Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago
Part of the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards, the America's Classics® celebrate independently owned restaurants with timeless appeal. These institutions reflect local character and cultural traditions and serve as an enduring anchor for their communities by serving delicious food across many years.
This year’s winners join more than 100 restaurants across the country that have received the Award since the category’s inception in 1998.
America’s Classics: California
The Serving Spoon
Inglewood, CA
Current Owners: Justin Johnson and Jessica Bane
The Serving Spoon in Inglewood, California, is a multi-generational, family-owned restaurant that has served as a vital social and cultural anchor for the Black community in Los Angeles for over 40 years. Combination platters built around proteins, such as crisp-golden catfish filets, fried chicken wings, and salmon croquettes, are served with thick slabs of buttered cornbread and a duo of sides, including the justly popular creamy grits and crowd-pleasers like macaroni and cheese and candied yams.
America’s Classics: Mid-Atlantic
Oyster House
Philadelphia, PA
Current Owner: Sam Mink
Few restaurants straddle multiple eras of Philadelphia’s restaurant history like Oyster House. In a city that was defined for much of the 20th century by legendary seafood restaurants, Oyster House is the last of its generation. Specialties such as sherried snapper soup and the distinctive combination of fried oysters and chicken salad offer a direct link to 18th and 19th century Philadelphia food traditions. Three generations of the Mink family have been caretakers of this institution since 1947, when Samuel Mink bought Kelly’s on Mole Street, a locale whose roots date to 1901. David Mink, Samuel’s son, opened Oyster House at its current location on Sansom Street in 1976, where Samuel's grandson, Sam Mink, maintains the restaurant’s relevance.
America’s Classics: Midwest
Johnny's Cafe
Omaha, NE
Current owners: Sally Kawa, Kari Kawa Harding, and Jack Kawa
In a town famous for its steaks and steakhouses, Johnny's Cafe is a cut above the rest. After 103 years and three generations of family ownership, the south Omaha steakhouse feels as relevant today as it did when Frank Kawa, a first-generation immigrant from Poland, opened the restaurant in 1922. Today, Frank’s son, Jack Kawa, and grandchildren, Sally Kawa and Kari Harding, run the show. The Kawa family's roots are evident in the steakhouse's Polish vinaigrette (which you can now buy by the bottle) and signature (and complimentary) appetizer: a peppery, spreadable cottage cheese-esque dip similar to Polish gzik.
America’s Classics: New York State
Eng’s
Kingston, NY
Current Owners: Tom Sit and Faye Sit
Founded in 1927 by Jimmi Eng and his son, Paul, Eng's was Kingston’s first Chinese restaurant and has remained a stalwart at its current location since 1966. Under current operator Tom Sit (who has helmed Eng’s for over five decades with his wife, Faye), Eng’s continues to prepare its iconic egg rolls (made in-house with fresh vegetables) and Chinese American classics, including standouts like Singapore chow mei fun and the pu pu platter. Despite being in his 80s, Sit continues to work daily (even on his supposed days off) underscoring his personal investment in every aspect of Eng's.
America’s Classics: Southeast
Figaretti’s Italian Restaurant
Wheeling, WV
Current Owner: Dino Figaretti
The legend of Figaretti’s started with a sauce. In West Virginia’s northern panhandle, Sicilian immigrant Anna Figaretti started making homemade spaghetti sauce for homesick Italian neighbors who had immigrated to work in local coal mines. The demand for Anna’s sauce grew so quickly that she recruited her five sons to start delivering it, which quickly helped them establish roots in their new community. The popularity of that time-honored recipe prompted them to open Figaretti’s in 1948. Nearly 80 years and three generations later, Figaretti’s remains an iconic spot with a warm and cozy dining room that welcomes guests like a hug.
America’s Classics: Southwest
Bob Taylor’s Ranch House
Las Vegas, NV
Current Owner: Jeff Special
In a city built on reinvention, Bob Taylor’s Ranch House stands apart as one of Las Vegas’s oldest culinary anchors—a steakhouse born long before the glitter of the Strip, when the city was still dust, horizon, and wide-open desert. It opened in 1955 as the Ranch House Supper Club, set on a remote parcel of land northwest of downtown. Bob Taylor wasn’t just the owner—he was the heart of the place. Stories from old-timers and online accounts paint him as an almost mythical figure behind the fire pit: a man who’d tend the mesquite grill himself, barefoot in the gravel, feeling the coals’ heat and flipping thick steaks not with tongs, but with his fingers when he felt the timing was right.
