naturally, Etxebarri itself. The best in Africa was Le Colombe (Cape Town); in Oceania, Saint Peter (Sydney).

## Ferran Adrià, Icon Award, and a gala looking toward Latin America

The organization granted the **Icon** award to **Ferran Adrià**, the chef who took elBulli to the highest point five times. Adrià could not attend Lima and sent a recorded message: "We have great affection for the 50 Best team because they have been part of our career. I hope to accompany them next year." The accolade recognizes a figure in the sector who has made an exceptional international contribution and uses their platform to generate positive change.

The gala was held for the first time in South America, at the Municipal Theatre of Lima, one of the most important gastronomic hubs in the region. The ranking has been announced annually since 2002 and is compiled from votes by more than a thousand experts, including chefs, specialized journalists, and restaurant owners. That is, it is not a price guide nor a customer survey: it is an industry consensus. And like all consensus, it has its fluctuations. The strongest entry of the year was Tuju, in São Paulo, which entered at position 16. The best chef was Junghyun Park, of Atomix (New York), and the best female chef was Jessica Rosval, of Al Gatto Verde (Modena).

## What it means for the restaurant economy

A first place on this list is not just prestige. It moves bookings, waiting lists, and the average menu price. Etxebarri was already a destination for gastronomic pilgrimage before the award; now it will be even more so. For a municipality of just over a thousand inhabitants like Atxondo, the impact is direct: visitors, overnight stays, and pressure on the environment. For the Spanish sector, the ninth title consolidates a position that started with elBulli and has passed through El Celler de Can Roca and Disfrutar. Spain is the country with the most number ones in the history of this list.

There is fine print worth ignoring. Arginzoniz himself has said he has no successor leading the grills. This raises an uncomfortable question for author-driven gastronomy: what happens to a restaurant when its chef leaves? The list rewards personal projects, not chains. And personal projects have expiration dates. The award arrives, recognition consolidates, and at the same time, the uncertainty of continuity opens up. It is not a tragedy, but it is a reminder that high cuisine is a trade of people, not brands.

The complete 2026 list includes restaurants from 20 countries. Asia placed two in the top five (Gaggan and Wing, in Hong Kong) and several in the top twenty. Latin America, with Quintonil, Kjolle, Mérito, and Mayta, demonstrates that the gala in Lima was not just a logistical choice. And Spain, with four names, remains a disproportionate power for its size. The grill house of Axpe has just put the cherry on top. Now we wait to see how long the embers last.