WI Farm-To-Table Restaurant Among Best In The Nation: USA Today List

USA Today released its list of the top 39 restaurants in the nation for 2026, and it includes one from Wisconsin.

Birch, located in Milwaukee, made the list. Chef Kyle Knall leads the restaurant with a seasonal menu that features contemporary farm-to-table cuisine cooked over an open, wood-fired hearth.

Kyle and Meghan Knall opened the restaurant in 2021. Since then, Chef Kyle has received two coveted nominations from the James Beard Foundation Awards for "Best Chef: Midwest" in 2024 and "Outstanding Chef" in 2022.

The selection stands out because the list was put together by local writers who live and work in the communities, rather than sending in outside critics or relying on online reviews.

"A champion of local agriculture, he fills his new American menu with peak-season ingredients sourced from nearby farms, coaxing electric flavor from homegrown goodness," Rachel Bernhard, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called Chef Kyle Knall said.

The 2026 Restaurants of the Year list also includes eateries in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.