Learn more at jamesbeard.org
Part of the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards, the America's Classics® celebrate independently owned restaurants with timeless appeal. These institutions reflect local character and cultural traditions and serve as an enduring anchor for their communities by serving delicious food across many years.
This year’s winners join more than 100 restaurants across the country that have received the Award since the category’s inception in 1998.
America’s Classics: California
The Serving Spoon
Inglewood, CA
Current Owners: Justin Johnson and Jessica Bane
The Serving Spoon in Inglewood, California, is a multi-generational, family-owned restaurant that has served as a vital social and cultural anchor for the Black community in Los Angeles for over 40 years. Combination platters built around proteins, such as crisp-golden catfish filets, fried chicken wings, and salmon croquettes, are served with thick slabs of buttered cornbread and a duo of sides, including the justly popular creamy grits and crowd-pleasers like macaroni and cheese and candied yams.
America’s Classics: Mid-Atlantic
Oyster House
Philadelphia, PA
Current Owner: Sam Mink
Few restaurants straddle multiple eras of Philadelphia’s restaurant history like Oyster House. In a city that was defined for much of the 20th century by legendary seafood restaurants, Oyster House is the last of its generation. Specialties such as sherried snapper soup and the distinctive combination of fried oysters and chicken salad offer a direct link to 18th and 19th century Philadelphia food traditions. Three generations of the Mink family have been caretakers of this institution since 1947, when Samuel Mink bought Kelly’s on Mole Street, a locale whose roots date to 1901. David Mink, Samuel’s son, opened Oyster House at its current location on Sansom Street in 1976, where Samuel's grandson, Sam Mink, maintains the restaurant’s relevance.
America’s Classics: Midwest
Johnny's Cafe
Omaha, NE
Current owners: Sally Kawa, Kari Kawa Harding, and Jack Kawa
In a town famous for its steaks and steakhouses, Johnny's Cafe is a cut above the rest. After 103 years and three generations of family ownership, the south Omaha steakhouse feels as relevant today as it did when Frank Kawa, a first-generation immigrant from Poland, opened the restaurant in 1922. Today, Frank’s son, Jack Kawa, and grandchildren, Sally Kawa and Kari Harding, run the show. The Kawa family's roots are evident in the steakhouse's Polish vinaigrette (which you can now buy by the bottle) and signature (and complimentary) appetizer: a peppery, spreadable cottage cheese-esque dip similar to Polish gzik.
America’s Classics: New York State
Eng’s
Kingston, NY
Current Owners: Tom Sit and Faye Sit
Founded in 1927 by Jimmi Eng and his son, Paul, Eng's was Kingston’s first Chinese restaurant and has remained a stalwart at its current location since 1966. Under current operator Tom Sit (who has helmed Eng’s for over five decades with his wife, Faye), Eng’s continues to prepare its iconic egg rolls (made in-house with fresh vegetables) and Chinese American classics, including standouts like Singapore chow mei fun and the pu pu platter. Despite being in his 80s, Sit continues to work daily (even on his supposed days off) underscoring his personal investment in every aspect of Eng's.
America’s Classics: Southeast
Figaretti’s Italian Restaurant
Wheeling, WV
Current Owner: Dino Figaretti
The legend of Figaretti’s started with a sauce. In West Virginia’s northern panhandle, Sicilian immigrant Anna Figaretti started making homemade spaghetti sauce for homesick Italian neighbors who had immigrated to work in local coal mines. The demand for Anna’s sauce grew so quickly that she recruited her five sons to start delivering it, which quickly helped them establish roots in their new community. The popularity of that time-honored recipe prompted them to open Figaretti’s in 1948. Nearly 80 years and three generations later, Figaretti’s remains an iconic spot with a warm and cozy dining room that welcomes guests like a hug.
America’s Classics: Southwest
Bob Taylor’s Ranch House
Las Vegas, NV
Current Owner: Jeff Special
In a city built on reinvention, Bob Taylor’s Ranch House stands apart as one of Las Vegas’s oldest culinary anchors—a steakhouse born long before the glitter of the Strip, when the city was still dust, horizon, and wide-open desert. It opened in 1955 as the Ranch House Supper Club, set on a remote parcel of land northwest of downtown. Bob Taylor wasn’t just the owner—he was the heart of the place. Stories from old-timers and online accounts paint him as an almost mythical figure behind the fire pit: a man who’d tend the mesquite grill himself, barefoot in the gravel, feeling the coals’ heat and flipping thick steaks not with tongs, but with his fingers when he felt the timing was right.
Learn more at jamesbeard.org
