2 PA Restaurants Make Elite List Of America’s Best By New York Times

PENNSYLVANIA — Two Pennsylvania restaurants are included in The Restaurant List 2026, an elite compilation of the 50 best restaurants in America by The New York Times.

A 16-person scouting team traveled across the country for the list, eating everywhere from small-town Wisconsin to downtown Manhattan. The critics made reservations, waited in lines and arrived unannounced, paying for their meals and accepting no freebies.

Included from Pennsylvania are Bomb Bomb in Philadelphia and Titusz in Pittsburgh.

Regarding Bomb Bomb, the Times noted that red-sauce Italian restaurants fall into two basic categories: old ones and new ones. The Times complimented chef Joey Baldino, who purchased the South Philly place two years ago for managing what appeared to be the opposite of a gut renovation.

The Times concluded that the result is indistinguishable from a neighborhood bar.

"That is, until you dig into the stuffed calamari, mussels fra diavolo and lobster Francesca, each as poetically reverent as a heartfelt eulogy. You remember a joint like this from when you were young. Now imagine finding it in Philly, better than ever."

Titusz, an Austro-Hungarian restaurant that opened last year, is named after Chef Csilla Thackray's great-grandfather.

The Times said that Thackray takes the foundations of Hungarian cooking - paprika, root vegetables, and smoked sausage - and transforms them into dishes that feel both personal and wholly fresh, drawing on her family history.

"Chilled sorrel soup gets dill oil and kornspitz croutons. Langos, a deep-fried potato flatbread, comes layered with a tangy, spreadable cheese, goat Gouda, and lemony herbs. And a roasted duck leg is bathed in a floral apricot-riesling reduction," the Times review stated.

"That same personal touch carries through the room, from gold letter-pressed menus to vases abundant with wildflowers."

The restaurants aren’t ranked, and none appeared on a previous edition of the annual list. The selections include places that opened only weeks ago as well as restaurants that have been serving customers for decades.